The Universal Service Administrative Co. estimates the demand...
The Universal Service Administrative Co. estimates the demand for E-rate funding at $4.986 billion for funding year 2013, it told the FCC Wireline Bureau in a letter Monday (http://bit.ly/ZiVM7m). FY 2013 runs from July 2013 through June 2014. The total…
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estimated demand represents a decrease of $251 million, or 4.8 percent, from the demand last year, USAC said. Priority One funding, which covers telecom services and Internet access, was up almost 11 percent from last year; Priority Two funding, for internal connections, was down more than 18 percent. Eric Iversen, USAC director of external relations, told us the lower number of Priority Two requests is a continuing correction from FY 2010: Due to more “rollover” money being available from past unclaimed funds, all the Priority Two requests that year were approved. That sent a “misleading signal” causing subsequent Priority Two applications to increase, he said; that “artificial escalation” has since “snapped back to more realistic levels.” The lower demand reflects how optimistic applicants are about getting funding, he said. Priority One requests have been going up “because schools and libraries want more bandwidth”; that leaves less money available for Priority Two requests, he said. In many cases, “people understand that it’s just not worth the time” to file those requests, he said.