D.C. Memo: T-Mobile Backs Rosenworcel on Funding Wi-Fi Hotspots Away from Schools
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Wi-Fi Hotspots: T-Mobile is good with FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's controversial Wi-Fi hotspots policy, with the 'Un-carrier' urging rejection of a petition for reconsideration filed by a Texas couple concerned about teen addiction to social media. Rosenworcel's plan directs federal money to allow students and library patrons to use Wi-Fi hotspots away from school campuses and library buildings, an approach some claim violated federal law. "The FCC should reject the petition’s invitation to take a step backwards in its efforts to close the Homework Gap. Putting aside the petition’s statutory arguments, which the [FCC] order already addressed, the petition overlooks how connectivity is a central part of education today, and it overlooks the safeguards contained in the order," T-Mobile said in a filing Tuesday with the FCC. FCC Republicans Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington said the law provided E-rate money for Internet access to classrooms and library buildings and not beyond. Maurine and Matthew Molak, whose 16-year-old son, David, committed suicide in 2016 after relentless cyber bullying at a San Antonio high school, asked the FCC to reverse its W-Fi hotspots decision. They cited not just legal concerns but also the harms of unsupervised teen access to the Internet. The Molaks have sued the FCC in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit regarding agency funding to equip school buses with Wi-Fi access. "Contrary to the [Molaks'] petition’s suggestion, the [FCC's] order’s filtering and program safeguards will ensure that the Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless Internet connectivity now eligible for E-Rate funding are used only for the educational purposes for which they are intended," T-Mobile said. The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), the Open Technology Institute at New America (OTI), and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society filed a joint petition also asking the FCC to reject the Molaks' petition.
