School districts in Lyle and Wishram, Educational Service District 112, and the Fort Vancouver Regional Library should be receiving about $12,515, $2,700, $3,845 and $18,210 respectively for telecommunications services and equipment from the federal E-Rate (education rate) program.
"The communities should be proud of these entities and their wise decisions to take advantage of the E-Rate program," said Kelly Bowe, Sprint's public affairs manager. "It's clear that all of these organizations are concerned with providing a rich learning environment using advanced communications technology."
Sprint, as the local telecommunications provider, will issue checks or credits to the school districts and library from federal funds set aside for the program. The funding is for year three of the program, which ran from July 2000 through June 2001.
Funded at $2.25 billion annually, the program provides discounts of 20 to 90 percent on three categories of service -- telecommunications services, Internet access and internal connections.
E-Rate was introduced in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. One of the purposes of this congressional act was to provide affordable access to telecommunications services for all eligible K-12 public and private schools as well as public libraries, particularly those in rural and inner-city areas.
With Sprint, schools and districts can enjoy the benefits of communications infrastructure tailored specifically to education. Sprint offers a full range of options, including local, long distance and wireless voice, data and video, plus equipment to meet unique educational needs.
E-Rate funding for schools and libraries in Sprint's service areas throughout the Columbia Gorge totals $168,810. Other schools in Klickitat County may have E-Rate applications pending government approval, and information may be released later.
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