That's because the services are eligible for a 90 percent discount from the federal E-rate program. The E-rate program, implemented by the Federal Communications Commission in 1997, provides discounts of up to 90 percent for telecommunications services, Internet access and internal connections to eligible schools and libraries via the Universal Service Fund. The fund gets its money from telecommunications service providers, some of whom directly bill their customers with a universal service fee.
The contract with Fiber Technologies Networks (Fibertech) covers July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2020, with an option to renew for two one-year periods.
The board also approved some other contracts that may receive discounts of up to 70 percent from E-rate.
They include a three-year contract for $571,680 with Consolidated Communications for Local and Long Distance Voice Services; a one-year contract for $360,000 with Sprint for Cellular Voice Services; and a $99,212 two-year contract with Fiber Technologies Networks for Internet access services.
©2015 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
