Mini-Bid With E-Rate Information

Mini-Bid E-Rate Bidding Information for Schools – FY 2017

For schools that choose to use a Master Contract with an accompanying Form 470, as the procurement option for their E-rate Category 2 applications, a Mini-Bid process must be conducted among all regional manufacturers that can provide that “Category” of equipment in order to meet the E-rate requirement that all equivalent product lines must be provided the opportunity to submit proposals.

A few important notes before you begin:

• The applicant does not need to post an FCC Form 470 to conduct a mini-bid.
• The applicant does not need to wait the required 28-day open requirement. However, a reasonably established due date (example: 7 days) should be used to give providers time to respond for the Mini-Bid.
• The applicant does not need to conduct a Mini-Bid if only one service provider is able to provide the Category service. For example, if three eligible service providers are listed on the contract, but only one can offer the specific Category product or service in the applicant's geographic location, a mini-bid is not required.

Reminder: E-rate rules prohibit bidding vendors from providing the equipment list that will become part of the Mini-Bid. Service providers are allowed to answer general questions about the products and services they sell in response to applicant inquiries, but they may not prepare any part of a RFP or spec sheet that will be used by the applicant for conducting competitive bid procurement. If you don’t know exactly what the model numbers are for the components you need, you should list the manufacturer – if you have a preference – and generally describe the components you need. For example, if you need wireless access points you would simply list wireless access points and estimate the quantity.

What are Steps for Mini-Bid Process?

1. Create Equipment/Needs List for your message on your Mini-Bid equipment/services procurement. If you require installation, configuration, or training be certain to include that on your bid list.
2. Compose E-mail to Vendors. The message can/should be modified to meet your specific requirements, but it must be personalized where highlighted from the included sample, and must give a due date for vendors to submit responses. As a guide, you should give vendors a reasonable about of time to respond (7-14 calendar days).   
3. Determine All Vendors in the Relevant "Category"- E-rate rules where more than one vendor can provide "equivalent" equipment, you must conduct a Mini-Bid among all product lines in that “Category." The Category examples are as follows:
1. Wireless Equipment/Services
2. Switches
3. Routers
4. Cabling/Connectors
5. Firewall Equipment/Services
6. Racks, UPSs, and Caching Servers
4. E-mail all of the vendors (using e-mail addresses in found in contract) with awarded product line in the specific Category and seek pricing proposals for your specific equipment list.
5. Conduct Your Bid Evaluation using the prices contained in the vendor proposals submitted by the required deadline, perform your bid evaluation to select the successful vendor. If a vendor has not responded with a quote by your established deadline, you are not obligated to consider that vendor’s equipment in your evaluation.
1. Price of eligible equipment/services must be the most heavily weighted factor, but you may consider other factors such as previous experience with the District, references, cost to train or certify staff on new equipment, etc.
1. You may use the sample worksheet for your evaluation matrix.
6. Notify Winning Vendor after conducting your bid evaluation and selecting the winning vendor, inform the winning vendor/reseller via e-mail that they have been tentatively selected to provide your E-rate Category 2 equipment and services, contingent on school board approval (if required).
7. Sign and Date the Contract The district should then sign and date the contract, after obtaining any required school board approvals. Be certain that the signing date is on or BEFORE date of filing the Form 471. The date of the school/district signature will be the contract award date.
8. Complete Form 471 and upload the contract into EPC.

Email Sample
Bid Evaluation Matrix Sample

Please contact me at tlawrence@sde.idaho.gov if there are any questions.

Using Master Contracts with E-Rate

Using Master Contracts with E-Rate

When schools, districts, and libraries decide to use a Master Contract for procuring broadband products and services for E-Rate reimbursement, pay close attention to a few important elements below to ensure the process is successful. Please note, this process is only for purchasing product and services that are eligible under the e-rate rules in which you are seeking reimbursement. Under the rules of e-rate and state purchasing laws, there must be an open and fair bidding process to qualify and establish the approved vendor(s) on the Master Contract. The applicant’s goal is to adhere to both state purchasing laws and E-Rate rules.

1. There are two (2) types of Master Contracts (MC). 
1. MC with an accompanying FCC Form 470 number filed by the originator.
2. MC without an accompanying FCC Form 470 number filed by the originator.
2. When using a Master Contract with a valid FCC Form 470 number. 
1. The applicant can complete a FCC Form 471 without filing an FCC Form 470 first.
2. The applicant does not have to complete a formal RFP to accept bids for the products or services.
3. If there are multiple providers listed on the Master Contract for the products or services desired, the applicant must perform a Mini-Bid with all providers on the list that have same or functionally equivalent products or services as the desired.  
4. The applicant would file their own Form 471 and reference the Master Contract Form 470 number.
3. When using a Master Contract without a valid FCC Form 470 number:
1. The applicant MUST complete a FCC Form 470; wait the minimum 28 days to accept bids from providers. An RFP may not be required with the Form 470, but is recommended. (Check ID State Law)
2. If there are multiple providers listed on the Master Contract for the products or services desired, the applicant must perform a Mini-Bid with all providers on the list.
3. The applicant can use the Master Contract as a bid offer for their selection.

Please contact me at tlawrence@sde.idaho.gov if there are any questions.

Funding Year 2017 Form 471 "Window" Now Open

FY2017 Form 471 "Window" Now Open

*** Deadline is May 11, 2017 ***

At noon on Monday February 27th, the FY 2017 Form 471 Application Window officially opened; it will close at 11:59 p.m. on May 11, 2017. This is the 471 deadline for ALL applicants – there will not be a separate consortia/library window like last year – for both C1 and C2 funding requests. The absolute final day to post a Form 470 and still have enough time to submit a Form 471 is April 13, but PLEASE DO NOT WAIT THIS LONG as it will only give you a single day to negotiate a contract, obtain board approval (if required), create the EPC Contract Record, and complete the Form 471. For public schools, I recommend that you build a minimum of a 5-7 day buffer to file all 470s.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

tlawrence@sde.idaho.gov

EPC Profile Admin Window Closes Soon

Final Days to Update EPC Profiles

****Deadline is February 26 – which is a SUNDAY****

Schools only have a few days to update their enrollment/NSLP data in each school’s EPC profile before the special FY 2017 E-rate Admin Window closes at midnight on Sunday, February 26.  I strongly encourage you to consider Friday, February 24 as the deadline because we’re told that USAC’s Client Service Bureau (CSB) will not be open this weekend in case you run into issues. After that, the data will be “locked down” and the Form 471 window will open at noon on February 27.  After the Admin Window closes, it will not be possible to update this data in the EPC profiles because that data will be linked to active library and consortia applications.

Entering Enrollment/NSLP (or CEP) Data in EPC

• Update the Enrollment and NSLP data for each school by clicking on the school’s name from your Landing Page. 
• If you need to add or remove any entities, create a Customer Service Case in EPC by Friday, February 24.
• You may also use alternative data (such as surveys, more recent data, etc.), or last year’s data, but regardless of which data you use, you cannot mix funding years.   
• If a school is participating in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, “CEP” will be noted in the Free/Reduced Lunch Column (Column I) in which case that school’s EPC Profile should mark YES the Community Eligibility Provision and then enter the CEP% number from Column J in the required field. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions at tlawrence@sde.idaho.gov

FY2017 Form 471 Window and Admin Window Dates Announced!!!

Dates:

Admin Window: Open Now – February 26  

Form 471 Window:  February 27 – May 11

We have the dates! USAC has just announced the FY2017 window dates and thus, your E-rate Timetable can be set. Here’s what you should be doing and by when: 

Administrative Window – From now until February 26 – only about 3 weeks, public and nonpublic schools should go into their EPC profiles to update their enrollment/NSLP data and obtain E-rate entity numbers for any new schools or non-instructional facilities. Likewise, if libraries have any changes to their square footage or library buildings, they should make those changes by February 26 as well. After February 26, this data will be locked down and cannot be edited. 

Form 470s – If you haven’t yet posted your Form 470 for services that must be competitively bid for FY2017, you still have some time to do so, although not much. Although the Form 471 deadline is May 11 and therefore the last possible date to file the Form 470 is April 13, you should plan to have your Form 470s posted no later than March 1. This will give you April to evaluate bids and obtain board approval at their April meetings.  

Form 471s – Although the Form 471 deadline is May 11, I strongly encourage you to file early in the Form 471 window, if possible. For contracts that have already been signed or multi-year contracts signed in previous years, filing when the window opens is a great idea to be at the top of the list when they review applications. Regardless, please try to avoid filing your 471 in May, as this will be when the most EPC technical hiccups may occur. 

If you have any questions about the window filing dates, please let me know!

FY 2017 E-rate "Admin Window" to Open Soon

Hello Everyone,

In the next few days, USAC will be announcing the opening of a special “Administrative Window” during which time schools -- not libraries or consortia – can update their schools’ enrollment and NSLP in EPC. This special Admin Window is required in order to avoid having two separate Form 471 filing windows for FY 2017.  The Admin Window is expected to be open for 3-4 weeks, and after that, the school data will be “locked down” and the Form 471 window will open. After the Admin Window closes, it will not be possible to update this data in the EPC profiles because that data will be linked to active library and consortia applications. Please review your schools’ data carefully to ensure that it is accurate. 

As we discussed in the fall training, USAC is expected to allow applicants to use the enrollment/NSLP data that is currently in EPC from FY 2016 – OR – use the updated data that will be in the Idaho NSLP Valid file (you’ll have to use the full data set from one year or the other – you can’t pick and choose which schools use which years’ data). Therefore it is important that you carefully review last year’s enrollment/NSLP data to see which is more advantageous to your district. Although unlikely, your discount may have decreased from last year. Another major reason to not update your data is if the enrollment has declined this year and thus your Category 2 budgets will be less. 

Reminder: You should NOT update your FY 2017 enrollment/NSLP data in EPC now – you must wait for the Admin Window to open.   

Also, at some point before your Form 471 is filed, you’ll want to review the Connectivity Data in your EPC Profile to ensure it’s still accurate. If nothing has changed, you don’t have to do anything. If something has changed, you’ll want to update it before the Form 471 is filed.   

Let me know if there are questions with this process. I can be reached at tlawrence@sde.idaho.gov. 

Have a great day! 

Audio Version of Idaho E-Rate Training Presentation

Hello Everyone and Happy 2017! Its hard to believe we are in 2017 already. I wanted to let everyone know I finally completed the audio version of the E-Rate presentation I did across the state. I have posted to the link below for those who were not able to attend the training in person or if you need a quick refresh on a topic. I broke the presentation up into sections to make it easier to find something and time commitments. My goal is to have this audio version available closer to when the the training has commenced.

Presentations can be found here: https://goo.gl/OtM2VW

Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the presentations.

Thanks,
Todd