SHLB Roundup - Week of May 13

SHLB Weekly Roundup

Explore SHLB’s weekly highlights for the week of May 13.

Issues We’re Watching

Cybersecurity Pilot: On Thursday, May 16, the FCC released the schools and libraries cybersecurity pilot program draft Report and Order. The FCC is slated to vote on the item at its Open Commission meeting on June 6.

SHLB Testimonial - Joshua Edmonds from DigitalC

SHLB Poles Symposium - June 13 in Washington D.C.

Policy Groups Update

Here’s a look inside what was discussed in policy group meetings this week:

Wireless Policy Call: On May 16, Todd Melby, Solutions Architect Fixed Wireless Practice with Netsync walked us through common wireless carrier budgeting processes and provisioning of private LTE systems.

John Harrington, CEO for Funds for Learning, discussed how the E-Rate second modernization order provided a framework for "self" provisioned RF networks that enabled competition and resulted in lower financial demand on the program.

SHLB Filings and Letters

May 13, 2024 - School-Library Opposition to Eyes on the Board Act:

SHLB, CoSN, SETDA, and ALA sent a letter to Chairwoman Maria Cantwell, Ranking Member Ted Cruz and members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to express opposition to the “Eyes on the Board Act” section of the proposed “Kids Off Social Media Act”.

May 15, 2024 - SHLB Support Letter AB2221 California:

SHLB sent a letter to the Chair of the California Assembly Committee on Appropriations to support Assembly Bill 2221. The bill would require broadband applicants and pole owners to work more closely together under reasonable deadlines on pole attachment requests, a process which SHLB believes will help facilitate broadband access to all.

May 16, 2024 - SHLB and OTI Letter - Financial Safeguards for Anchor-Enabled Networks Under E-Rate

SHLB and the Open Technology Institute at New America filed a letter with the FCC suggesting financial safeguards and cost control measures that would support anchor-enabled network funding under E-Rate. While the E-Rate program already contains various financial safeguards that could keep costs low, if the Commission requires additional cost measures to fund anchor-enabled networks, we suggest that it should limit eligibility to specific categories of equipment and limit eligible funding to the cost of the most prevalent commercial approach, such as the average cost for hotspot equipment and service provided by a traditional mobile carrier available in the applicant’s local market.

AnchorNets 2024 Sponsorship Opportunity

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For sponsorship inquiries, please reach out to Eric Fredell at efredell@shlb.org.