FCC to Vote on ‘Top-to-Bottom’ E-Rate Review, Local Permitting Shot Clocks at June Meeting
Also on the agenda: subsea cable security licensing, 911 reliability, and emergency alerts.
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2026 – The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote this month on a review of its $2.5 billion-per-year broadband subsidy for schools and libraries, the agency announced Wednesday.
“It is time to review the FCC’s program (known as E-Rate) to ensure great educational outcomes — not distractions or declining performance,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr posted on X.
In a blog post from Carr and in a release on the E-Rate proposal, the text of which will be available tomorrow, the agency cited rising screen time and declining test scores among kids as motivating its review.
The review would be focused on the agency’s interpretation of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which requires E-Rate funding recipients to certify that they block “obscene” or pornographic material, senior FCC officials told reporters Wednesday. Schools taking E-Rate money also have to monitor minors' use of the internet and provide programming on social media safety and bullying.
The item would ask whether the agency’s current implementation of the law was sufficient to protect kids from harmful content online, according to the officials.
If adopted at the June 25 meeting, the notice of proposed rulemaking would also take comment on assessing children’s screen time and “empowering parents, guardians, and teachers in decision-making involving children’s access to E-Rate-funded networks and services,” according to the agency’s release.
An official on the press call said the proposal would also ask whether E-Rate has already fulfilled its Congressional goal, and whether continued funding was consistent with Congress’s objective in standing up the program in 1996.
They stressed that was a small part of the inquiry, which they said was more focused on the CIPA interpretation and ways the agency could strengthen the program.
“As part of this review, we should be careful not to conflate intentional, educational technology use with unsupervised personal phone use, and we should recognize that 'screen time' is not a single, narrow concept,” Joey Wender, executive director of the Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the Commission to find ways to better protect our nation's children while improving a program with thirty years of bipartisan success.”
Arielle Roth, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said in a statement that she supported the proposed review. NTIA held a listening session in December on the consequences of excessive screen time for kids.
“The conversation NTIA began last December continues to grow, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration across the Administration to ensure that federal programs and funding advance educational outcomes while promoting the health, development, and long-term success of America's children,” she said.
The agency is making other changes to the E-Rate program, including instituting a new central portal for providers to submit bids for services schools and libraries need. The process was previously handled internally by each E-Rate recipient, and Carr said the agency was trying to curb fraud with the new portal.
SHLB and others opposed the portal, saying it would be burdensome for subscribers and wasn’t necessary given E-Rate’s low levels of fraud.
Local permitting shot clocks
Also up for consideration will be an item that would seek comment on imposing a 120-day shot clock on state and local permitting agencies before “it is presumed they are prohibiting the project and thus violating the law.”
The provisions would apply only to wireline telecom infrastructure projects; the FCC has ongoing inquiries on whether it should preempt local rules on both wireline and wireless builds. The item would propose limiting fees charged by those permitting agencies.
The notice of proposed rulemaking would also propose prohibiting additional requirements related to wireline telecom infrastructure that “may also be used to provide other services,” the agency said in a release.
That appeared to be a reference to a dispute before the agency in which Maryland ISP Talkie Communications said the state’s effort to impose certain requirements on its fixed wireless build should be preempted.
The state had said the infrastructure would in practice likely be used mostly for broadband, which is not a telecom service that the FCC has legal authority to preempt local barriers to. Talkie countered that its gear would provide telecom voice service and broadband service on a “commingled” basis, and that it was certified to provide voice service in the state.
ISPs have said the FCC should preempt barriers to wireline and wireless deployments. They argue long wait times hold up projects and have asked for a shorter 60-day shot clock.
Local governments have strongly opposed the idea of the FCC (or Congress) preempting their rules, arguing their fees are fair and their reviews are necessary to ensure projects are done safely.
Grant Spellmayer, CEO of cable trade group ACA Connects, praised the proposal on X, writing the FCC “has an historic opportunity to give providers the certainty they need to build their networks and plan long term investments.”
In Carr’s blog, he wrote simply that the item aimed “to cut red tape and accelerate the buildout of wireline infrastructure.”
Subsea cables, other items
Other items up for consideration include an order on submarine cable security. The order would exempt “trusted providers” from rigorous licensing reviews if the companies could certify they adhered to high security standards.
The item would also adopt a licensing regime for companies that operate the terminals where subsea cables connect to the U.S., according to an FCC release.
Companies had opposed the idea, warning it would be redundant and burdensome, and asked for carve-outs if the agency went that route. NTIA agreed and urged the FCC to take those concerns into consideration.
Two other items would “ensure that entities whose operations are essential to 911 call delivery have the necessary reliability and redundancy measures in place,” and improve cybersecurity measures for emergency alert systems, according to Carr’s blog.
