Updates for Years 1, 2, and 3 of the E-rate Program
Message Posted April 16, 1999
The following items are regarding years 1, 2 and 3 of the E-rate program and contain general pieces of information as well as important reminders. I apologize for it's length. -- Julie
E-rate Year 1
* If you have submitted a Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form more than forty days ago and have not received a BEAR notification letter and have not heard from the SLD, you can inquire about the status of that BEAR by calling (973) 428-7335 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. EST.
If you submitted a BEAR Form, and it's been 2-3 weeks since you received your BEAR notification letter indicating that your reimbursement has been approved, BUT haven't received a check or credit from your service provider, you may want to call your service provider. If you have problems getting your reimbursements or credits, write Matt Harcourt, the SLD's specialist in service provider relations, mharcourt@universalservice.org.
And don't forget that it's the applicant's choice whether to receive a check or a credit, but you must let your service provider know which method you prefer.
* If you are having problems finding a contact person at your service provider to sign your BEAR form, use the SLD website
<http://www.slcfund.org/> and use the link to SPIN/BEAR Contact Search to find a name. If you have found the contact person, but are having problems getting a signature or any information from your service provider, contact Matt Harcourt <mharcourt@universalservice.org>.
Remember that the first BEAR form you sent in should have been for any charges you overpaid during 1998. You may now file a new BEAR for charges you overpaid during Jan, Feb and March, or you may wait and file a BEAR for all the overpaid charges from January to June. You should consult with your service provider about which way your billing would work best.
* The SLD is completing its task of process appeals. By the end of April, the SLD is expected to contact applicants that have appealed year one funding decisions, although some of you may already have received their decision. A contingency fund has been set aside to cover the costs of anticipated successful appeals. For successful appeals, the SLD will be mailing to applicants the Funding Commitment Letters associated with those successfully appealed funding requests.
If you receive a letter indicating that the SLD has denied your appeal, and you believe strongly that your appeal is meritorious, you should consider appealing to the FCC. If you are unsure whether your appeal has merit, please don't hesitate to contact me. An appeal to the FCC must be filed within 30 days of the date that the SLD issued its decision in response to your
appeal. Filing an appeal with the FCC is a little more complex than filing with the SLD and you should be prepared to submit as much documenting information as possible to help them understand your appeal, particularly since they will be inclined to pay particular attention to the reasons the SLD denied the appeal. If you intend to appeal to the FCC, I would be happy to review your appeal letter to be sure you state your case in the best possible words. Instructions on how to appeal to the FCC at list on
the slc web site at http://www.sl.universalservice.org/reference/appeals.asp
* Important news for 1998 E-rate Participants Regarding Early Expiring Contracts and Extra Time for Installations. In its Tenth Order on Reconsideration released on April 2, the FCC acted on two urgent issues affecting participants in the 1998 E-rate program.
RELIEF FOR THOSE WITH CONTRACTS EXPIRING BEFORE 12/31/98
The Tenth Order grants relief to applicants whose contracts for telecommunications services and Internet access expired before December 31, 1998. Originally, these applicants were prohibited from voluntarily extending their contracts through June 30, 1999 - the end of the 1998 program year - and were not qualified to receive the six additional months of funding granted to those with telecommunications services and Internet access contracts expiring on or after December 31, 1998. With the Tenth Order, the FCC now permits those with telecommunications services or Internet access contracts that expired prior to December 31, 1998, to extend those contracts through June 30, 1999, and to qualify for additional discounts on services received under those contracts from January 1, 1999 through June 30, 1999. (Funds will not be available for the period between the original contract expiration date and December 31, 1998.) The Schools and Libraries Division will contact affected applicants soon with more
information and instructions regarding the next steps they should take.
MORE TIME TO COMPLETE 1998 INSTALLATION PROJECTS
A number of schools and libraries who received funding for internal connections and other non-recurring services have expressed concerns about their ability to complete these projects before the program year ends on June 30, 1999. In the Tenth Order, the FCC grants applicants an additional three months to use their funding commitments for nonrecurring services such as internal networking projects or installation of telecommunications lines. The Order states that applicants funded for such non-recurring
services can extend their contracts and use their funds for those services through September 30, 1999. No additional funding will be committed for these non-recurring services. The SLD will soon provide applicants with step-by-step guidance in this regard.
E-rate Year 2
* The SLD reports that more than 32,000 applications requesting discounts for E-rate eligible services were received by April 6th when the application window closed. About 9,000 filed Form 471 electronically. The total this year is 2,000 above the number received in the application window for Year One. In the first program year, the SLD received more than 30,000 applications within its application window and 26,000 of these applications received discounts for the 1998 funding year - January 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999.
Now the SLD's Problem Resolution Staff will begin pouring through every application to be sure the entries are complete and hand entering the other 23,000 applications that were not filed online. It is my understanding that the problem resolution process will be handled by telephone this year instead of the fax process that was in place last year.
After an application has passed problem resolution, I think the SLD will send the applicant a letter which shows all of the information that the SLD has in their computers so the applicant can check for accuracy.
After problem resolution, the application then proceeds to the Program Integrity Assurance phase of the process where the SLD verifies that all requests are for eligible services, and that discounts are accurate.
* This week, the SLD sent its "demand estimates" to FCC indicating how much they believe applicants requested for E-rate discounts in Year 2. If the FCC acts in its normal fashion, they will set a year 2 Program Funding Level at least a month or two from now. And because the SLD cannot begin to make funding commitments before this level is set, it's my best guess that the Year 2 Funding Commitment Letters won't be mailed by the end of June. I have heard that when the letters are mailed, they will again be in waves.
E-rate Year 3
* Although most of you aren't yet considering the third year of E-rate, I want you to know that several of us are. The SLD has convened a Year 3 Task Force to suggest changes to the program, including simplifying the application process and forms. We met in Washington this week for several days of intense discussions, and I believe that you will be very encouraged by the suggestions that have been made. As soon as draft forms, etc are available to the public, I'll let you know.
* Finally, please remember that if you enter into ANY contracts between now and when the next application window opens, and the contracts contain any E-rate eligible services that will continue after July 1, 2000, DON'T FORGET TO FILE A FORM 470. Many applicants don't realize that the E-rate program does not consider contracts as existing unless they were
competitively bid on the SLD web site for 28 days -- no matter when they are filed. If you have any questions about this provision, please contact me BEFORE you competitively bid the service (don't wait until you are ready
to sign a contract).
Julie L. Tritt
Executive Policy Specialist
Office of Educational Technology
Pennsylvania Department of Education
333 Market Street, 10th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17126
Tel: (717) 705-4486
Fax: (717) 787-7222
00jtritt@psupen.psu.edu
www.L2L.org
| 
Back to 1999 Archives Main