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STATE
OF
PUBLIC
UTILITIES COMMISSION
January
23, 2007
Access
Fund
ADAMS, Chairman; REISHUS, Commissioner
______________________________________________________________________
I. SUMMARY
In this Order, we approve the use of
Maine Telecommunications Education Access Funds (MTEAF) to support installation
of T-1 lines in certain schools and libraries.
We also approve a final payment for the Maine Learning and Technology Initiative.
II. ADDITIONAL T-1 LINES
The application for Federal E-Rate
for the period July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 is due on February 7,
2007. The Maine State Library recently
sought bids for transport service and Internet service for all schools and
libraries. “Transport-only” DSL service,
which 97 schools and libraries currently use, is no longer available. Therefore, these sites will need to move to
T-1 service. In addition, some schools
and libraries are making maximum use of their current T-1 or DSL
connections. The following criteria has
been agreed upon and recommended by the Maine State Library and Department of
Education for establishing which sites will qualify for additional bandwidth in
FY 2008:
Any site exceeding 85% of the capacity
of a T-1 10 or more times during either September or October 2006, qualifies
for a second T-1.
Applying
this criteria results in approximately 117 sites receiving a second T-1.
We approve the DOE and MSL request
for MTEAF upgrading of current DSL sites and the offering of a second T-1 line
for those schools and libraries meeting the criteria. The current assessment of .07% for MTEAF
should be able to support these additional T-1 lines. We understand that the Public Advocate also supports
this request.
III. LAPTOP PAYMENT
The Commission, in September 2001,
agreed to pay up to $9.0 million (or $2.25 million for 4 years) from MTEAF for
certain aspects of the laptop program.
After examining receipts and expenses in the MTEAF, we informed DOE and
the Utilities and Energy Committee that we would be able to make 3 payments (or
$7 million) and those payments were dependent on full receipt of all expected
Federal E-Rates funds.
To date, the laptop program has
received the following payments from MTEAF:
12/9/02 - $2.25 M
9/2/05 - $2.25 M
4/11/06 - $1.50 M
The
MTEAF recently received 2005 E-Rate funds of $1.3M. Therefore, we authorize the final payment of
$750,000.
Dated
at
BY
ORDER OF THE COMMISSION
_______________________________
Karen Geraghty
Administrative
Director
COMMISSIONERS VOTING FOR:
Reishus