Wireless Players Want FCC to Expand Wi-Fi Hotspots Approach

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2024 – Leading voices in the wireless sector have backed a proposal calling for a shift in funding rules that would relieve schools of a costly and cumbersome process: managing Wi-Fi hotspots.

Qualcomm, a leading developer of semiconductors and software, along with CTIA, the nation’s leading wireless industry association, each submitted filings Friday urging the Federal Communications Commission to grant requests from the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Schools, Health, Libraries & Broadband Coalition to broaden the scope of E-Rate funding.

“Qualcomm respectfully requests the FCC grant the unopposed petitions that ask the agency to provide E-Rate funding for mobile service to laptops and tablets with embedded mobile connectivity, rather than require all schools and libraries to pay for and administer separate, standalone mobile hotspots to provide connectivity to students in need,” stated Qualcomm’s filing signed by John Kuzin, Vice President of Spectrum Policy & Regulatory Counsel.