Washington, DC - The FCC has just announced the 2024 funding year window dates and eligible services list with additional details for the "Learn Without Limits" initiative for school bus wi-fi.

Funding Year 2024 Deadlines

• January 15, 2024 - Deadline to update enrollment and NSLP/CEP data
• January 17, 2024 - Form 471 "Window" opens
• February 28, 2024 - Deadline to file E-Rate form 470
• March 27, 2024 (11:59 PM ET) - Deadline to file E-Rate form 471

The Final Funding Year 2024 Eligible Service List

The 2024 Eligible Service List provides additional clarification regarding school bus wi-fi eligibility and coverage. The summary below is courtesy of E-Rate Central:

• Both Wi-Fi equipment (e.g., antennas, routers, modems, and associated installation charges), and wireless internet services will be considered Category 1.
• Rural schools can enter into contracts with multiple service providers on their buses to assure coverage over wide areas; urban schools are restricted to using only one provider per bus (but may use different providers on different buses).
• Maintenance and operation services are deemed ineligible.
• Eligibility applies to school-owned, leased, or contracted school buses.
• Services may be reimbursed for all twelve months of the funding year with no discount or premium during the summer months.” “However, applicants may not warehouse equipment or fail to turn on the service for student use during the twelve months.”
• “Occasionally used chartered buses (e.g., used for school field trips), municipal and city buses generally used for the transport of non-students, and other types of school-owned, leased, or contracted vehicles (e.g., vans and cars)” are not eligible.
• Applicants utilizing bus Wi-Fi will be expected to ensure that the service is used primarily for educational services consistent with E-rate rules. This means implementing “content and user network restrictions consistent with the restrictions that they place on their building-based broadband network, as described in their Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) and any other policies that limit a school’s network access."
• General community use “outside of permissible educational purposes” is
  prohibited and would require Wi-Fi connections to be disabled.
• Funding for Wi-Fi on school buses “remains subject to all existing E-Rate rules and requirements, including those related to competitive bidding, cost allocation, and discounting rules.”

Join us for one of our upcoming webinars E-Rate Funding to Fuel School Bus Wi-Fi Initiatives for complete details. Don't miss this opportunity to learn how you can leverage E-Rate funding to provide equity and access for your students. Register now!

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About Premier Wireless
Premier Wireless specializes in technology solutions that enable safety, innovation, communication, and transformation to increase efficiencies and minimize costs for organizations in the education, public, non-profit, and private sectors. Premier’s ConnectED Bus Solution is a complete system. It includes routing and recording capabilities, fleet maintenance, Wi-Fi, and a parent app, in addition to many other functions, all tailored to your organization’s unique needs with the ability for expansion.