FCC Can't Use E-rate Funds to Pay for Home Wireless Connections for Students, Pai Says

The FCC doesn’t have legal authority to use E-rate funds to pay for wireless connections so students can learn at home, Chairman Ajit Pai said in a letter to Senate Democrats posted Thursday. “The Commission must act within the bounds of the statutory authority given to the agency by Congress and use E-Rate program funding for broadband and other ‘services’ provided to school ‘classrooms,’” Pai wrote: “As such, wireless connectivity and devices supplied to students at home unfortunately do not qualify for E-Rate support under the law, regardless of whether they are being used for educational purposes.” A September letter by most Senate Democrats asked Pai “to utilize the E-Rate program to close” the homework gap “without further delay.”