The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC or Commission) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB or Bureau) has adopted temporary rules to provide immediate relief to schools that participate in the E-Rate program as they continue to encounter ongoing connectivity disruptions in their communications networks during the COVID-19 pandemic. These rules will make additional E-Rate funding available to schools in funding year (FY) 2020 so that schools can purchase additional bandwidth to meet the increased connectivity demand on campuses. The Bureau directs the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to open a second FY 2020 filing window to allow these requests for additional funding without undergoing a new competitive bidding process. This filing window will open upon this Order’s publication in the Federal Register and will close on October 16, 2020.
