Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY ; FCC plans end to school bus internet and library hotspot lending
"It could soon be harder for students to access the internet on school buses and for the public to borrow mobile internet hotspots from libraries.
In a Sept. 23 letter, a coalition of school and library advocacy groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to protect the programs that have allowed schools and libraries to lend out hotspot devices.
"One in five households in our country still do not have access to reliable home broadband. Hotspots are not a permanent fix, but they'll make sure students, jobseekers, veterans and seniors don't get left behind," American Library Association President Sam Helmick said in a statement provided to USA TODAY...
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement that the FCC's authority to fund the Wi-Fi initiatives had ended by the time the Biden FCC voted. He said the E-Rate wasn't meant to provide children with unsupervised access to the internet."
