FCC Commits $2.5 Million from Emergency Connectivity Fund

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2023 – The Federal Communications Commission announced on Wednesday it’s committing another $2.5 million from the Emergency Connectivity Program, which helps students stay connected when away from school.

The latest round of funding is intended to help approximately 8,000 students in Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, North Dakota, and Texas, the commission said.

“Today’s funding round is another step in providing students the online access they need to connect with their teachers and keep up with schoolwork,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “This program is an important tool in our ongoing work to close the Homework Gap.”

The commission announced in February that it would commit more than $30 million through the ECF, as it inches its way closer to exhausting the funds from the $7.17 billion program.

Thus far, the program has provided support to approximately 10,000 schools, 10,000 libraries, and 100 consortia, plus more than $12 million in connected devices. Around $6.5 billion in funding commitments have been approved to date, approximately $4.1 billion is supporting applications from the first funding window, $833 million from the second window and $1.6 billion from the third window.

But the program is not without issues, according to anchor institutions. The Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Consortium for School Networking have requested last Wednesday that the FCC extend the deadlines to implement funding from the ECF, in part citing delays in getting and deploying equipment and services.