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Lack of Funding Hurting E-rate Oversight

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Title:

Lack of Funding Hurting E-rate Oversight (ID: CSD3228)

Origin:

Contributed by Organizations or Campuses (2004)

Type:

Articles, Papers, and Reports

Abstract:

Lack of oversight blamed for E-rate problems at a Congressional hearing this week, H. Walker Feaster III, inspector general of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said a lack of adequate funding for oversight was to blame for much of the fraud and abuse of the E-Rate program. Beginning in January 2003, a series of investigations into the E-Rate program has turned up evidence of widespread fraud and waste, such as $23 million of unused computer equipment and a $58 million network that rarely gets used. Companies including SBC and a subsidiary of NEC America have agreed to repay millions of dollars as a result of federal investigations into alleged abuses. The Office of the Inspector General requested $2 million to conduct audits into the program, which was later raised to $3 million, according to Feaster, but those funds were not included in the FCC's final budget. Feaster said that approximately one-third of the 122 audits conducted by his office during the past year showed substantial violations.

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http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/3370131

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E-Rate