On June 26, 2014, Jon Wilkins, FCC Acting Managing Director, released further details that the FCC and U.S General Services Administration (GSA) will partner to help schools and libraries increase their purchasing opportunities for Wi-Fi equipment. The FCC tentatively plans to vote on new E-rate rules during the July 11, 2014 Open Meeting.
Specially, Mr. Wilkins stated in a blog post today that:
“…the FCC and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) have entered into an agreement to partner to deliver to schools and libraries the opportunity to consolidate their purchasing power and save significant money on wireless access points, routers, and the other equipment they need to deploy modern, robust Wi-Fi networks. We expect this opportunity to be available for E-rate applicants in Funding Year 2015….Specifically, the two agencies agreed to work together to establish blanket purchase agreements (BPAs) administered by GSA’s National Information Technology Commodity Program (NITCP) for the benefit of E-rate eligible schools and libraries. Once implemented, the BPAs would allow schools and libraries to utilize the GSA’s reverse auction platform to seek bids from equipment vendors at prices even better than those already available under the relevant GSA schedule…”
Jon Wilkins full FCC blog post can be viewed here.
