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The 9th Year of the E-rate Program Has Begun!
Message posted September 13, 2005
I know it's hard to believe, but it's time to begin the E-rate application process for Year 9 (July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007). This process is started by filing the Form 470 to competitively bid the services that are not under contract and for which you would like to request E-rate discounts during the E-rate window. The Form must be posted on the SLD's website -- www.sl.universalservice.org -- for at least a full 28 days before a service provider can be selected and a contract signed. If you are unfamiliar with the E-rate process, you may wish to wait and attend one of the E-rate training workshops (to be announced in the next few days) before you file your Form 470. There have been some slight modifications to the 470 for Year 9 and those are listed below.
What's the deadline to submit the 470? (most frequently asked question)
Technically, the last day to file your 470 is 29 days before the 471 window closes -- which would make the 470 deadline around the first week in January. My advice is to aim to have your 470 posted before you leave for Thanksgiving break (at the latest). Your 28 day clock would expire around the time school closes for the holidays, and then you can sign your contracts and submit your 471 in January. EXCEPTION: If you are school applying for an eFund (Act 183) state grant, you must have completed the competitive bidding process and selected your provider prior to submitting your grant proposal to PDE by the October 31 deadline. This means that if you are applying for an E-rate eligible service, you should post your 470 ASAP in order to meet the mandatory 28 day posting period and have time to evaluate and select your provider by the date you submit your eFund grant proposal.
Have there been any changes to the eligible service list?
There has been a modification proposed to the eligible services list that could affect the filing of your Form 470. Current rules permit applicants to bundle internet access and telecom service for administrative convenience. Under the proposed ESL, these bundles no longer would be permitted. Therefore I strongly suggest that when you file your Form 470, you list telecom and internet in separate categories, even if your Internet Service Provider includes these together in a single bundle that you typically file under Internet Access. We have filed comments with the FCC (http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6518151874) to encourage them to reject this change to the ESL and we'll let you know their final ruling. But for now, it's better to be safe than sorry.
Have there been any changes to the Form 470?
Beginning with Year 9, there have been some slight modifications made to the Form 470. They are:
* Description of Service for RFP Postings: If you indicate that you have an RFP available, you now also must include a description of the services included in that RFP (in order to provide vendors with an indication of whether they want to request a copy of the RFP).
* Item 7b: There is now a new box which asks if you are seeking a contract that features voluntary extensions. If you intend to have any extensions in your contract, you MUST check this box, otherwise they will not approve your application for that contract in the extension years. Also, if you have a current multi-year contract with options to renew, you must post a new 470 for the optional years, UNLESS your previous 470 or RFP contained the renewal provisions.
* Block 2, Items c: There is now a box asking whether you would like to receive discounted billing, whether you want to use the BEAR reimbursement process, or whether you don't have a choice. Unfortunately, there is no way to indicate this choice for each separate service you list on your 470. I suggest that if you want discounted billing, you should also make this clear in your contract with your vendor.
* Item 11: Consistent with the new rules and the 471, there is now a special category just for basic maintenance of internal connections. Don't forget to separate out these requests from the general internal connections category in order to make them eligible.
* Item 13a: There is now a new box which asks you to check the box if no state and local procurement/competitive bidding requirements apply to the procurement of services sought on this Form 470. I suggest you NOT check this box (it's not a mandatory box). Further, I would use the text box included with 13a to include any special requirements you have for vendors.
Can you give me some 470 filing reminders?
* Please file this form online as your 28-day clock begins when you hit submit. If you file on paper, you must wait for the SLD to data-enter your form and the 28 day clock begins when THEY hit submit.
* The 471 applications window dates have not yet been announced, but we expect them to again be from November - early February. You do not have to wait until the 471 window opens to file your 470!
* You must keep all winning and losing proposals for 5 years.
* You also must keep track of the evaluation process you used to select the winning proposal. Don't forget... you may have as many criteria as you like, but price (alone) must be the heaviest weighted factor. For example, if you have 4 criteria that you are using to judge proposals, price must be at least 26% of the weight, will all others being 25% or less.
* Instead of using the print preview feature, after you've submitted your 470, go back to the "apply online" page and choose the "search posted" option. Then type in your 470 number and print off a complete, clean copy of your application.
* The SLD's 470 reminders can be found at: http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/reminders-F470.asp
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at jtschell@comcast.net.
-- Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
jtschell@comcast.net
(717) 730.7133 (voice)
(717) 730.9060 (fax)
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