E-rate Groups Oppose FCC-Proposed Bidding Portal

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition, State E-rate Coordinators’ Alliance and Consortium for School Networking asked the FCC to abandon its proposal to establish a national bidding portal for the E-rate program. The commission's NPRM on the item and August letter of support from the DOJ Antitrust Division include claims that "obscure the sufficiency of the current tools used by the program administrator, auditors, the FCC and other law enforcement officials to police and enforce the bidding requirements," the groups said in a letter posted Tuesday in docket 21-455 (see 2208160055). Claiming applicants and service providers self-certify compliance with bidding requirements doesn't "acknowledge the frequent, extensive pre-funding and post-commitment auditing of underlying bidding documentation to confirm the veracity of these certifications," the groups said. A data analytics program is also "well underway," they said, citing a May 2021 FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Managing Director letter to the Universal Service Administrative Co. directing it to do so. The "stringent limitation on communications" in the NPRM and DOJ's letter also "create a conflict of laws with state and local regulations," the groups said, and the portal has the "real potential to be harmful to applicants who earnestly try to comply with program rules."