[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #375: FCC news

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4cast #375: FCC news
March 5th, 2014

FCC logoSince the beginning of the year, some things that have been 
happening at the Federal Communications Commission (and happening to the 
FCC) have been of interest to libraries. Today we share some information 
about two of those things: Network neutrality ("Open Internet") and 
bigger Internet connections for schools and libraries. It's a little 
early yet to know how much of an effect either of these things will have 
on day-to-day library Internet, but we thought you should be aware of 
them. Think of today's post as an FCC FYI.

  * Statement by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on the FCC's Open Internet
    Rules
    <http://www.fcc.gov/document/statement-fcc-chairman-tom-wheeler-fccs-open-internet-rules>
    "A new docket is opened today called 'Protecting and Promoting the
    Open Internet,' so that all public input on the court's remand of
    the Open Internet decision will be collected and available. I will
    recommend to my fellow commissioners that the Commission seek
    comment through a formal rulemaking on the specific rules for
    preserving and protecting the open Internet. The focus of this
    docket will be on issues raised by the D.C. Circuit opinion."
  * Comcast's deal with Netflix makes network neutrality obsolete
    <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/02/23/comcasts-deal-with-netflix-makes-network-neutrality-obsolete/>
    (Washington Post/Timothy B. Lee) "If it wanted to ensure a level
    playing field, the FCC would be forced to become intimately involved
    in interconnection disputes, overseeing who Verizon interconnects
    with, how fast the connections are and how much they can charge to
    do it. At this point, the FCC doesn't have any good options.
    Regulating the terms of interconnection would be a difficult,
    error-prone process. Trying to reverse the decade-old mergers that
    allowed America's broadband market to become so concentrated in the
    first place would be even more so."
  * FCC to invest additional $2 billion in high-speed Internet in
    schools and libraries
    <http://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-boost-investment-broadband-schools-libraries-2b>
    (FCC unofficial announcement) "The additional support will be
    targeted to address the most urgent Internet upgrade needs of
    schools and libraries. Today only about half of E-Rate funds go to
    true high-speed Internet connections. Last summer, the Commission
    began a proceeding to explore ways to modernize the E-Rate program.
    In November, Chairman Wheeler launched a top to bottom review of the
    program to examine how E-Rate can better meet the 21st century
    connectivity needs of schools and libraries."
  * Here's Obama's plan to give teachers and libraries $1 billion a year
    in extra funding
    <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/02/04/heres-obamas-plan-to-give-teachers-and-libraries-1-billion-a-year-in-extra-funding/>
    (Washington Post/Brian Fung) "E-Rate's newest push aims to fix that
    by installing 100 Mbps connections in educational facilities
    nationwide. As the FCC's study implies, need is both relative and
    subjective. That has some critics of E-Rate complaining that the
    program's benefits are unevenly distributed. [...] This is where the
    move to reform E-Rate comes in. Some of this entails ending E-Rate
    discounts for outdated technologies like dial-up connections, but it
    also means a potential change in how E-Rate funds are disbursed."

*/Schools fact:/*

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has set a 
goal of 100 Mbps per 1,000 students and educators in all K-12 schools in 
2014, and 1 Gbps by the 2017-18 school year.
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