FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 
WASHINGTON 
OFFICE OF 
THE CH ... IRM"N 
The Honorable Bill Nelson 
United States Senate 
716 Hart Senate Office Building 
Washington, D.C. 20510 
Dear Senator Nelson: 
July 18,2014 
Thank you for your letter regarding modernization of the Commission's E-rate program 
to enable enhanced broadband connectivity in traditionally underserved areas. We are fully 
committed to ensuring that all schools and libraries have access to high-speed broadband 
necessary to meet their needs, and that includes those schools and libraries you referenced in the 
Panhandle and central Florida that have been unable to receive bids for competitively priced 
services. We were pleased to have a representative from the rural Florida educational 
consortium referenced in your letter participate at our recent E-rate modernization workshop in 
March where this issue was discussed in detail. The issues you have raised are very important. I 
will ensure that your letter is placed in the record of this proceeding, so your views receive due 
consideration as we move forward. 
There are two critical steps that we can take to address this challenge. First, we need to 
provide the schools and libraries that purchase these services better tools to solicit more 
affordable prices where a network is already in place. The Modernizing the E-rate Program for 
Schools and Libraries Order adopted at our July Open Meeting tackles this issue head on by 
providing for more pricing transparency. Second, we need to take steps to provide sufficient 
incentives and funding for providers to build out in areas where high-capacity broadband is not 
currently in place. This issue is being considered in both the E-rate and Connect America 
universal proceedings, as described below. 
Ensuring cost-effective purchasing for schools and libraries is an express goal of theE­
rate modernization process. Where price is a barrier to that infrastructure, the changes we 
adopted will require far greater transparency in what is purchased withE-rate dollars. This will 
allow applicants to see what others are paying for similar services and put them in a better 
position to use that information to negotiate better prices. An example of this effect was 
demonstrated at our recent E-rate workshop when the rural Florida educational consortium 
representative learned about affordable prices for gigabit speed connections in a neighboring 
state. This resulted in a fruitful conversation about how Florida schools could take advantage of 
such an offering. 
Pricing transparency is particularly helpful in rural areas, where there is often less 
competition. Having the knowledge that providers in other similarly rural parts of the country 
are offering the same service at far lower rates should help rural schools and libraries negotiate 
Page 2- The Honorable Bill Nelson 
lower prices. The Order also takes steps to better facilitate consortium-based applications so that 
rural schools may band together with other schools to benefit from bulk-purchasing 
opportunities. 
These are important steps, but additional measures may in fact be necessary to incentivize 
providers to build out in certain remote areas. We continue to analyze whether changes in our E­
rate rules may be necessary to target funds to these areas. That issue remains an open question 
as part of the ongoing E-rate modernization process. Additionally, we are considering what 
obligations to serve rural schools and libraries should be established for recipients of support 
from the Connect America Fund, an annual $1.8 billion rural infrastructure fund administered by 
the FCC. 
Modernization of the E-rate program is among the most important tasks currently facing 
the Commission. The Commission took some important steps in the Order we adopted in July to 
focus program resources on high-speed broadband connectivity both to schools and libraries and 
within schools and libraries while simultaneously improving the efficiency and administration of 
the program and establishing explicit program goals and measurements. There is nevertheless 
more work to be done. It is critical to America's future that our schools and libraries have 
affordable access to modern high-capacity broadband technologies. 
I can assure you that as we continue with reform of this important program, we will take 
the views of all stakeholders into account, including the representatives referenced in your letter. 
Thank you again for your letter. I look forward to working with you toward our mutual goal of 
increased access to high-speed broadband in our nation's schools. 
Sincerely, !J1 / / 
" tP(n~v 
Tom Wheeler