Community Anchor Institutions Encouraged to Apply for Mobile Beacon’s Grant Programs Aimed at Closing the Digital Divide and Homework Gap
Mobile Beacon is now accepting applications for its two grant programs, Connect for Success and Wi-Fly Lending Launch Kit. The grants provide 25 laptops and 25 4G LTE mobile hotspots with free, mobile, and unlimited 4G LTE internet access for one year. Mobile Beacon’s grants are valued at $18,000. Mobile Beacon created the Connect for […]
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Bradley Public Library District Offering Hotspots
Bradley Public Library will be offering Wi-Fi hotspots for circulation through a program with TechSoup and Mobile Beacon. Estimated timeframe for start of the program is the end of July. Continuing Education: Read the full story at KankakeeTimes.com.
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Airwaves reserved for educational purposes may go to 5G
For students at Burton Middle School in Porterville, California, a small city at the southeast corner of the massive and rural San Joaquin Valley where the poverty level is 30 percent, a Wi-Fi signal outside of the school is hard to come by. In a nation where an estimated 70 percent of teachers assign homework […]
Read more Educators Lose Key Resource to Close the Digital Divide and Homework Gap with today’s FCC Vote
“The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. (NACEPF) and Mobile Beacon are gravely concerned about the long-term consequences of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s decision today to dismantle the last 50+ years of public policy that designated a modest portion of licensed spectrum to educational entities to serve their communities. This Order not only […]
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NACEPF and Mobile Beacon Statement Regarding Commissioner Carr EBS Letter
“We are currently reviewing Commissioner Carr’s letter and we will respond appropriately. In the meantime, I note that NACEPF and Mobile Beacon have already provided the Commission with extensive information about the scope and depth of our existing programs, which specifically and successfully provide broadband for educational purposes, not only in our licensed market areas […]
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Schools And Phone Companies Face Off Over Wireless Spectrum
CONSUMERS ARE HUNGRY for data. To give it to them, mobile carriers say they need access to more of the wireless spectrum that carries cellular data, broadcast programming, and all other wireless signals. Carriers complain that the parts of the spectrum reserved for smartphone use are increasingly crowded, at least in urban areas. To keep […]
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Critics blast FCC’s planned changes to EBS 2.5 GHz band, citing harm to education
As the Federal Communications Commission prepares to vote on changes to use requirements for a portion of the 2.5 GHz band, certain non-profit groups and incumbent users voiced criticism Wednesday, citing harm to education and rural Americans. The draft order, released Wednesday, would eliminate educational-use requirements currently in place for licenses in the Educational Broadband Service […]
Read more The FCC’s Draft EBS Order Is Devastating for the Educational Community says NACEPF and Mobile Beacon
The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. (NACEPF) and Mobile Beacon vehemently oppose the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s draft Order regarding Educational Broadband Service (EBS). The proposed Order strips away the educational core of the band, threatens the long-term sustainability of existing programs that serve more than 450,000 low-income and rural Americans today, and […]
Read more NACEPF and Mobile Beacon Respond to FCC Chairman Pai’s Plan for the 2.5 GHz Band
“We are deeply concerned by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman’s blog regarding 2.5 GHz Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum. Flying in the face of unanimous support on the record from Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, public interest groups, and educational associations to preserve the public interest benefits of this spectrum, the FCC is moving forward with […]
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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Aims to Further Deploy 2.5 GHz Band of Spectrum for 5G Wireless Networks
The Federal Communications Commission will vote in July on whether or not to auction off unused portions of the 2.5 GigaHertz (GHz) spectrum band to advance the deployment of 5G wireless networks. Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement that the order would “modernize an outdated regulatory regime” and “give incumbent users more flexibility” by eliminating certain […]
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