FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn touted a proposal to overhaul the Universal...

adjusting for inflation the E-rate spending cap. Because of the annual spending limit of $2.25 billion, spending has actually fallen by $650 million in inflation-adjusted dollars, she said. She strongly supports the creation of Unified Community Anchor Networks, she said, which would be modeled after the research and education (R&E) broadband networks like Internet2 and National LambdaRail. The R&E networks provide high-speed service to 66,000 community anchor institutions, yet there are more than 210,000 such institutions, she said. “Expanding the R&E network model to other anchor institutions could offer tremendous benefits because many community institutions lack the resources to maximize their use of broadband,” she said. Clyburn also spoke of the need to encourage more people to make use of broadband once it’s available to them. She said the National Digital Literacy Program (NDLP) proposed in the National Broadband Plan has “great potential.” On the libraries’ side, the digital literacy challenges they face might evolve, but the need for services will continue, she said. A significant part of the NDLP is the recommendation that the Institute of Museum and Library Services develop guidelines for public access technology to help libraries assess their needs for public access workstations, portable devices and bandwidth. “After public access technology guidelines are developed, Congress should then consider providing additional public funds to expand organizational training and capacity,” she said.