Senator Tester and Montana Governor Steve Bullock recently sent a letter to FCC Chairman Pai regarding technical barriers blocking high-speed Internet deployment causing delays with fiber projects and impeding closing the digital divide in the state of Montana. The letter urges the FCC to take immediate corrective actions to remove “…recently instituted questionnaire that ask parties to provide unnecessary information to the federal government. The questionnaire asks for excessive information that is difficult for companies and small school districts to deliver to the FCC….”
On May 10, 2018, FCC Chairman Pai agreed that bureaucratic red tape should not stand in the way of the E-rate program delivering the high-speed Internet to districts and that an effective E-rate program can “…be a powerful tool to help bridge the digital divide…” Chairman Pai also stated that there “…have been serious flaws in the administration of the E-rate program” which is “…why I have asked the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to improve administration of E-Rate so that schools and libraries in need do not get trapped by unnecessary technicalities.…”
Chairman Pai’s letter to Senator Tester and Montana Governor Bullock can be viewed here.
