This could be good news, but I'm afraid it won't be. In the agenda for the next meeting, the FCC says it "will consider a Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration that would strengthen the integrity of the E-Rate program by establishing a competitive bidding portal and adopt several proposals aimed at streamlining and simplifying E-Rate program procedures."
First, let's talk about "streamlining and simplifying." I'm all for that, even if the complexity of the program is what keeps consultants like me employed. But when I hear "simplify," I remember the last time the Commission acted to simplify the program. We were at an E-mpa™ conference, and we were all a little worried about our jobs, but when the Order came out and we read it, the reaction was: "Full employment for consultants!" Still, hope springs eternal in my heart, so here's hoping that they really do simplify the program.
But let's go back to the "competitive bidding portal." Again, it could be an improvement, but I'm not confident it will be. Here's the first step I'd like to see in the creation of the portal: compile all state and local procurement rules into one document, so that the portal can be developed to comply with all those rules. Will that happen? No. Instead, we'll end up with a kludgy portal that gets bits pasted onto it as the developers try to shoehorn in all state rules after the fact. Just like EPC, which took years to get right, and is still an amalgam of kludges.
I'll withhold judgement until I see the Order and the eventual portal, but my hope is strained.
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