July E-rate Update
July 10, 2014
Happy mid-July, E-raters! Below is a quick E-rate update:
FCC May Vote on E-rate Modernization Tomorrow: The FCC is slated to vote on major reforms to the E-rate program at their July 11 open meeting. As of now, it is unclear whether there are enough votes to pass the reform package. Should it pass, the actual text of the Order likely will not be available for several more weeks. I will provide you with an update tomorrow afternoon on whether the vote occurred, and if so, I’ll immediately begin planning a series of webinars to spell out the details of the changes as soon as the Order is released.
AT&T Grant Applications Due July 15: Applications for the first phase of funding for AT&T’s $100 million Off-Campus Mobile Broadband Grant are due by July 15. If your school submits an application, will you please let me know? To apply, go to http://www.connectednation.org/attaspire.
FY 2015, Form 470 NOT YET Available: Due to the pending E-rate reforms, USAC has not released the FY 2015 Form 470 yet. In fact, we anticpate that there will be a new form to use and that form will take several weeks to receive approval. In the meantime, if your procurement process needs to start right away and you intend to sign a contract (not MTM services), go ahead and use the currently available Form 470 and make a note in Item 13 that this a procurement that will be for services beginning July 1, 2015.
Status of FY 2014 PIA Reviews: FY 2014 application review is in full swing! By my estimate, nearly 70% of the applications have already been funded. To determine the status of your application, go to http://www.sl.universalservice.org/menu.asp, click on ‘Application Status’ and enter your Billed Entity Number. Then click ‘Continue’ at the bottom of the page. The next page will show you the status.
Don’t Forget to File Your Form 486: If you are one of the lucky 960 PA applicants that have received their their FY 2014 funding commitment letters, don’t forget to file your Form 486 as soon as possible. The deadline for Form 486s is October 28, 2014 for most applications that have been funded thus far, but please don’t wait this long to file. In addition, service providers won’t discount bills without the Form 486 Notification Letter from USAC.
Time to File FY 2013 BEARs to Collect Reimbursement Funding: The 2013 Funding Year has ended and so now is the time to submit the Form 472 — BEAR — to the SLD for services in which you paid a bill that wasn’t discounted from July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014. How do you know if you need to submit a BEAR? The easy answer is that if you received discounted bills from your vendor, you do not need to submit a BEAR (your E-rate discounts were applied to your bill). If you did not receive discounted bills, then you likely will have to file a Form 472 BEAR to collect your reimbursement. The deadline for filing a BEAR is October 28, 2014. Unlike last year when USAC granted an automatic 1-year extension of all invoices, they will NOT be doing so this year. Thus all invoices for Funding Years 2012 and 2013 must be submitted on or before October 28, 2014.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
July E-rate Update
Happy mid-July, E-raters! Below is a quick E-rate update:
FCC May Vote on E-rate Modernization Tomorrow: The FCC is slated to vote on major reforms to the E-rate program at their July 11 open meeting. As of now, it is unclear whether there are enough votes to pass the reform package. Should it pass, the actual text of the Order likely will not be available for several more weeks. I will provide you with an update tomorrow afternoon on whether the vote occurred, and if so, I’ll immediately begin planning a series of webinars to spell out the details of the changes as soon as the Order is released.
AT&T Grant Applications Due July 15: Applications for the first phase of funding for AT&T’s $100 million Off-Campus Mobile Broadband Grant are due by July 15. If your school submits an application, will you please let me know? To apply, go to http://www.connectednation.org/attaspire.
FY 2015, Form 470 NOT YET Available: Due to the pending E-rate reforms, USAC has not released the FY 2015 Form 470 yet. In fact, we anticpate that there will be a new form to use and that form will take several weeks to receive approval. In the meantime, if your procurement process needs to start right away and you intend to sign a contract (not MTM services), go ahead and use the currently available Form 470 and make a note in Item 13 that this a procurement that will be for services beginning July 1, 2015.
Status of FY 2014 PIA Reviews: FY 2014 application review is in full swing! By my estimate, nearly 70% of the applications have already been funded. To determine the status of your application, go to http://www.sl.universalservice.org/menu.asp, click on ‘Application Status’ and enter your Billed Entity Number. Then click ‘Continue’ at the bottom of the page. The next page will show you the status.
Don’t Forget to File Your Form 486: If you are one of the lucky 960 PA applicants that have received their their FY 2014 funding commitment letters, don’t forget to file your Form 486 as soon as possible. The deadline for Form 486s is October 28, 2014 for most applications that have been funded thus far, but please don’t wait this long to file. In addition, service providers won’t discount bills without the Form 486 Notification Letter from USAC.
Time to File FY 2013 BEARs to Collect Reimbursement Funding: The 2013 Funding Year has ended and so now is the time to submit the Form 472 — BEAR — to the SLD for services in which you paid a bill that wasn’t discounted from July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014. How do you know if you need to submit a BEAR? The easy answer is that if you received discounted bills from your vendor, you do not need to submit a BEAR (your E-rate discounts were applied to your bill). If you did not receive discounted bills, then you likely will have to file a Form 472 BEAR to collect your reimbursement. The deadline for filing a BEAR is October 28, 2014. Unlike last year when USAC granted an automatic 1-year extension of all invoices, they will NOT be doing so this year. Thus all invoices for Funding Years 2012 and 2013 must be submitted on or before October 28, 2014.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
— Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
717-730-9060 – f
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org
Penn*link