The FCC has released the draft Eligible Services List (ESL) for Funding Year 2027, the list of services E-rate will fund next year. The draft, published June 30, 2026, proposes no changes for almost everything you rely on. One area the FCC is asking about is Managed Internal Broadband Services (MIBS). The Commission wants comment on whether it should stay eligible and how to keep its costs in check.
What the FCC is asking
In the 2027 draft ESL Public Notice, the FCC seeks comment on “how to limit MIBS to ensure it is cost-effective for both the applicant and the E-Rate program.” Among its questions: “should reimbursement for MIBS services be limited to the number of hours worked with the requirement that tickets for work requested/performed and hours worked be included with requests for reimbursement.” It also wants to know what applicants should “include in an FCC Form 470 or request for proposal document when requesting MIBS to ensure bidders have sufficient information to submit a responsive bid.” The notice further asks whether MIBS eligibility should be limited to applicants of a certain size, along with other questions about the scope of work and cost-effectiveness.
The MIBS questions in the 2027 draft ESL Public Notice are consistent with the discussion in the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking approved by the Commission in their June 25 open meeting.
Separately, the notice turns to services with variable monthly pricing, sometimes called network-as-a-service, or NaaS. Because the FCC forms are built around a fixed monthly cost, the Commission is asking whether and how they could account for services whose amount and price change month to month.
What happens next
Comments to the draft FY2027 ESL are due to the FCC by July 30, 2026, with reply comments due August 14. The draft ESL Public Notice may be viewed here.
Our 16th Annual E-rate Applicant Survey remains one of the most direct ways to put applicant experience in front of policymakers. You can take it here, and as always, your Funds For Learning Guide is ready for your questions.
