The Federal Communications Commission has parceled out a first wave of $1.2 billion in emergency connectivity funding, which the agency says will help to connect more than 3.6 million students across the United States.
According to the FCC, the $1.2 billion will go to 3,040 schools, 260 libraries and 24 consortia of schools and libraries who applied for support as part of the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund that was established in coronavirus relief legislation. The program aims to connect more schools and libraries by helping to defray the costs of purchases of equipment such as Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, connected devices and accompanying telecom services, to meet remote learning needs of students, school staff and library patrons.
