The North American Catholic Programming Education Foundation (NACEPF) and Mobile Beacon submitted comments on August 8, 2018, in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Transforming the 2.5 GHz Band. NACEPF and its subsidiary Mobile Beacon welcome the Commission’s decision to initiate this EBS proceeding, which has the potential to facilitate 5G wireless deployment, free up additional spectrum for rural deployment, and close the digital divide.  However, some of the Commission’s proposals, if taken together, would effectively eliminate education from the EBS band. We submit that the Commission need not abandon its long commitment to educational use to achieve its objectives.
 
NACEPF has licensed Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum in 51 markets across the U.S., including 9 large metropolitan areas, 18 mid-size markets, and 24 rural, underserved parts of the country. Mobile Beacon, as the service organization of NACEPF, provides EBS service to 799 schools, 739 libraries, and 4,322 nonprofits across the country. These organizations often use Mobile Beacon’s broadband service to expand program services in their communities and help meet the broadband needs of their constituents and program beneficiaries. We estimate that anchor institutions are using Mobile Beacon’s internet service to benefit more than 425,000 individuals throughout the United States. Without any reliance on the universal service fund or other government subsidy program, Mobile Beacon’s service is helping to close the “homework gap”, reach underserved communities, and expand access to lifelong learning, fulfilling the objectives the FCC had over 50 years ago when they reserved the EBS spectrum for educational use. 
 
NACEPF and Mobile Beacon support the Commission’s decision to end the decades-long filing freeze for new EBS licenses, and we urge it to adopt rules that will quickly put unused EBS spectrum into the hands of currently eligible educational and nonprofit entities who will use it to achieve its highest and best use. We look forward to working with the Commission and other commenters in this proceeding to reform and revitalize the EBS band to advance educational and commercial broadband across the country.

NACEPF's subsidiary, Mobile Beacon, and partner PCs for People hosted a Bridging the Gap distribution event in La Junta, CO (a NACEPF market). 

Bridging the Gap, a charitable initiative of PCs for People and Johnston-based internet service provider Mobile Beacon, hosted a computer and mobile-hotspot distribution event May 11 in La Junta, Colo., and will hold another one in Aurora, Colo., May 22. The events are aimed at helping low-income families gain technological tools, Mobile Beacon said in a press release.

On May 11, 170 computers, 85 mobile hotspots – provided by Mobile Beacon – and three months of unlimited internet service were distributed to select low-income students and families living 200 percent below the poverty level, said Mobile Beacon, which also provided financial backing for the events.

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NACEPF and Mobile Beacon issued a statement on the Federal Communication Commission’s vote to begin a new rulemaking to reform the 2.5 GHz Educational Broadband Service (EBS) spectrum today.

NACEPF and its subsidiary Mobile Beacon welcome the Commission’s decision to initiate this EBS proceeding, which has the potential to facilitate 5G wireless deployment and free up additional spectrum for rural deployment. However, we are deeply concerned that the FCC is considering changes that could remove the educational core of this public resource at a time when broadband access for education remains critical. 

For more than 50 years, the FCC has recognized the importance of reserving this spectrum for educational use. NACEPF, like many other EBS licensees, has delivered on that promise —using its EBS spectrum to solve difficult problems like the homework gap. Currently, through Mobile Beacon, 749 schools, 622 libraries, and 4,223 nonprofits across 50 states rely on NACEPF’s EBS service, to support the educational needs of their local communities. 

The US Chamber of Commerce found that among the technologies heralded as a transformative solution for education, broadband has the greatest potential. We look forward to working with the FCC to ensure that the highest and best use of this spectrum includes a focus on education and helping it reach its potential.   

North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. (NACEPF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to using technology to support lifelong learning and helping people of all ages and abilities reach their potential. As the second largest EBS licensee in the United States, NACEPF’s broadband service, religious and educational programming, and advocacy efforts aim to support education at every level. Learn more at www.nacepf.net.  
 
Mobile Beacon, the service entity of the North American Catholic Educational Programming Foundation, Inc. (NACEPF), provides high-speed, low-cost, mobile internet access to the anchors of communities: the nonprofits, schools, libraries, and healthcare organizations that provide vital services to millions of Americans every day. Through this educational broadband service, organizations have an essential tool to fulfill their missions and maximize their philanthropic impact. Learn more at www.mobilebeacon.org.

NACEPF's subsidiary, Mobile Beacon, submitted comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry released December 1, 2017. Mobile Beacon urged the FCC to recommit to the pro-consumer policies that enabled many different types of service providers to participate in the Lifeline program, and specifically opposed the elimination of the Lifeline Broadband Provider designation and the proposal to limit Lifeline provider eligibility to facilities-based providers. ​

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Katherine Messier, NACEPF’s ​Director of Development, co-authored an Op-Ed in the Philanthropy Journal News:
"All too often, institutions that anchor their communities, like nonprofits, libraries and schools, cannot afford the internet access they so desperately need to serve their communities. While there is no single provider or source that can satisfy all of today’s broadband needs, there is one powerful resource that is working to close this digital divide: Educational Broadband Service (EBS)."

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NACEPF Inc.'s ​sponsored a service trip for eight students and two faculty members at St. Patrick Academy to assist with relief efforts from the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. The students spent two days in the towns assisting with cleanup and another day repacking donations at a warehouse in Corpus Christi. 

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In a special presentation at McVinney Auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., sponsored by St. Patrick’s Academy, Immaculée Ilibagiza will reflect on growing up in a country she loved, surrounded by her family she cherished, until her world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a genocide. But, hers is a triumphant story of a remarkable journey to forgiveness. Today, Ilibagiza is regarded as one of world’s leading speakers on faith, hope and forgiveness. Her visit to Rhode Island was made possible through  a special endowment fund that supports initiatives of peace with help from NACEPF Inc.

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Leadership, benefactors and supporters of Rhode Island Right to Life gathered at Cathedral Square on Wednesday, May 31, to unveil the Ancora Women’s Mobile Care Center, a mobile ultrasound clinic that will provide free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds to women in crisis pregnancies throughout the state. the Mobile Ultrasound Clinic was funded in part by a matching $100,000 grant from NACEPF Inc. in memory of Archbishop George Pearce​.

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Oklahoma State University's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and public libraries in four Oklahoma towns are joining forces to provide broadband access in rural areas. The Oklahoma public libraries are using NACEPF Inc.'s ​subsidiary, Mobile Beacon, uncapped mobile broadband to provide internet access to rural parts of the state. 

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