PA CyberPilot Update – June 2025

June 18, 2025

Good afternoon, PA CyberPilot Participants!  I am writing to provide a few updates and reminders about the FCC’s CyberPilot Program (CPP).

PEPPM Bidding Exemption – The FCC has granted a State Master Contract Bidding Exemption for the 63 cybersecurity-related contracts on the PA PEPPM Contract.  In doing so, the 54 Pennsylvania schools and libraries that were selected to participate in the FCC’s Cybersecurity Pilot Program (CPP or CyberPilot) may utilize the PA State PEPPM Contract as the procurement vehicle for their CyberPilot equipment and service requests.  Consistent with the PEPPM bidding rules, CPP participants must conduct a PEPPM mini-bid and select the most cost-effective bidder.

While similar to the E-rate PEPPM mini-bidding rules, CyberPilot PEPPM mini-bidding uses different product lines, a different cover e-mail template, and a different mini-bid template.  It is important that CyberPilot Participants first begin by reviewing the comprehensive step-by-step CyberPilot PEPPM Mini-Bid Guide, available at: https://e-ratepa.org/?page_id=35967, and then use the attachments on that page to complete the process. 

Note:  If you’re citing PEPPM on your CPP Form 471, you will answer the FRN Procurement Questions as follows:

  • Is this a State Master Contract?  Yes
  • What is the Contract/State Master Contract ID?  You can leave this blank, or you may want to list the PEPPM contract number that corresponds to the product line for which you are purchasing.  See Column H of the PEPPM Cybersecurity Product List.
  • What is the Establishing Form 470?  259999999 (this is a generic 470 number that the CPP Form 471 Guide instructs you to use). 

CyberPilot Form 470 – If you are not using the PEPPM Contract as your procurement vehicle, please post your CPP Form 470 as soon as possible.  Many applicants have been reporting numerous vendor questions related to their RFPs, so you will want to build in a 2-week vendor question cut-off date, then upload answers to those questions, and set the proposal due date for 29 days after that.  Be sure that if you are mentioning a preferred product line that you always include “or equivalent” to allow other manufacturers to submit proposals.   CPP Form 470 User Guide:  Pilot-FCC-Form-470_User-Guide.pdf. 

Form 484 Part 2 – CPP Participants must complete the Form 484 Part 2 to provide additional information related to their cybersecurity data and Pilot project information.  This is a confidential, but required form and may be submitted now, but is not due until September 15, 2025.  Note:  No FCDL can be issued until the Form 484 Part 2 has been submitted.  This form is fairly simple, so don’t put it off.  It can be submitted well in advance of our CPP Form 471.  Form 484 Part 2 User Guide:  Pilot-FCC-Form-484-Part-2_User-Guide.pdf.

CyberPilot Form 471 – The CPP Form 471 is very similar to the E-rate Form 471, except easier!  To file, go to your CyberPilot page in EPC by clicking on the waffle (9 squares) in the upper right corner of your EPC Landing Page.  Then click on Actions on the right side of the page.  If you don’t see the Form 471 (or 484 part 2 or 470) option, it likely means that your EPC Account Administrator has not given you permission to file this form.  Your EPC AA can grant you permission under Related Actions > Manage User Permissions (see slide 31 at: EPC-How-To-Guide-as-of-Nov-2024.pdf). 

Considering Opting Out of CPP?  If you will not be using your CPP grant, you have until July 1, 2025 to notify the FCC of your decision to withdraw.  Should you choose to opt out, let me know and I can provide you with some sample language to submit to the FCC.  We are not sure what happens if you opt-out after July 1, but let’s not find out. 

CPP Funding Commitment Decision Letters – USAC originally stated they expected CPP FCDLs to begin being issued in June, but that doesn’t appear likely to happen.  Regardless, please submit your CPP Form 471 as soon as your procurement is complete and vendor contract(s) has been signed so you are first in line when the FCDLs are issued.

Fate of Cybersecurity Pilot Funding – I still have not heard or read anything (nothing at all) that would lead me to believe that this program is in jeopardy.

SAM.gov Requirement – Please be sure your school or library has a SAM.gov account and that the account is current.  According to the CyberPilot FAQs, all CPP payments will be made via SAM.gov.  Based on our experience with SAM.gov during the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), it takes several months to obtain a SAM.gov account and often takes several months to get the account updated or into approved status if the account has languished.  I will let you know if this requirement changes.

Additional Resources:

If you have any questions, please contact me at jtschell@comcast.net. 

— Julie

Julie Tritt Schell
Pennsylvania E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org

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