The FCC released the long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on how Category Two budgets should be regulated for FY2020 and beyond. The FCC stated in the NPRM that “…our experience over the past few years suggests that these budgets have resulted in a broader distribution of funding that is more equitable and more predictable for schools and libraries. We also see clear improvements in the way in which funding for internal connections has been administered in the five-year period since adoption of the category two budget approach. Therefore, we now propose to make the category two budget approach permanent and seek comment on potential modifications that could simplify the budgets, decrease the administrative burden of applying for category two services, and thereby speed the deployment of Wi-Fi in schools and libraries across the country….”
The Federal Register published the regulations on July 17, 2019. The comment deadline is August 16 and the reply comments are due by September 3, 2019.
