USAC Announces System Consolidation and Impact on E-Rate Productivity Center Availability In its September 13 E-Rate Special Edition News Brief the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) issued long-awaited for news about its plans to consolidate its invoicing systems into the E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC) platform. USAC will be transitioning these systems between October 30 and November 7, 2023. Once the systems have transitioned, school and school district applicants must file requests for reimbursement using the FCC Form 472 Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) in EPC.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced that it will provide additional time for schools or service providers to request reimbursement on ECF funding requests that currently have an invoicing deadline of October 29, 2023 and earlier. The new deadline to submit requests for reimbursement is October 30, 2023. This deadline extension is automatic and applies to the large number of funding requests that had an invoice deadline of August 29, 2023.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued formal notification that the Emergency Connectivity Program (ECF) will end on June 30, 2024. The FCC’s notice includes information about final deadlines to receive equipment, services, and reimbursements for ECF application windows 1, 2, and 3. These deadlines will depend on when schools received their original Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) or Revised Funding Commitment Decision Letters (RFCDLs). FCDLs are initial commitment letters based upon original application values that are approved by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC).

The FCC has announced the inflation-adjusted cap for the E-Rate program for Funding Year 2023 which is $4.768 billion, a 7.0% increase from Funding Year 2022. The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) reported that the total demand for Funding Year 2023 is estimated at $2.944 billion. Since 2016, E-Rate program demand has been well below the available cap, allowing for funding for all requests submitted in a timely manner and in accordance to program requirements.

The FCC Form 471 filing deadline for Funding Year 2023 closes on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 8:59 p.m. PDT. All applicants who are seeking E-Rate funding for eligible services delivered between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, must file their annual FCC Form 471 funding requests in the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC’s) E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC) online portal by the March 28 deadline.

The FCC Form 471 filing deadline for Funding Year 2023 closes on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 at 8:59 p.m. PDT. All applicants who are seeking E-Rate funding for eligible services delivered between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, must file their annual FCC Form 471 funding requests in the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC’s) E-rate Productivity Center (EPC) online portal by the March 28 deadline.

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the approved Eligible Services List (ESL) for E-Rate Funding Year (FY) 2023. No material changes or additions were made to services eligible for E-Rate program funding. The FCC declined to add WiFi on school buses or next-generation firewalls, which include features beyond currently-eligible basic firewalls, to the ESL. With the release of the ESL, USAC can announce the annual FCC Form 471 application filing window, and we expect this announcement soon. We also expect the filing dates to be similar to FY 2022.

The deadline for invoicing the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) for Funding Year (FY) 2021 recurring services and one-time special construction is October 28, 2022. Recurring services consist of Category 1 broadband and Internet access services and Category 2 Managed Internal Broadband Services and Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections. October 28 is the last date a school or school district applicant may file an FCC Form 472 Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) form, or a service provider may file an FCC Form 474 Service Provider Invoice (SPI) for E-Rate reimbursement without an extension.

The deadline for invoicing the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) for Funding Year (FY) 2021 recurring services and one-time special construction is October 28, 2022. Recurring services consist of Category 1 broadband and Internet access services and Category 2 Managed Internal Broadband Services and Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections. October 28 is the last date a school or school district applicant may file an FCC Form 472 Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) form or a service provider may file an FCC Form 474 Service Provider Invoice (SPI) for E-Rate reimbursement without an extension.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued for public comment the draft E-Rate Eligible Services List (ESL) for Funding Year (FY) 2023. The FCC does not propose any significant changes to the ESL. Initial public comments are due September 21, 2022, and reply comments are due October 6, 2022. As noted in our previous News Flash, on May 11, 2022, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel circulated a Declaratory Ruling which, if adopted, would make Wi-Fi on school buses eligible for E-Rate support. If the Declaratory Ruling is adopted, the FCC will separately seek comment on the specific services and equipment needed to provide Wi-Fi on school buses.