E-Rate Advocates Want FCC to Reconsider Bidding Portal
SHLB and a consultant that works with participants said they wanted more time to comment on the April order
WASHINGTON, June 22, 2026 – Groups representing participants in the E-Rate program are asking federal regulators to reconsider their decision to enforce a mandatory electronic bidding portal.
The Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition and CW Consulting, which represent and work with schools and libraries that participate in the program, said they and others weren’t given enough time to comment on the new rule before it was adopted.
E-Rate provides schools and libraries monthly discounts on broadband and telecom services. ISPs bid for services the participants need before one is chosen and federal funds are requested. E-Rate spent nearly $2.4 billion in 2025. The program supports more than 90 percent of U.S. public schools.
The Federal Communications Commission in April finalized plans for an electronic portal that will be used for that process starting in 2027. Parties have to use the portal for communications and to submit and evaluate bids.
The FCC said it was necessary to mitigate fraud in the program, as the agency and its Universal Service Administrative Company, which handles E-Rate and other FCC Universal Service Fund programs, would have direct access to bidding information and evaluations.
SHLB was not excited when the public draft of the order was posted. The group argued the program didn’t have a fraud problem, and that a new system might create an administrative hurdle that deterred participation.
In a petition for reconsideration posted Monday, SHLB attorney Kristen Corra wrote that the draft order was too different from what the agency said it was considering when it last sought comment on an E-Rate bidding portal in 2021. In that proposal, the agency floated the idea of requiring the submission of bids and pre-bid communications, but the order adopted this year would require the portal itself be used in real time for those communications.
“This significant change was not a logical outgrowth” of the 2021 proposal, according to SHLB. The group wanted the typical cycle of a public notice and 30 days each for comments and reply comments to provide input on the order.
“The draft Report and Order was posted only on the FCC’s website on the Commission’s April 2026 Open Meeting web page; and, there was only two weeks for interested parties to file comments prior to the Commission meeting,” the group wrote. “While regular participants in FCC proceedings such as SHLB located the draft Report and Order, and are familiar with the FCC’s ex parte rules, there is no way to know how many other interested stakeholders were not aware of the draft Report and Order and the associated option to file comments.”
CW Consulting, which said it works with 300 E-Rate participants to help navigate the program, wanted the chance to comment on multiple provisions in the order, including rules stating that only three users per applicant could access the portal, and that communications held outside the portal must be uploaded within 72 hours.
SHLB also reiterated its position that fraud is no longer an issue in E-Rate and wanted the chance to develop a new record with more information. The FCC in its order cited a 2020 Government Accountability Office report that recommended more direct access to bidding information.
“The GAO reported that, because of a lack of direct access to the bidding information, E-Rate participants, in their self-certification statements, could misrepresent facts concerning their circumventing or violating competitive-bidding rules or processes, and that this could occur without the Commission’s or USAC’s knowledge,” the agency wrote.
SHLB pointed to a 2024 FCC finding that E-Rate’s improper payment rate was under 1.5 percent, the benchmark for a “significant” rate that compels more reporting to Congress, and a 2025 GAO report that found E-Rate had implemented nine anti-fraud measures. Those cut against the need for a new plan to mitigate fraud and should have been addressed in the order, the group argued.
“SHLB tried to refresh the record in the limited time available for preparing its ex parte filings, but the Commission nevertheless did not address the merits of this updated information” in its order, the group wrote.
CW Consulting CEO Chris Webber wanted the agency to adopt clarifications to the order to address its concerns, while SHLB wanted the order rescinded until a notice-and-comment period was held.
SHLB and other groups are gearing up for a separate battle over E-Rate at the FCC. The agency is set to vote Thursday on an inquiry that would ask whether the program had accomplished its goal of ensuring education centers had access to modern communications services, and whether a reduction in funding might then be appropriate.
