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                    <p><!-- Make sure you modify the 4Cast title in this section -->
                      <span style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;
                        color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;
                        line-height: 110%;">OPLIN 4cast #393: E-rate
                        reform</span><br>
                      <!-- Make sure you modify the date of the 4Cast in this section -->
                      <span style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: normal;
                        color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-style: italic;
                        font-family: arial;">July 9th, 2014</span></p>
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                    <p style="text-align: justify;font-size: 16px;
                      font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><img
                        src="cid:part4.09020606.02000001@oplin.org"
                        alt="FCC logo" align="left" height="90"
                        width="110">Our apologies if you have already
                      heard about this, but this news is important
                      enough to bear repeating. This Friday (July 11),
                      the Federal Communications Commission will meet
                      and probably come to a decision about making some
                      sweeping changes to the E-rate program. FCC
                      Chairman Tom Wheeler would like to shift E-rate
                      discounts away from supporting outdated
                      technologies - such as pagers and (eventually)
                      plain old telephone service - to more current
                      technology needs, particularly internal Wi-Fi.
                      Does he have support from the Commissioners to get
                      approval for his proposals? We'll find out on
                      Friday.
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                    <ul style="text-align: left;">
                      <li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
                        font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://www.fcc.gov/document/modernizing-e-rate-providing-21st-century-wi-fi-schools-libraries-1">Modernizing
                          E-rate: Providing 21st century Wi-Fi networks
                          for schools and libraries across America</a>
                        (Federal Communications Commission) "Modernizing
                        our rules to facilitate investment in Wi-Fi
                        would result in a 75 percent increase in Wi-Fi
                        funding for rural areas, which have been
                        disproportionately shut out by the current
                        system. Under existing rules rural schools on
                        average receive 25 percent less Wi-Fi funding
                        for every student, and 50 percent less funding
                        for every school, compared to their non-rural
                        peers, because the current rules often put them
                        at the back of the line."</li>
                      <li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
                        font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://gigaom.com/2014/06/20/washingtons-wi-fi-friday-fcc-senate-push-for-more-wi-fi-in-schools-more-unlicensed-airwaves/">Washington's
                          Wi-Fi Friday: FCC, Senate push for more Wi-Fi
                          in schools, more unlicensed airwaves</a>
                        (GigaOM | Kevin Fitchard) "Wheeler is calling
                        for new rules to the government's E-Rate
                        program, which was established 18 years ago to
                        bring internet connectivity to schools and
                        libraries. The program largely accomplished its
                        mission, delivering broadband access to 94
                        percent of U.S. classrooms and 98 percent of
                        public libraries, according to the FCC. But when
                        the rules were originally written, they didn't
                        anticipate the wireless connections most devices
                        would need to make that final hop to the
                        internet."</li>
                      <li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
                        font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://www.districtdispatch.org/2014/06/ala-encouraged-fcc-chairmans-commitment-multi-stage-e-rate-reform/">ALA
                          encouraged by FCC Chairman's commitment to a
                          multi-stage E-rate reform</a> (District
                        Dispatch | Marijke Visser) "Mobile internet use
                        in libraries is exploding, and this first step
                        by the Chairman to address this need is
                        important for the vast number of schools and
                        libraries that have not received E-rate support
                        for internal (e.g., Wi-Fi) connections for many
                        years. But this is not enough to meet our
                        national needs. The lack of access to
                        affordable, high-capacity broadband to the
                        building remains a major challenge for so many
                        libraries and schools. Such access must be fully
                        funded for eligible applicants, regardless of
                        any new funding models for Wi-Fi services."</li>
                      <li style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
                        font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><a
href="http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/210105-e-rate-reform-closing-the-connectivity-gap-in-americas-schools-and">E-rate
                          reform: A sustainable path forward for school
                          and library connectivity</a> (The Hill |
                        Danielle Kehl and Sarah Morris) "Simply put,
                        ubiquitous Wi-Fi cannot achieve its promise
                        without a robust wired backbone that is scalable
                        to meet future needs. That's why a number of
                        stakeholders have recommended that the FCC
                        create a dedicated 'upgrade fund' to help
                        schools and libraries cover high upfront costs
                        associated with capital investments to bring
                        fiber to the premises."</li>
                    </ul>
                    <div style="text-align: left;"> </div>
                    <p style="text-align: left; font-size: 20px;
                      font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;"><small><strong><em>E-rate
                            workshops:</em></strong></small><br>
                    </p>
                    <div style="text-align: justify; font-size: 16px;
                      font-family: arial; line-height: 110%;">
                      As many of you know, OPLIN and the State Library
                      have sponsored E-rate workshops for public
                      libraries, one in the late fall and one in the
                      winter, for a number of years now. This year,
                      because of the anticipated changes, we are
                      planning to do many more workshops in locations
                      around the state and are also looking into
                      improving online delivery of the workshops. Watch
                      for details early this fall.
                    </div>
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