United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-05-11 monographic deposited born digital 18 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-673 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-673 P0b002ee18039ba83 f:d01673 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-673 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-673 GAO-01-673 Aid for education Libraries Internet Public schools Telecommunication Telecommunication equipment FCC E-Rate Program Other Written Product A00986 The Telecommunications Act of 1996 expanded the traditional definition of universal service--affordable, nationwide telephone service--to include eligible schools and libraries. Among other things, the act authorized the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement a program to assist these institutions in acquiring advanced telecommunications services in three categories of service: telecommunications, Internet access, and internal connections. This report discusses state-level data on the amount of funds committed to the three categories of eligible services for each of the program's first three years. GAO found that requests substantially exceeded the program's available funding level during the program's first and third years. Priority is given to funding telecommunications and Internet access requests first, and then to internal connections. Applicants have requested nearly $5.2 billion in e-rate support, more than double the program's $2.25 billion funding cap. Since requests for telecommunications and Internet access services total about $1.7 billion, it appears that most of the nearly $3.5 billion in internal connections requests could go unfunded under the current funding cap priority rules. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-673/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-673.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-673/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-673.pdf GAO-01-673 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-673 Other Written Product GAO-01-673; Schools and Libraries Program: Update on State-Level Funding by Category of Service; Aid for education Libraries Internet Public schools Telecommunication Telecommunication equipment FCC E-Rate Program