The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says the decision to invest an extra $2 billion in its E-Rate program could see as many as 54 million students given access to Wi-Fi by 2019.
The E-Rate initiative was first introduced in 1996 with the idea of providing youngsters across the country with basic internet access in schools. After a vote on Friday, however, the group revealed that it will now look to make the existing connections wireless.
At present, the federal scheme spends $2.4 billion each year, with schools required to apply for their own share to help with technological development. According to azcentral.com, the latest decision will see this increased to $3.4 billion for the next two years.
There are also plans in place to increase the budget by $1 billion for a further three years after this period, although confirmation hasn’t yet been provided.
The Arizona Rural Schools Association’s executive director, Bill Blong, believes that a new trend for students to have multiple devices has boosted demand for Wi-Fi significantly. In his region alone, more than 120,000 pupils are set to benefit.
Adding to this, Tom Wheeler, Chairman of the FCC, suggested that an upgrade was long overdue. He was quoted by columbian.com as saying: “No responsible business would stick with an IT plan developed in 1998. We owe the same rigorous self-examination to our schools and libraries.”
