E-rate FAQs: RAL Corrections, Multiple FRNs, Internet Speeds, New 470s
March 17, 2015
Status Update: As of this morning, 385 PA schools and libraries have submitted Form 471s for FY 2015 (representing about 30% of all PA applicants). Below are FAQs related to your recent questions:
Additional Time to Submit Form 470s – As you know, the Form 471 deadline has been extended until Thursday, April 16, 2015. This also means there is a chance for new Form 470s to be posted, should you need to do so. Technically, the new last day to file a Form 470 is Thursday, March 19. But if you wait until this day, you will have no choice but to submit your Form 471 on April 16. Therefore, if you need to submit a new Form 470, please do so as soon as possible to give yourself a few days breathing room at the end of the window.
Internet Upload/Download Speeds – On the Item 21, it asks what the upload and download speeds are. For voice services, these should be left blank or listed as “0.” but for actual Internet requests, be careful in how you list this because the questions are in reverse order. Typically, Internet speeds are listed a download/upload. On the Item 21, it asks for upload speed first, then download.
Creating Multiple FRNs on a Single 471 – Based on a review of the applications submitted thus far, I see that some applicants are submitting a single funding request per application — which is just unnecessary work. It’s true that Category 1 and Category 2 funding requests must be filed on separate applications, but multiple FRNs for the same Category should be filed on the same application to save yourself a lot of work. How? When you are on the FRN Main Page, choose either “Step-by-Step” or “Everything on One Page” to create a new funding request in the application. I recommend “Everything on One Page.”
RAL Corrections – If you have submitted your Form 471, but realized you need to make corrections, you may do so using your yellow RAL (Receipt Acknowledgment Letter) that you receive in the mail from USAC about 2 weeks after submitting the Form 471. When submitting your correction, always include a signed and dated copy of page 3 of your RAL together with your Form 471 number, billed entity name, Billed Entity Number (BEN), and your name and contact information (email, fax, and/or phone). If the corrections you need to make aren’t shown on the RAL documents, print a copy of your Form 471, mark the corrections, and then submit with completed page 3 of the RAL. To email corrections, scan the appropriate page(s) of the RAL. Go to Submit a Question and follow these steps:
• Click “Continue.”
• Under “Topic Inquiry” choose “Other” and click “Go.”
• Choose “Other” and click “Continue.”
• Complete your contact information.
• Select the “Yes” radio button to indicate you want to submit an attachment.
USAC will then send you a reply email. Follow the instructions in that email to attach your scanned document and submit it to USAC.
Or Fax corrections to: (973) 599-6526
Taxes and Fees – Can we increase our contractual amount to include eligible taxes and fees? Yes. Be sure to document your math. These do not have to be broken out separately on the Item and can just be bundled in with the base rate.
NCES Codes – When using the Discount Calculation Template, there are rows to include NCES codes. These columns are optional and most NCES codes are already in the USAC database and will be populated when you upload your template.
State LEA and State School Code IDs – The State LEA code is your PDE AUN number, and the State School Code ID is your PDE building number. These columns are optional on the Template as well, but if you would like to include them, they can be found on the PDE NSLP file (http://e-ratepa.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Oct-2014-NSLP-Building-Data-Formatted.xlsx) or using the EDNA database (http://www.edna.ed.state.pa.us/Screens/wfSearchEntity.aspx).
If you have any questions, please e-mail me at jtschell@comcast.net!
- Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
717-730-7133 – o
717-730-9060 – f
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