E-rate surcharges on customer bills are NOT required nor necessary. Companies are not required by law or FCC rule to pass universal service costs on to consumers. Long distance companies are saving money through lower connection costs to local phone companies as a result of the Act. More than 30,000 schools and libraries have completed the application process, secured local and state level approval, and committed other financial resources for ineligible hardware, software, training, and the non-discounted portion of discounted services. Plans for next year's school and library programs have been made based on congressional and FCC commitments.
Communities are ready.
More than 100 congressional offices have signed on to letters supporting the e-rate. The e-rate for libraries is clearly needed. Only 1 in 7 public library systems is now able to offer public access to the Web at all or some of its branches, according to a 1997 study by the American Library Association and the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. The study found the primary obstacle to providing Internet access is the ongoing cost of telecommunications charges. The e-rate for schools is clearly needed.