Funding fraud
Fajardo-Velez was eventually sentenced to three years in prison and fined $4 million for irregularities associated with the use of U.S. Education Department funds. The E-rate discounts allocated between 1998 and 2000 were supposed to be used to wire 1,500 of Puerto Rico's schools for the Internet. In 2001, only nine schools had been wired.

Auditors also found nearly $23 million in equipment that had never been installed in the schools, along with $3 million per month spent on high-speed Internet connections in schools that didn't even have PCs. Since 2001, Puerto Rico hasn't received any E-rate funding.

Puerto Rican officials have worked hard to rectify the situation. Cesar Rey-Hernandez, the new secretary of education, said Puerto Rico has been installing gear previously purchased with E-rate subsidies. By the end of August, he expects 1,000 schools to be connected to the Internet through satellite technology. The FCC seems confident about Puerto Rico's reforms and is allowing it to compete for E-rate funds in 2004.

SBC (AT&T) got caught too:

In Chicago, about $8 million worth of equipment provided by telecommunications carrier SBC Communications was never deployed in the city's public schools. One E-rate funding requirement is that equipment be purchased, delivered and installed in the same year that it is funded by the program.

»news.com.com/Eroding+E-rate/2009···723.html]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16621293 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 13:06:22 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16621255 rachelsfx : I hope that is FTTH they are running for $93K a home.

Wow! I love my 100/50 HSI and 3 million channels for $95 a month. Thanks USF! I'm only worth $9.5 million. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16621255 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 13:01:37 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16620680 KrK : $93,000 for each home.

I'm betting they could put DSLAM's that serve whole small towns in for less then that.

Everyone knows USF stands for Universal Slush Fund. No wonder the Telcos want cable companies and IP companies to have to pay into this fund as well.... more Slush for them.
--
"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16620680 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 11:40:32 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16620612 aztecnology : Gosh, why didn't I go to school with Michael Powell...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16620612 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 11:32:17 EDT http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16620567 kdandaoc : Here in Chicagoland, we're getting ripped by feds looking into political favoritism, why should the federal gov't be any different?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16620567 Tue, 01 Aug 2006 11:26:40 EDT