Closing the digital divide one anchor institution at a time.
SHLB & CoSN Request Emergency Connectivity Fund Extension April 05, 2023
For Immediate Release
Contact: Saskya Cabral
Marketing and PR Director
786-486-0257
SHLB & CoSN ask the FCC to extend the Emergency Connectivity Fund service delivery dates from 2023 to 2024.
Washington, D.C. (April 5, 2023) - Today, the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition and the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to extend the current service delivery dates from 2023 to 2024 for applicants that received funding from the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) for eligible equipment, other non-recurring services, and recurring services.
“We applaud the FCC’s hard work to implement the ECF program in an extremely short time frame to meet the needs of students and library patrons during the pandemic,” said John Windhausen Jr., executive director of the SHLB Coalition. “Although the Commission has made significant progress in funding ECF requests, some applicants are either still awaiting approval or received an approved funding commitment with only a limited amount of time to utilize their funding prior to the current service delivery deadlines. Several factors, such as equipment and service substitutions and supply chain and COVID-related delays have made it difficult or impossible for applicants to use all of their approved funding by the current service delivery dates. Extending the service delivery deadlines will respond to the realities of the marketplace and fulfill Congress’ goal to connect vulnerable populations with affordable internet access.”
Specifically, SHLB and CoSN ask the FCC to:
- Extend the current June 30, 2023 service delivery deadline to June 30, 2024 for those Round 1 and 2 applicants that received a funding commitment decision letter or revised funding commitment decision letter on or after March 1, 2022; and
- Extend the current December 31, 2023, service delivery deadline to June 30, 2024, for Round 3 applicants.
The submission can be found here.
###
About SHLB:
The SHLB Coalition is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) public interest organization that supports open, affordable, high-quality broadband connections for anchor institutions and their surrounding communities. The SHLB Coalition is based in Washington, D.C. and has a diverse membership of non-commercial and commercial organizations from across the United States. To learn more, visit www.shlb.org.