E-Rate
The Schools and
Libraries Program of the
Universal Service Fund,
commonly known as
"E-Rate," is
administered by the
Universal Service
Administrative Company (USAC)
under the direction of
the Federal
Communications
Commission (FCC), and
provides discounts to
assist most schools and
libraries in the United
States to obtain
affordable
telecommunications and
Internet access. It is
one of four support
programs funded through
a Universal Service fee
charged to companies
that provide interstate
and/or international
telecommunications
services.
The Schools and
Libraries Program
supports connectivity -
the conduit or pipeline
for communications using
telecommunications
services and/or the
Internet. Funding is
requested under four
categories of service:
telecommunications
services, Internet
access, internal
connections, and basic
maintenance of internal
connections. Discounts
for support depend on
the level of poverty and
the urban/rural status
of the population served
and range from 20% to
90% of the costs of
eligible services.
Eligible schools, school
districts and libraries
may apply individually
or as part of a
consortium.
Think you can't afford VoIP telephony? If you're like most school districts, you can't afford not to make the change this year!
Many districts are shocked to discover that they can deploy a brand new, state-of-the-art, VoIP telephony service for less than the cost of their existing telephony solution. In some cases, IT Directors have saved their districts tens of thousands of dollars every year. How? By understanding their true total cost of ownership (TCO) for their existing telephony solution and by getting VoIP as a Priority 1 E-Rate service