October 3, 2025
Written by Noelle Ellerson Ng, Associate Executive Director, Advocacy & Governance
The FCC voted 2 to 1 on orders that would make both Wi-Fi on school buses and Wi-Fi hotspots ineligible for E-Rate support. Commissioner Gomez issued strong dissents which argued that the Commission had failed to allow public input before making these decisions, that there was adequate statutory support for allowing the E-Rate to support both, and that there was significant public harm caused by these decisions. We will update the blog with details of the timing of implementation and what the roll back means for districts and libraries who may have applied for this use in the current application cycle.