The Schools and Libraries Division announced that on November 1 it will release another $28.5 million worth of E-rate funding commitments for the 2002 funding year, which started on July 1. The 518 letters sent out contain commitments for both Priority One (telecommunications and Internet access) and Priority Two (internal connections) services. This wave increases slightly the nearly $1.4 billion in funding commitments that had previously been approved.
On the fate of internal connections requests from applicants qualifying for a discount rate of 89 to 80 percent, there was no further news. However, the SLD’s Program Integrity Assurance staff continues to review funding requests at that level.