SLD News Brief 4/6/12 – Happy Holidays!

Commitments for Funding Years 2011 and 2010

Funding Year 2011. USAC will release FY2011 Wave 42 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) April 11. This wave includes commitments for approved Priority 2 (Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance) requests at 90% and denials at 79% and below. As of April 6, FY2011 commitments total over $2.09 billion.

Funding Year 2010. USAC will release FY2010 Wave 93 FCDLs April 11. This wave can include commitments for approved Priority 2 services at all discount levels. As of April 6, FY2010 commitments total just under $3.05 billion.

On the day the FCDLs are mailed, you can check to see if you have a commitment by using USAC’s Automated Search of Commitments tool.

Network Maintenance Update

The USAC website will be taken down for maintenance from 8:00 am EDT on Friday, April 20 to 8:00 am EDT on Monday, April 23. Both the static pages and the Apply Online and search functions will be unavailable. Users should plan to finish any online activities on Thursday, April 19 or wait until Monday, April 23 to start them.

We apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

Service Provider Training Reminder

The service provider training session in Atlanta is full; we have started a waiting list and will admit additional attendees from that list as spaces become available. If you find that you cannot attend this session, please cancel your registration by sending USAC an email. This will allow us to open a space for someone else.

There is still space available in Los Angeles and we continue to confirm registrations for that session.

To register for a training session and/or to find information on hotel reservations, refer to the Training Sessions and Presentations page on the USAC website.

Correcting Errors Using Your RAL

After you have submitted and certified an FCC Form 471 and USAC has determined that the form is in-window, USAC will issue you a Receipt Acknowledgment Letter (RAL). This letter contains a summary of the data you reported on the FCC Form 471 and gives you an opportunity to submit corrections that are the result of ministerial and clerical errors. Examples of ministerial and clerical errors were included in the Ann Arbor Order (DA 10-2354, released Dec. 16, 2010).

• Note: If you submitted your FCC Form 471 online in-window but did not certify it before the window closed, you should certify it as soon as possible so that it can still be considered in-window. We will discuss the extended certification deadline for online forms in a future issue of the SL News Brief. However, note that USAC will not issue a RAL until the form has been certified by the extended deadline and USAC has changed its status to “CERTIFIED – IN WINDOW.”

If you find that information on your RAL is incorrect and/or missing, mark up a copy of your RAL as indicated in the instructions and submit your corrections to USAC. In addition to the instructions in the RAL, you can review the RAL guidance on the website for additional information.

TIPS FOR RAL CORRECTIONS

1. Verify that you need to submit a correction.

First, compare the data in your RAL and in the Form 471 Display tool with the data in your file copy of the FCC Form 471 to make sure that all of your entries are correct. The RAL includes most of the entries currently in our system, but you must use the display tool to view the information in Block 4 worksheets. Because Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) uses all of this information in its review of your application, it is important that you verify its accuracy.

• If incorrect information appears on the RAL, you can line through the incorrect information and supply the correct information to the right of the incorrect entry.
• If information is missing that should have been included on the FCC Form 471, you can write the missing information by the appropriate field name in the column on the RAL marked “Make Corrections Here.”
• If the incorrect information appears on the Form 471 Display but not on the RAL – for example, if the incorrect information is in (or missing from) a Block 4 worksheet – follow the instructions in the RAL to correct that information.

If all of the information matches, DO NOT submit a RAL correction. Submitting a RAL with no corrections only delays the review of your application.

2. If you submit a correction, make sure your submission is complete and timely.

Mark up the copy of your RAL as indicated in the instructions in the RAL and the RAL guidance on the website. Please make sure your corrections are legible.

• To make corrections to a Block 4 worksheet, you will need to include a copy of the worksheet and/or a separate sheet listing entities to be added, deleted, or corrected. If you do not have a copy of the worksheet, you can use the display tool to print a copy.

You don’t need to include the first two pages of the RAL or any pages that do not contain corrections, but you must always include a signed copy of page 3 of your RAL, even if you are printing out and including other pages with corrections. We cannot process RAL corrections without a signature, printed name, title, contact information, and date.

Check also to make sure you have supplied current contact information. If we have questions about the information you submitted, we will attempt to contact you using the contact information you supplied at the top of page 3 of the RAL. Also, if you are submitting multiple pages, we suggest that you put identifying information – BEN, Form 471 Application Number, and contact person name and telephone number – at the top of each page.

You should submit RAL corrections as soon as you notice an error. Although you can submit corrections up until the time that USAC issues an FCDL, it is to your advantage for us to have your requested corrections in hand when we begin your review.

3. Be prepared to answer questions about your requested corrections.

In some cases, USAC may need to gather more information from you or perform some review work before a requested change can be made. For example, requests to correct some fields – such as the category of service, contract award date, or contract expiration date – may require additional review by USAC to determine of those changes are the result of ministerial or clerical errors. If you have the necessary information at hand, USAC can complete its review more quickly and determine if a correction is permitted under program rules. 

Remember that not all errors can be corrected using the RAL correction process. For example, you cannot request corrections to the Billed Entity name and contact information. If this information has changed, you must contact the Client Service Bureau to make those changes in the database. Those changes will be reflected in program forms you file in the future.

HOW USAC PROCESSES RAL CORRECTIONS

USAC receives corrections by email (through Submit a Question), fax, and mail, and includes a copy of the corrected RAL in the documentation used in the PIA review process.

In general, USAC does not confirm receipt of a corrected RAL. However, you will receive a confirmation by email with a case number if you use Submit a Question to submit your corrections. (Submission options are described in the RAL guidance document on the website.) If you are contacted by a PIA initial reviewer, you can remind him or her that you have submitted RAL corrections. You can also submit corrections to your reviewer when you are contacted.

Your PIA reviewer may have additional questions about the corrections you requested (see above) and may ask you for additional information. If the corrections are allowable, your PIA reviewer will make them in the USAC system, but they will not be reflected in the original view of your application in the Form 471 Display tool.

When you receive your FCDL, you should review it for information on the corrections you requested.

• If you did not request any RAL corrections, a comment to that effect will appear at the top of the Funding Commitment Report attached to the letter.
• If the corrections you requested affected more than one Funding Request Number (FRN), a comment summarizing the actions taken will appear at the top of the Funding Commitment Report.
• If the corrections you requested affected a single FRN, a comment summarizing the actions taken will appear at the top of the page for that FRN.

You should also review the “FCDL Comments” field as it may contain additional information about your corrections.

3/30/12 Latest News & Tips from USAC/SLD

Commitments for Funding Years 2011 and 2010

Funding Year 2011. USAC will release FY2011 Wave 41 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) April 3. This wave includes commitments for approved Priority 2 (Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance) requests at 90% and denials at 79% and below. As of March 30, FY2011 commitments total over $2.03 billion.

Funding Year 2010. USAC will release FY2010 Wave 92 FCDLs April 4. This wave can include commitments for approved Priority 2 services at all discount levels. As of March 30, FY2010 commitments total just under $3.05 billion.

On the day the FCDLs are mailed, you can check to see if you have a commitment by using USAC’s Automated Search of Commitments tool.

Network Maintenance Notification

Beginning Friday morning, April 20, the USAC website will be taken down for maintenance. This maintenance will affect the static webpages as well as the Apply Online and search functions. Although we will attempt to complete our work as quickly as possible, we suggest that users plan to finish any online activities on Thursday, April 19 or wait until Monday, April 23 to start them.

We will provide more details as they become available, and we apologize in advance for any inconvenience.

Service Provider Training Reminder

USAC has announced the opening of registration for the two spring service provider training sessions in May in Atlanta and Los Angeles. If you would like to register for a training session and/or to find information on hotel reservations, refer to the Training Sessions and Presentations page on the USAC website.

How to Use the Form 471 Status Tool

If you want to know the status of your FY2012 FCC Form 471, you can look it up using the Form 471 Application Status Tool. This tool provides real-time information on the status of FCC Forms 471 filed for a specific Billed Entity and funding year.

To use this tool, you must enter a Billed Entity Number (BEN), choose a funding year, and click “Search.” The first screen you see gives you general information about the results of your search. If you click “Continue” at the bottom of the page, you will then see a list containing the following information for every FCC Form 471 filed for the BEN and funding year you entered:

• FCC Form 471 Application Number (assigned by USAC)
• Applicant Form Identifier (created by the Billed Entity)
• Application Status

Below the list of search results is an Application Status Explanation table that provides information on each of the statuses that can be assigned to an FCC Form 471.

Certified FCC Forms 471 – that is, forms filed online and certified online, filed online and certified on paper, or filed on paper – generally begin with one of two statuses: Certified – In Window or Certified – Out of Window.

• Paper forms postmarked on or before March 20, 2012 and forms filed online and certified (online or on paper) on or before March 20, 2012 will generally show a status of Certified – In Window.
• Paper forms postmarked after March 20, 2012 and forms certified (online or on paper) after March 20, 2012 will generally show a status of Certified - Out of Window.
• Note that the status of some out-of-window FCC Forms 471 will be changed to Certified – In Window in the near future. For FY2012, these include forms submitted online on or before 11:59 pm EDT on March 20, 2012 and then certified either online or on paper after the filing window closed but on or before the extended certification deadline. (We will discuss this deadline in a future SL News Brief. However, if you have not yet certified your form, you should do so as soon as possible.) 

FCC Forms 471 in a Certified – In Window status remain in that status until they are assigned to an initial reviewer to begin the Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) application review process. Once the form has been assigned to an initial reviewer, its status changes to Initial Review.

Your initial reviewer may have questions about your application. If so, he or she will attempt to contact you using the preferred mode of contact you indicated on the FCC Form 471 (Item 6c, 6d, or 6e). If your preferred mode of contact is telephone, the initial reviewer will call you and ask you for a fax number or email address in order to send you written questions and/or requests for information.

After the initial review of an application is complete and the reviewer has recommended a decision on funding, the status of the application changes to Available for Final Review. Once the application has been assigned to a final reviewer, the status changes to Final Review.

NOTE: The final reviewer reviews the work of the initial reviewer. If the final reviewer discovers a problem – such as a procedure that was not correctly followed – he or she returns the application to the initial reviewer for additional work. If this happens, the status of the form will change back to Initial Review and your initial reviewer may contact you again. In other words, because this tool shows real-time status, you should not be concerned if your application moves back to Initial Review. 

After the final reviewer is satisfied that all procedures have been properly followed and the decision of the initial reviewer is correct, the application may be subject to additional quality checks, and may move to the status Quality Assurance 1 or Quality Assurance 2. As above, if a problem is identified, the form will return to Initial Review status for resolution.

Once the review process is complete and USAC has issued a decision on an FCDL, the status of the FCC Form 471 changes to FCDL Issued – ‘xx/xx/xxxx’ where the x’s are replaced by the date the FCDL was issued. Note that if some individual funding requests on the application are in an “As Yet Unfunded” or “Under Review” status, one or more subsequent FCDLs may be issued until USAC has issued a funding decision on all the funding requests on the application. If USAC issues more than one FCDL, the date featured on the form’s status will be the date of the latest FCDL for that form.

Some applications may be held or deferred. The following statuses indicate that review of an application has been temporarily suspended:

• Unable to Contact: USAC has attempted to reach the contact person using the information available on the form and in our database and has been unable to do so. If your application is in this status, you should contact your initial reviewer. If you don’t know who your initial reviewer is or are unable to locate his or her contact information, call the Client Service Bureau (CSB) at 1-888-203-8100 and ask for assistance.
• Deferred: USAC has been unsuccessful in contacting you during the summer or winter periods when extended holiday and break schedules occur or – during one of those periods – you asked us to defer our review. (For more information on these summer and winter periods, successful contacts, and response deadlines, refer to the guidance document Deadline for Information Requests posted on the USAC website.) If you feel you should not be in this status, contact your initial reviewer or CSB as described above.
• Awaiting Applicant Documentation: USAC has requested information or documentation from you but does not yet have your response. Contact your initial reviewer if you have any questions about this status.
• Held for further review and other verification: USAC needs to collect additional information and/or verify information already provided before a funding decision can be made. In some cases this can happen quickly; in others, the additional work will take some time.

USAC will not review applications that have the following statuses:

• Canceled: In general, a form in Canceled status was canceled in consultation with the applicant.
• Incomplete: A form in Incomplete status is either a paper form for which data entry has not been completed or an online form for which the “Submit” button has not yet been pushed.
• Complete: A form in Complete status was submitted successfully online but has not yet been certified.
• Certified – Out of Window: A form that remains in Certified - Out of Window status was submitted after the filing window closed or certified after the extended certification deadline or both. It will only be considered for funding after all Certified – In Window forms have been considered.  Except for FY1999, funding has been insufficient to consider funding requests on out-of-window forms.

TRANSITIONING K-12 SCHOOLS TO DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS IN FIVE YEARS

FCC CHAIRMAN GENACHOWSKI AND SECRETARY OF EDUCATION DUNCAN HOST EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY LEADERS, DISCUSS CONCRETE STEPS TO MEET THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSITIONING K-12 SCHOOLS TO DIGITAL TEXTBOOKS IN FIVE YEARS.  News Release  OCHJG  http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-313315A1.doc

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-313315A1.pdf

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-313315A2.pdf

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-313315A3.pdf

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-313314A1.doc

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-313314A1.pdf

1st FY15 Post 471 Window Close News for SLD/USAC

Commitments for Funding Years 2011 and 2010

Funding Year 2011. USAC will release FY2011 Wave 40 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) March 27. This wave includes commitments for approved Priority 2 (Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance) requests at 90% and denials at 79% and below. As of March 23, FY2011 commitments total over $1.98 billion.

Funding Year 2010. USAC will release FY2010 Wave 91 FCDLs March 28. This wave can include commitments for approved Priority 2 services at all discount levels. As of March 23, FY2010 commitments total over $3.04 billion.

On the day the FCDLs are mailed, you can check to see if you have a commitment by using USAC’s Automated Search of Commitments tool.

Service Provider Training Reminder

USAC has announced the opening of registration for the two spring service provider training sessions in May in Atlanta and Los Angeles. If you would like to register for a training session and/or to find information on hotel reservations, refer to the Training Sessions and Presentations page on the USAC website.

Next Steps Related to the FY2012 Filing Window

While it may be tempting to relax or return to other pressing concerns, we suggest that you take the time now to complete or prepare for the next steps in the application process.

Submit your Item 21 attachments.

If you have not already submitted your Item 21 attachments, do so as soon as possible. If you submitted your FCC Form 471 online, you can use your Form 471 application number and security code to submit your Item 21 attachments online. Review the Item 21 Attachments guidance document on the USAC website for the specific information you need to include and for other filing options.

Certify your FCC Form 471.

Within the next few weeks, USAC will issue a reminder letter to applicants identifying all FCC Forms 471 submitted online on or before the last day of the filing window but not yet certified. Applicants will have 20 days from the date of that letter to certify the FCC Form 471 and still have the form be considered in-window. FCC Forms 471 certified after the deadline in the letter will be considered out-of-window. Again, we encourage you to certify your FCC Form 471 now rather than waiting for the reminder letter.

To check the status of an FCC Form 471, click on the “Application Status” button in the Form 471 column of the Apply Online page. Enter the Billed Entity Number and choose the funding year, then click on the “Continue” button on the following page to pull up a list of FCC Forms 471 filed by that Billed Entity with their current statuses. You can also view an individual form and its status using the “Display” button.

Certify any FCC Form 470 that you cited on a funding request. 

Each FCC Form 470 cited in Item 12 of a Form 471 Block 5 funding request must be certified. Because an FCC Form 470 can be posted to the USAC website without being certified, applicants sometimes forget to complete this important step. Although you will be reminded during PIA review if an FCC Form 470 needs to be certified, we suggest that you take the time now to certify any forms that you have cited.

To verify the status of an FCC Form 470, click on the Search Posted button in the Form 470 column on the Apply Online page. Choose the appropriate funding year and, on the following screen, provide the application number or other details that will allow you to locate your form. If the status on the third line of the form display is “COMPLETE,” return to the Apply Online page, click on the “Certify Complete” button in the Form 470 column, and follow the instruction to certify your form either online – if you have a PIN – or on paper. 

Review your RAL and submit any allowable corrections.

USAC issues a Receipt Acknowledgment Letter (RAL) to each applicant that timely certifies an FCC Form 471. This letter contains instructions for identifying and submitting allowable corrections to the form. We suggest that you review your RAL(s) carefully and, if you notice any errors, submit corrections to USAC as soon as possible.

Organize and store your documents.

As part of your application filing process, you may have produced or accessed a number of documents, for example:

• Technology plans
• Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
• Winning and losing bids
• Bid evaluation matrices and other evaluation documents
• Contracts
• National School Lunch Program (NSLP) data reports 
• Alternative discount mechanism documentation (e.g., income surveys)
• Draft or final budgets

You may be asked to provide or refer to some or all of these documents during Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) reviews, appeal reviews, audits, or other program activities. We suggest you take the time now to organize and file all documents related to your application in a manner that will allow you to easily locate and retrieve them for any future needs.

If you would like guidance on how to organize your documentation, review the E-rate Binder Table of Contents in the Reference Area of the website under the heading Samples and Examples.

Check the status of your technology plan.

Applicants requesting discounts for Internal Connections and/or Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections must have an approved technology plan before services start or the FCC Form 486 is filed, whichever is earlier. We suggest you do the following:

• If you are already covered by an approved technology plan, check the expiration date of the plan. For FY2012 services to be covered, your approved technology plan must cover services through at least June 30, 2013.
• If you wrote a new technology plan before you filed your FCC Form 470 for FY2012, make sure you understand the technology plan approval process for your state and/or your entity type. You should be actively working to get your technology plan through the appropriate approval process and approved no later than July 1, 2012 in order for it to cover FY2012 services.

You should also organize and file your documents that relate to technology planning. At a minimum, these include:

• A dated copy of the technology plan that was written before your FCC Form 470 was filed. Note that if a funding request for FY2012 is based on a multi-year contract that has already been in effect for several years, you may still need to refer to the technology plan that served as the basis for the establishing FCC Form 470 for that multi-year contract AS WELL AS the technology plan that covers the upcoming funding year.
• A copy of the final approved technology plan.
• A copy of the approval letter or other proof of approval from the USAC-certified Technology Plan Approver that approved your technology plan. The letter should clearly state the period for which the plan is approved, for example: “This technology plan is approved for the three-year period starting July 1, 2012 and ending June 30, 2015.” 

Prepare for PIA review.

If you have all of your documentation in order, you should be in good shape for PIA review. Remember to respond promptly to any PIA requests for information or documentation. You can ask for additional time to respond if you need it. We will cover PIA review in more detail in future editions of the SL News Brief.

Monitor your preferred mode of contact

Most applications cannot be reviewed without reaching out to the applicant for additional information. If information is needed, however, USAC will attempt to contact applicants using their preferred mode of contact for both problem resolution of forms submitted on paper and for PIA review. Be sure to monitor the preferred mode of contact you indicated on your form so that you can receive and promptly respond to any questions from USAC.

News from SLD for 3/16/12 – Focus: Form 471 Filing

Commitments for Funding Years 2011 and 2010

Funding Year 2011. USAC will release FY2011 Wave 39 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) March 20. This wave includes commitments for approved Priority 2 (Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance) requests at 90% and denials at 79% and below. As of March 16, FY2011 commitments total over $1.94 billion.

Funding Year 2010. USAC will release FY2010 Wave 90 FCDLs March 21. This wave can include commitments for approved Priority 2 services at all discount levels. As of March 16, FY2010 commitments total over $3.04 billion.

On the day the FCDLs are mailed, you can check to see if you have a commitment by using USAC’s Automated Search of Commitments tool.

Service Provider Training Reminder

USAC has announced the opening of registration for the two spring service provider training sessions in May in Atlanta and Los Angeles. If you would like to register for a training session and/or to find information on hotel reservations, refer to the Training Sessions and Presentations page on the USAC website.

Reminders for Last-minute Filers

For those of you that have not yet completed your FCC Forms 471 and Item 21 attachments, we are providing the reminders below to help keep you on track for the close of the application filing window. These reminders have gone out or will go out in shorter emails but are all collected here.

If you are having difficulties filing online, refer to the Tips and Troubleshooting document on the USAC website or call the Client Service Bureau.

General Reminders

1. Don’t put Priority 1 (P1) and Priority 2 (P2) funding requests on the same FCC Form 471. Doing so can significantly delay your funding decisions on the P1 funding requests.

2. If you don’t have entity numbers, you can request them from the Client Service Bureau through Submit a Question, by fax at 1-888-276-8736, or by phone at 1-888-203-8100. You will need entity numbers for the Block 1 applicant and all Block 4 recipients of service.

3. If you are filing online, be sure to click the Submit button, choose your method of certification (online or on paper), and complete the certification process.

4. If you will receive services under a contract, sign and date your contract ON OR AFTER your allowable contract date and BEFORE you submit your FCC Form 471.

Deadlines

1. The FCC Form 471 application filing window will close at 11:59 pm EDT on Tuesday, March 20. Both your FCC Form 471 and your Item 21 attachment(s) must be received or postmarked before the window closes to be considered as in-window.

2. You must wait until your Allowable Contract Date (28 days after the FCC Form 470 was posted) before you can file an FCC Form 471 that cites that FCC Form 470.

FCC Form 471 Block 1

1. If you don’t yet have an FCC Registration Number (FCC RN) for the Block 1 applicant, you can apply for one on the Commission Registration (CORES) System section of the FCC website. You must have an FCC RN to complete Block 1 of the form.

2. If a consultant has a new employee, the consultant must contact the Client Service Bureau to add the employee to the drop-down menu in the online form (Item 6g). Entries cannot be typed into this field.

FCC Form 471 Block 4 Worksheets

1. If you are applying for a new entity, make sure you have supporting documentation to show that it is eligible for participation in the program.

2. Keep documentation that supports your discount calculations – National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility, Direct Certification numbers, alternate discount mechanisms, etc. – so that it will be available for application review.

3. If you have NCES codes for schools or FSCS codes for libraries, have those handy when you file. These codes are not assigned by USAC, but you can search for them on the Search for Schools, Colleges, and Libraries page of the NCES website.

FCC Form 471 Block 5 Funding Requests

1. If you are requesting Telecommunications Services, make sure the service provider you choose is eligible to provide them. You can use the SPIN Contact Search Tool and the notes accompanying your search results to get this information, or ask your service provider.

FCC Form 471 Block 6 Certifications

1. In Item 25d, provide a total budgeted amount for necessary resources not eligible for E-rate support, such as computers, training, software, internal connections, maintenance, and electrical capacity necessary to use the services purchased effectively. Entering zero – unless zero is truly the correct answer – can delay the processing of your application.

2. If you are required to have a technology plan, remember to get your plan approved by a USAC-certified technology plan approver before services start for FY2012.

Item 21 Attachments

1. Review the Item 21 attachment guidance document in the Reference Area of the USAC website for details needed for review, examples, and submission options. If you are not filing online, remember to note the attachment number you provided on your FCC Form 471 funding request (Block 5, Item 21).

2. If your request includes equipment, provide the make and model number for each piece of equipment. Your application reviewer will ask for this information if it is not already included.

3. If you are applying for telephone service, provide the number of lines. Not providing this information – or entering one or zero – will delay the processing of your application.

4. Remember to click the Submit button if you have completed your entries in your online Item 21 attachment. Your attachment is not visible to USAC until you click this button.

Contact the Client Service Bureau (CSB) if you have questions.

You can Submit a Question online, fax your question to 1-888-276-8736, or call 1-888-203-8100. Note that CSB will be open extended hours from Saturday, March 17 through Tuesday, March 20.