IT Infrastructure & Management

School-Owned Airwave Rights Studied by FCC

By Rhea R. Borja — March 26, 2003 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Airwaves that are now licensed to schools for educational television could become a new pathway for high-speed Internet and wireless access to students, according to a proposal under review by the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC also may allow K-12 schools and universities, many of which are experiencing budget cuts, to sell those much-sought-after “spectrum” rights to high-tech businesses and other companies.

The proposed changes are part of the agency’s big-picture plan to streamline and modernize rules on the use and management of the nation’s increasingly crowded airwaves, as well as to promote competition and innovation in new wireless technologies. FCC officials estimate it would take at least a year, and opportunities for public comment, for the agency to decide on the proposed changes.

“The opportunity is monumental. ... [T]he time has come to chip off the regulatory barnacles encumbering [these airwaves],” FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell said in a statement this month.

Not everyone agrees, however.

While changes are needed, allowing schools and other nonprofits to sell the rights to their portions of the airwaves is a bad idea, argues FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps.

“Such an outcome would threaten this important educational tool,” he said. “If [these parts of the airwaves] become just another commercial service, we will have lost the last place on the spectrum reserved specifically for education.”

There are 1,275 schools, universities, churches and other nonprofit groups that hold 2,400 spectrum licenses, and which serve millions of students on thousands of channels in more than 70,000 locations.

‘Anytime’ Learning

The South Carolina Educational Television Commission, for example, serves nearly 800 public schools and more than 400,000 students, mostly in rural areas. The Catholic Television Network serves more than 500,000 students and 4 million households nationwide, according to the FCC.

At issue is 190 megahertz of the spectrum in the midst of prime “real estate” desired by wireless and broadcast providers—an area of the airwaves that is often underused by schools and universities, the FCC and some technology-industry officials point out.

Currently, the spectrum space used for educational and cultural programming is about equal to that devoted to cellular phones.

Despite the high stakes involved, it seems that many officials in education don’t know about the proposed FCC changes.

In Missouri, there’s been talk among educators that the licenses are indeed valuable, but they haven’t tried to cash them in, said Joel D. Denney, the associate executive director for education advancement for the Missouri School Boards Association.

“They say, ‘Here’s something we’ve got and don’t use and could reap money for,’ but there’s always the hesitancy to give something up that may have value down the road,” he said.

Other proposed changes are also being weighed. They include modifying burdensome paperwork requirements that hamper wireless services and creating a flexible broadcast “band” that protects traditional television broadcasting, while accommodating newer technologies such as wireless fidelity.

The changes wouldn’t decrease the amount of educational programming for schools, but would increase their ability to use technology, argued Patrick Gossman, the chairman of the National Instructional Television Fixed Services Association. His Detroit-based group is part of a coalition of educational and commercial users that asked the FCC in October to update the rules.

For example, he said, instead of having students use laptops in their science classrooms, they would be able to take those computers or hand-held personal digital assistants, such as Palm Pilots, outdoors to conduct biology or other science experiments.

“We’re pushing for anywhere, anytime learning,” Mr. Gossman said. “The technology is there, but we just can’t do it under the current regulations.”

Related Tags:

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

IT Infrastructure & Management One Solution to Maintaining 1-to-1 Devices? Pay Students to Repair Them
Hiring students to help with the repair process is one way school districts are ensuring the sustainability of their 1-to-1 programs.
4 min read
Sawyer Wendt, a student intern for the Altoona school district’s IT department, repairs a Chromebook.
Sawyer Wendt, who's been a student intern for the Altoona district's tech department since junior year, is now studying IT software development in college.
Courtesy of Jevin Stangel, IT technician for the Altoona school district
IT Infrastructure & Management Schools Get Relief on Chromebook Replacements. Google Extends Device Support to 10 Years
Schools have typically had to replace Chromebooks every three to five years.
4 min read
Photo of teacher working with student on laptop computer.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
IT Infrastructure & Management What We Know About District Tech Leaders, in Charts
Male chief technology officers in K-12 tend to come from technological backgrounds while most female tech leaders are former teachers.
1 min read
Illustration concept of leadership, using wooden cut-out figures and arrows.
Liz Yap/Education Week via Canva
IT Infrastructure & Management How Schools Can Avoid Wasting Money on Technology
A district leader shares ways to ensure ed-tech tools are worth the investment.
2 min read
Illustration of laptop with checklist on the screen
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty