North Carolina Department of Public Instruction ~E-Rate

E-Rate in North Carolina

New Director Named

Ed Chase has been named North Carolina's new E-Rate Director. Please read the announcement notice below.

The Universal Service Fund (USF) is one fund with four programs

The four programs are:

High Cost - This support ensures that consumers in all regions of the nation have access to and pay rates for telecommunications services that are reasonably comparable to those in urban areas.
Low Income - This support, commonly known as Lifeline and Link Up, provides discounts that make basic, local telephone service affordable for more than 7 million low-income consumers.
Rural Health Care - This support provides reduced rates to rural health care providers for telecommunications and Internet services so they pay no more than their urban counterparts for the same or similar telecommunications services.
Schools & Libraries - This support, commonly referred to as E-rate support, provides affordable telecommunications and Internet access services to connect schools and libraries to the Internet. This support goes to service providers that provide discounts on eligible services to eligible schools, school districts, libraries, and consortia of these entities.

In the past, only long distance companies made contributions to support the federal Universal Service Fund. In 1996, Congress passed a law that expanded the types of companies contributing to the Universal Service Fund.

Currently, all telecommunications companies that provide service between states, including long distance companies, local telephone companies, wireless telephone companies, paging companies, and payphone providers, are required to contribute to the federal Universal Service Fund. Carriers providing international services also must contribute to the Universal Service Fund.

Telecommunications companies pay contributions into one central fund. USAC makes payments from this central fund to support the four Universal Service Fund programs.

HENDRIX NAMED TO LEAD NORTH CAROLINA'S E-RATE EFFORTS

North Carolina's E-rate efforts have received a boost with the appointment of Benny Hendrix, a technical specialist in the Department of Public Instruction's Instructional Technology division, to lead this work. State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee and State Superintendent June Atkinson made this appointment recently to ensure that North Carolina is leveraging this federal resource.

Hendrix is working on E-rate issues "with the goal in mind of helping local school districts leverage E-rate benefits to deliver the most return possible for local schools," said State Superintendent June Atkinson.

"Our goal is to give local school districts any support, encouragement and technical help that we can so that they can make E-rate work more efficiently for their schools," said State Board Chairman Howard Lee. "The E-rate team under Mr. Hendrix's leadership provides expertise to assist local districts in this effort."

The E-rate efforts include the work of several employees, including a financial specialist, six instructional technology field support employees, a technology specialist and a support person.

Hendrix has a strong background in instructional and school leadership. He first came to the Department of Public Instruction in 1995 as one of the first four instructional technology consultants in the agency. Since that time, he has served as director of the Networking Technologies division, a position from which he focused the division priorities on the educational applications of network infrastructure and telecommunications, and as an instructional technology statewide consultant providing overall management and leadership in the infrastructure, technical and distance learning delivery systems for public schools.

A graduate of Western Carolina University with a master's degree in educational supervision and instructional technology, Hendrix began his career as a mathematics and technology teacher in Henderson County where he also served as director of technology.

The E-rate program is administered by the Schools and Libraries Division of the Universal Service Administrative Company. The program was set up in 1997 when the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Universal Service Order implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Order was designed to ensure that all eligible schools and libraries have affordable access to modern telecommunications and information services. Up to $2.25 billion annually is available to provide these schools and libraries with discounts under the E-rate program for authorized services. North Carolina has received approximately $324 million in E-rate funding since 1998.

E-rate provides discounts of 20 to 90 percent for eligible telecommunications services, depending on economic need and location (urban or rural). The discount level is based on the percentage of students eligible for participation in the National School Lunch Program or other federally approved alternative mechanisms.

NC DPI: E-RATE

E-Rate in North Carolina

New Director Named

The Universal Service Fund (USF) is one fund with four programs

HENDRIX NAMED TO LEAD NORTH CAROLINA'S E-RATE EFFORTS

E-Rate Information