The North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. (NACEPF) and Mobile Beacon joined several public interest groups in filing a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) asking that a decision in the Educational Broadband Service (EBS) rulemaking proceeding be postponed to give the public more time to provide input on key topics in the EBS rulemaking docket, and until a decision on the pending T-Mobile and Sprint merger is decided. Other organizations joining the letter include the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Public Knowledge, and Voqal.
The organizations state there is currently an incomplete record due to several factors, including a 23-year freeze on making this spectrum available that effectively removed EBS from broad public awareness and FCC mapping issues that make it difficult for the public to determine what, if any, EBS white space is available in their county or district. These factors significantly hinder public comment and threaten to undermine the proceeding.
