‘Internet to go’ programs get a boost

The Federal Communications Commission voted last month to boost efforts by schools and libraries to loan out portable Wi-Fi hotspots, programs that mostly began before the COVID-19 pandemic but accelerated at its height.

By a 3-2 vote, commissioners OK’d the use of E-Rate funds to support the initiatives. The E-Rate program helps schools and libraries obtain discounted telecoms equipment and internet access, but because the hotspot devices used in these initiatives are taken off-premises, the FCC had to approve new rules.

“[E-Rate] is a quiet powerhouse responsible for providing schools and libraries in every state with support for communications,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Yet despite E-Rate’s overwhelming success connecting schools and libraries, too often that connectivity ends at the edge of the building. The time has come to modernize this program and support students and library patrons wherever they are.”

Library and school programs that loan out hotspots are not new, but they grew rapidly during the pandemic when schools closed and learning went online. According to a 2023 survey by the American Library Association, or ALA, 46.9% of public libraries offer such schemes, a figure that has jumped 14.6% since 2020. The survey also found that the vast majority—95.3%—of public libraries offer formal or informal digital literacy training, while 52% of libraries have applied for E-Rate funding to support their initiatives either individually or as part of a consortium.

One of those institutions is the Kansas City Public Library, which launched its Internet to Go program in 2016 to meet an underserved, transient population, said Cindy Hohl, the Missouri library system’s director of policy analysis and operational support.

Internet to Go allows borrowers to check out a hotspot for up to three weeks on a first come, first serve basis. Borrowers cannot reserve, hold or renew hotspots as they do for books and other materials. Up to now, the program has been funded primarily by philanthropic grants, in a bid to help the approximately 14% of metropolitan area residents that lack internet access at home.

“It really levels the playing field,” said Hohl, who is also president of the ALA. “This is something that could provide [those residents] with that service, even on a temporary basis. It helps them with workforce development, it helps them with health information, it helps them connect with people online. It's so important that libraries support everyone's equal access to information.”

Hohl and others praised the FCC vote, saying it reflects how education has evolved over the last few years and is necessary to ensure the E-Rate program stays current.

“Learning extends outside the classroom or library to homes, while on the go, and in every community space,” said John Harrington, CEO of Funds for Learning, which helps schools and libraries with E-Rate compliance, in a statement. “This move empowers schools and libraries to bridge the homework gap, providing students with the resources they need to succeed academically, regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographical location.”

But some are critical of these hotspot lending programs. Republicans in Congress have repeatedly criticized the FCC for expanding the E-Rate program to include such initiatives, which they say exceeds the agency’s legal authority. The ALA rejected that criticism, arguing that Congress has recognized that services must evolve to meet the goal of universal service.

In a statement after the FCC vote, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said it “will result in taxpayer dollars subsidizing children’s unsupervised internet access while failing to improve learning outcomes for children.”

FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington made a similar argument saying that the program as proposed would not prevent children from using the hotspots to access inappropriate content.

“The item indicates that, rather than real usage safeguards, children using Wi-Fi hotspots will be governed by a clickwrap acceptable use policy posted on a bulletin board,” Simington said in a statement. “That’s interesting. As it happens, parents often have an ‘acceptable use policy’ for their younger children for all kinds of things, zealously enforced, and yet their usage is often anything but acceptable.”

In a fact sheet, the FCC said libraries and schools lending out hotspots will be required to use filters to protect children from harmful content. The agency also promised “numerous safeguards” to ensure the hotspots are used for educational purposes.

Dissenting commissioners also took issue with what they argue is a lack of data and analysis to support the success of hotspot programs. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said that the data available publicly is “concerning,” especially an audit by the Chicago Public Schools Inspector General that found that every device at around three dozen city schools were unaccounted for, while 77,000 devices were reported lost or stolen during the 2021-2022 school year.

“To be sure, one school district’s failure to put in place commonsense safeguards doesn’t necessarily mean that other efforts will lead to similar results,” Carr said in a statement. “But it counsels in favor of the FCC ensuring that strong protections are in place.”

Hohl said the program’s popularity in Kansas City shows how necessary it is to lend out hotspots to residents that lack home connectivity.

“We continue to see increased demand, we continue to see other partners in the community wanting to find out more information and wanting to see how they can help provide this access through their services and programs,” she said. “When we started out with this grant funded project, we wanted to make sure that this was all about digital inclusion. This is several years down the road and we still have a robust program, where we continue to impact the lives of people who need access the most.”