E-Rate payments send $335,276 to broadband in three Alaska towns

Six federal payments totaling $335,276 to Anchorage-based SATEO INC, doing business as Microcom, were signed Aug. 31 and posted to USAspending.gov this week. They come from the Schools and Libraries Program, the federal E-Rate subsidy that discounts broadband and telecommunications bills for schools and libraries by 20 to 90 percent.

The money buys service in small Alaska communities: $302,400 for King Salmon, $19,440 for Pelican and $1,368 for Delta Junction, each a direct payment for specified use that recipients do not repay.

The six are a small part of SATEO's E-Rate billing. The company holds 131 Schools and Libraries awards worth $2.07 million, with a median of $5,850.

E-Rate funding decisions list SATEO as a provider of internet access, basic maintenance and managed broadband.

On Aug. 27, the Alaska Superintendents Association and the Alaska Council of School Administrators separately told the FCC that reducing E-Rate support would disproportionately harm remote districts.