FCC Funding Update for E-Rate Requests

This information came through last week from FCC and I want to share with everyone if you hadn't already seen it. This is good news for the FY2016 budget allocation and funding to schools for eligible services.  

The Wireline Competition Bureau released a Public Notice on June 8, 2016, announcing that in light of the current E-rate funding cap of $3.939 billion and available carry-forward funding of $1.9 billion, there is sufficient funding to fully fund all category one and category two funding requests. The Bureau directed USAC to fully fund these requests, using $1.9 billion in E-rate funds unused from previous years and any additional funds needed under the current cap to fully meet demand for such services.

Whew! Form 471 is Submitted for FY2016...What's Next?

Hello Everyone,

Congratulations on the completion of your FY2016 E-Rate filing. Now that the May 26th deadline has come and gone for applicants, you may be asking yourself what is the next step in the process? Don't worry too much as there is a "minute" to breathe a sigh of relief and reflect on what was accomplished in your 470 and 471 process and your upcoming school year. 

So, what's next? That is a good question because as it may or not be obvious with this has been a year full of new processes. The next step is to complete and submit your FCC Form 498. I have added some details below to help you complete the task. Of course, if you have corrections you need to make on your FCC Form 471 you need to complete those ASAP through the RAL correction process in EPC. About that later as we'll focus on the 498 here. 

The FCC Form 498 was previously named SPIN (Service Provider Identification Number) form has now morphed into the "498 ID." The FCC Form 498, traditionally used by service providers, now is being used by Schools and Libraries Program applicants to provide contact and banking information to USAC for use during BEAR invoicing (FCC Form 472). This change allows USAC to have all the necessary banking information so applicants will receive payments directly from USAC rather than through their service provider beginning July 1, 2016. The 498 will be used for FY2016 reimbursements so it needs to be completed sooner than later.   

Main points to consider with this new Form 498: 

1. The Form 498 is located within the EPC under your profile. 
2. The person completing the form MUST be listed as a user in your profile and have the correct role assigned to him/her. 
3. This person will be the CFO/Business Manager in the school district or the main person handling the finances. 
4. If this person is not yet listed as a user in EPC, this will need to be completed by the EPC Admin for your district. The new person will need to be enrolled and then sign into EPC in order to even see the Form 498 option.  
5. After they sign in...go to "My Landing Page" and select your district entity. On the left column select "Related Actions" and then locate "Complete Form 498" from the list. This may sound confusing, but I added a document to help.  

The document I created includes screen shots of the 498 process that may be helpful to follow along. They can be found here >>> https://goo.gl/FbW6QX

As always, I am available for any assistance you may need to complete this FCC Form 498. 

Have a great day!

The following information was originally sent out on April 20, 2016 and copied here. 

Welcome!

I would like to take a minute to welcome everyone to the new E-Rate communication source. My goal is to make this a clean and simple way to update everyone on changes and news around e-rate that affects us in Idaho. This blog will be a source to review information that may have been missed or misplaced. Please feel free to let me know if there are suggested changes in this format. Feel free to share to anyone who may be interested.

USAC Extends Form 471 Window Deadline

USAC’s Special Edition News Brief of April 15, 2016, announced extensions of the FY 2016 Form 471 application window.  For most applicants, the new filing deadline has been postponed by four weeks.  It is now scheduled to close at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 26th.  Libraries and consortia, whose applications depend on the completion of related school district entity data, and who, as a result, may not currently be able to even begin their Form 471s, are being given an additional eight weeks.  The deadline for filing library and consortium applications is Thursday, July 21st.  The Form 471 deadline extensions also extend the last possible dates for filing Form 470s for FY 2016 until April 28th for most applicants, and until June 23rd for libraries and consortia.

Wave 46 for FY 2015 will be released on Thursday, April 21st.  Funding for FY 2015 is available for both Category 1 and Category 2 services at all discount levels.  Cumulative funding for FY 2015 is $3.21 billion.