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Law360 (August 24, 2020, 10:20 PM EDT) -- Cisco Systems Inc. has asked the Federal Communications Commission to bend a rule that limits the use of E-Rate subsidies to the installation of broadband connections for schools and libraries so that the funds can also be used to pay for network security measures.
The telecom hardware and software company filed a waiver petition with the FCC on Thursday, telling the agency that it should use about $1.5 billion in unspent funding in the program to shore up educational and library networks from an increasing barrage of threats.
A waiver is necessary because "the sudden and widespread shift to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic has vastly increased the vulnerability of schools' and libraries' networks to cyberattacks," the company said.
As school districts hammer out plans to hold fall classes partially or fully online, educators and regulators are scrambling to get as many students connected to the internet as possible. Since March, the shutdown of schools and shift to online teaching caused by the coronavirus pandemic has exposed just how many families lack at-home internet access — about 12 million children and 18 million households.
To address that gap, some districts have parked Wi-Fi-connected school buses in disadvantaged neighborhoods and opened up library networks to visitors in parking lots. Schools are also footing the bill for mobile-connected laptops and tablets that students can take home.
This increased reliance on educational networks means that districts must also emphasize the security of those networks, Cisco wrote, citing research that lists educational institutions as the current top target of cyberattackers.
"The waiver requested herein would allow E-rate funding to be used to protect the same internal networks that E-rate currently funds," Cisco wrote. "As such, funding network security measures will protect the Commission's investment in schools' internal networks and advance E-rate goals."
The FCC has already extended a number of emergency waivers in its Universal Service Fund to meet immediate connectivity needs arising out of the coronavirus pandemic. The broad, four-prong program — of which E-Rate is one branch — generally subsidizes internet and phone connections for consumers, as well as communications infrastructure in hard-to-reach areas.
--Editing by Jill Coffey.
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