E-Rate News Flash 22-07

E-Rate
   Thursday, June 16, 2022

Issue 22-07

June 14, 2022

E-Rate News Flash

Contents:

  • Announcements
  • Funding Commitment Summary
  • Pending Dates and Deadlines
  • E-Rate and Emergency Connectivity Fund Training Resources
  • E-Rate Process: Activities to Work on Now

Announcements

Participate in Annual National E-Rate Survey

An annual survey is being conducted which asks schools and libraries to contribute their opinions on and experiences with the E-Rate application process. The survey results will be tabulated and shared with Congress, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the public this summer. The survey is available at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/22erate.

E-rate applicants are encouraged to complete the survey to share their thoughts and experiences; all responses are confidential.

FCC Announces Program Demand for Third and Final Emergency Connectivity Fund Window and Issues First Wave of Funding Commitments

Over 7,300 schools and libraries requested $2.8 billion in Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) applications filed in the third and final ECF application window, including over 500 applicants from California requesting close to $500 million. The FCC estimates there is at least $1.5 billion available to fund applications nationwide. Because demand exceeds available funds, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) will first process applications filed by schools and libraries in the most rural and impoverished areas. USAC issued the first wave of funding approvals for applicants in both rural and urban areas that have a 75% or higher rate of poverty, typically indicated by eligibility for the National School Lunch Program. The FCC has not yet announced where it expects the funding cut-off to be in terms of applications filed by organizations with less than a 75% poverty rate. We will report this information as soon as it becomes available.

FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel Proposes that WiFi on School Buses be Added to the E-Rate Eligible Services List

On May 11, 2022, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced a proposal to allow the use of E-Rate funding for WiFi in school buses. The proposal would clarify that the use of WiFi or similar access point technologies on school buses serves an educational purpose, and the provision of such service is, therefore, eligible for E-Rate funding. These services would be added to the Funding Year (FY) 2023 E-Rate Eligible Services List if adopted. The FCC typically issues the draft Eligible Services List for public comment in June or July preceding the application period for the upcoming E-Rate funding year. It is unclear if these potentially-added services would be classified as Category 1 or Category 2 services. We will provide updates in a future News Flash as the story develops.

Important Approaching Special Construction Service Delivery Deadline of June 30, 2022

Schools that have approved funding requests for Category 1 special construction for Funding Years 2019, 2020, and 2021 need to be aware of the approaching deadline of June 30, 2022, in order to determine if services will be installed by the deadline and if an extension will be necessary. FCC rules require that Category 1 services with unique construction be installed by June 30 of the funding year. Applicants may receive a one-year extension if the applicant can demonstrate construction was unavoidably delayed due to weather or other reasons. The applicant must request this extension for Funding Year 2021 by filing an FCC Form 500 in USAC's E-Rate Productivity Center on or before the June 30, 2022 deadline.

Funding Years 2019 and 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCC authorized USAC to automatically extend the deadline for special construction funding requests to June 30, 2022. These funding requests no longer qualify for extension through USAC. Applicants and service providers needing more time to install services must request a waiver of the deadline directly from the FCC. The request for waiver must cite circumstances leading to the delay which were outside of the applicants' and/or service providers' control. Applicants should file the request for waiver as soon as possible and work with their service providers to gather documentation describing delays to construction. The waiver request may be filed in the FCC's electronic comment filing system, https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/standard, under proceeding 02-6 and under type "Petition for Waiver."

Summer Deferral Period Begins for Program Integrity Assurance Review

USAC's Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) reviewers are working diligently to keep the application review process moving quickly in an effort to fund as many applications as possible prior to September 1, 2022. It is important to be aware of the option to place the review of your FCC Form 471 on hold using the summer deferral option since we are now nearing the time of year when many schools will have limited personnel available.

Placing the FCC Form 471 on summer deferral will pause the review process until early September when the review will begin again. If your organization is closed for the summer and/or limited resources will be available to answer questions from USAC PIA reviewers, applicants must perform the following for each FCC Form 471 in order to activate the summer deferral option:

1. Navigate to the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC) portal and log in. The portal can be found at https://www.usac.org/e-rate/resources/e-rate-productivity-center/.

2. Scroll to the bottom of the "Landing Page" and look for the header "FCC Forms and Post Commitment Request."

3. With Radio Button "FCC Forms" selected, proceed to select "FCC Form 471" under Form Type.

4. Select "2022" under Funding Year. This will generate a list of FCC Forms 471.

5. Select the desired form by clicking on the hyperlink found in the Application number. This will open the application and display a new menu across the top of the screen.

6. Select "Related Actions," then select Apply Summer or Winter Deferral.

7. Repeat steps 1-6 for each FCC Form 471 for which you want to apply the summer deferral option.

California Funding Commitment Summary

Emergency Connectivity Fund

Windows 1 and 2

In the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) first and second application windows, California applicants requested over $923 million in funding. To date, USAC has issued $688 million in commitments for California applicants.

Window 3

In the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) third application window, California applicants requested $447 million in funding. To date, USAC has issued $29 million in commitments for California applicants.

E-Rate

Funding Year 2022

For Funding Year 2022, California applicants have successfully submitted 5,337 funding requests for $495 million. California applicants requested $236 million for Category 1 services and $259 million for Category 2 services. To date, USAC has committed $173 million for California applicants.

E-Rate Funding Year 2021

For Funding Year 2021, California applicants have successfully submitted 5,676 funding requests for $375 million. California applicants requested $231 million for Category 1 services and $144 million for Category 2 services. To date, USAC has committed $326 million for California applicants.

Pending Dates and Deadlines

E-Rate deadlines may be viewed or calculated on the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) website at https://www.usac.org/sl/tools/deadlines/default.aspx.

FCC Form 486 Filing Reminder

The FCC Form 486 (Receipt of Service Confirmation and Children's Internet Protection Act Certification Form) notifies USAC that the billed entity and/or the eligible entities that it represents is receiving, or has received, service in the relevant funding year from the named service provider(s).

Funding Year 2021

The first FCC Form 486 deadline for FY 2021 was October 28, 2021, for funding waves 1-11, with services starting July 1, 2021.

Waves #

FCDL
Date

Form 486 Due Date

  
 

1-43

04/17/2021-2/3/2022

Deadline passed for services starting July 1, 2021

  

44

2/10/2022

06/10/2022

  

46

2/24/2022

06/24/2022

  

47

3/3/2022

07/01/2022

  

48

3/10/2022

07/08/2022

  

 

Funding Year 2020

FCC Form 486 must be filed 120 days from the date of the issuance of the Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) or the start date of E-Rate eligible services, whichever is later.

Waves #

FCDL
Date

Form 486 Due Date

  
 

1-78

05/09/2020-10/15/2021

Deadline passed for services starting July 1, 2020

  

84

2/16/2022

06/16/2022

  

85

3/2/2022

06/30/2022

  

Funding Year 2019

For ongoing recurring services, starting on July 1, 2019, the following deadlines have passed or are approaching in the next few months.

Waves #

FCDL
Date

Form 486 Due Date

  
 

1-97

04/27/2019-
1/12/2022

Deadline passed for services starting 07/01/2019

  

101

3/9/2022

07/07/2022

  

103

4/1/2022

07/30/2022

  

104

4/13/2022

08/11/2022

  

 

Applicants missing these or earlier deadlines should closely monitor their News Feed in the E-Rate Productivity Center for an FCC Form 486 Urgent Reminder Letter notification. This letter will allow the applicant a 15-day extension to submit an FCC Form 486 without penalty.

Upcoming Training Events

Numerous training opportunities available for E-Rate and Emergency Connectivity Fund applicants are available or are coming soon.

Universal Services Administrative Company Recorded Resources

E-Rate Resources

USAC has pre-recorded webinars and other materials available on its website at  https://www.usac.org/E-Rate/learn/webinars/. Recently held webinars include the following:

  • Beginning E-Rate Services Webinar (June 9, 2022)
  • PIA and Selective Review Process Webinar (May 12, 2022)

Emergency Connectivity Fund Resources

USAC has conducted multiple office hour webinars for ECF. You may view the webinars and register at this website: https://www.emergencyconnectivityfund.org/training/live-sessions/.

K12 High Speed Network E-Rate Resources

Lunch and Learn Events

K12HSN is currently hosting complimentary "Lunch and Learn" noon-hour office hours and webinars, which focus on the E-Rate and ECF processes from beginning to end and are tailored for California schools. To sign up or to access recordings and materials from the most recent webinars, please visit the following websites:

You may sign up for the next webinar, "Category 2 Implementation, Invoicing, and Deadlines," to be held on June 23, 2022, at noon PST by selecting this link: https://icoe.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3YJKt6ZKRD-PHa1NoMvekw.

Pre-Recorded Webinars Archive

Pre-recorded webinars are available on a wide variety of topics and are available for view at https://www.k12hsn.org/archived-E-Rate-webinars.

E-Rate Process: Activities to Work on Now

Review Your 2022 Funding Commitment Decision Letter and File an Appeal within 60 Days if Necessary

The purpose of the Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) is to notify applicants, and service providers of which funding requests were approved, denied, or canceled and how much funding was committed. The FCDL notification will arrive via email to the FCC Form 471 contact person, form certifier, and the general contact for the service provider. The email notification will include a PDF summary and a CSV file supporting the commitments and/or changes made by USAC during the review process. Additionally, the FCDL is accessible in the applicant's "News" header in the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC) and viewable by any user in the organization with viewing rights. FCDLs are issued by individual FCC Form 471.

Applicants are encouraged to review the FCDL as soon as they are issued. If an applicant does not agree with a commitment, denial, cancellation, and/or change that USAC has made to the application or any funding request, the applicant has 60 days from the date of the FCDL to file an appeal with USAC. Instructions on how to file an appeal are located at this website: https://www.usac.org/about/appeals-audits/appeals/.

When reviewing FCDLs, applicants should verify the application comments, committed amounts, monthly recurring and one-time costs, discount percentage, service provider information, and the total number of funding requests. The PDF and CSV files provide summary information. If applicants are looking to verify corrections or changes to more detailed information such as contract records, individual site enrollments, parent/child relationships, line-item details, and unit costs, quantities, or recipient of services (ROS), the applicant will need to log in to EPC.

In EPC, the applicant may access individual modules from the main landing page by navigating to the "FCC Forms" section. From there, select "FCC Form 471" as the Category and "2022" as the Funding Year. A list of FCC Forms 471 will load for the applicant. Using the hyperlinks to individual FCC Forms 471, the applicant can navigate and view: Summary, Funding Requests, Discount Calculations, or Entity Information. Funding Request Number (FRN) line item details can be accessed by using the individual FRN hyperlinks and selecting each line item to view details.

Additionally, under the Summary view for individual FCC Form 471, applicants may scroll to the bottom of the section to view "FCC Form 471 Generated Documents." The "Original Version" and "Current Version" of the FCC Form 471 can be downloaded in PDF form by selecting the hyperlinks. The "Current Version" of the FCC Form 471 reflects the approved application and may be used in conjunction with a review of the FCDL instead of viewing multiple screens under the FCC Form 471 displayed in EPC.