Page 62 - spaces4learning, Fall 2024

s p a c e s 4 l e a rn i n g CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY
NAVIGATING
NE ERATE
RULES
OR II
HOTSPOTS
Beginning in funding year 2025, WiFi
hotspots will be eligible for E-rate
Category One discounts. Here’s what
you need to know about your school’s
eligibility, funding caps, tracking
requirements, and more.
By Brian Stephens
LACK OF HIGH-SPEED INTERNET is a significant problem
in almost 75% of communities served by the nation’s K–12
schools, according to Funds For Learning’s annual E-rate Appli-
cant Survey. Beginning with the next E-rate cycle, a key change
to the E-rate program’s rules aims to narrow the “homework
gap” by making WiFi hotspots that schools and libraries loan to
students and patrons eligible for E-rate discounts.
For funding year 2025, WiFi hotspots—including both the
hardware and monthly service—are eligible for Category One
discounts. However, schools and libraries must follow a slew of
requirements in order to take advantage.
Here’s a closer look at these requirements and what they
mean for schools.
Eligibility
The rule change applies to single-user WiFi hotspots only.
Other transmission technologies, such as LTE or Citizens
Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), aren’t eligible—nor are
“multi-functional” devices like smartphones, laptops, or tablets,
even if they’re cellular enabled.
To be eligible, a WiFi hotspot must meet the FCC’s strict
definition. In its Report and Order announcing the change,
the Commission notes that the rules “limit the capability of
a sole-purpose WiFi hotspot to devices that: (1) are portable;
62 FALL 2024 | spaces4learning.com
(2) are a single device (i.e., not a set of linked devices); and (3) do
not have Ethernet ports either upstream (WAN-type ports) or
downstream (LAN-type ports).”
Applicants are prohibited from applying for more than one
hotspot device per student, staff member, or library patron.
Funding Caps and Prioritization
To make sure all applicants get a fair shot at E-rate funding,
there is a pre-discount cap on the amount of funding allowed for
WiFi hotspots and services over a three-year period.
Each eligible entity will calculate its budget for hotspots using
a set formula. The formula considers the number of students (in
the case of a school or district) or the size of the building (in the
case of a library), adjusted by the Category One discount rate.
The formula is modeled after the budget for Category Two
services, but with a different calculation. Here’s what this looks
like in practice.
A school with 500 students and a 90% Category One dis-
count rate would be eligible for up to $56,700 in E-Rate dis-
counts for WiFi hotspots over a three-year period (the cal-
culation in parentheses is rounded to the nearest ten before
multiplying by $630):
(500 students x 20 hotspots / 100 students, or 0.2 x .90
C1 discount rate) x $630 = $56,700
A library with 10,000 square feet and a 90% Category One
discount would be eligible for up to $31,500 in E-Rate dis-
counts for WiFi hotspots over a three-year period:
(10,000 square feet x 5.5 hotspots/1,000 sq. ft. x 0.90
discount rate) x $630 = $31,500