Should You Apply For P2 Funding This Year?
Message Posted February 4, 2010
Each year I'm asked if it's worth the time to apply for internal connections (P2) funding and my typical answer is that if you have a discount below 80%, your chances of being funded are fairly slim. That's based on the P2 threshold pattern from the last 5 years (see below) where no funding was available below 80%. But in 2009, the FCC rolled over nearly $1 billion in unspent money from previous years into the FY 2009 pot of funds and the result may be that requests down to the 70% level may be funded. Unfortunately, this announcement wasn't made until June 2009 -- well after the Form 471 filing window had closed.
So what's my advice for FY 2010? USAC just provided their quarterly report to the FCC that they currently have about another $500 million in used funds from previous years that could be used to supplement future requests. I would expect another $100-150 million to be made available in the next quarter, making the total roll-over amount for FY 2010 about $600-650 million.
While it's impossible to know which years the largest districts in the nation will be applying for P2 funding (which has a huge impact on P2 demand), we know the FCC has now established a pattern of rolling-over unused funding in June into the next funding year, which would be 2010. Therefore, if you have any school buildings that qualify for a 70-90% building discount, I recommend that you consider applying for P2 funding. If you didn't post a 470 for P2 before the deadline, you can still use the PEPPM contract's 470 and just submit a Form 471 (http://www.e-ratepa.org/state_contracts.htm). If you do, be sure to file a separate Form 471 for P1 and P2 requests.
Remember... you can apply for P2 funding for a single high-discount building, even if your district's overall shared discount isn't very high.
FY 2004 - 81%
FY 2005 - 80%
FY 2006 - 86%
FY 2007 - 81%
FY 2008 - 87%
FY 2009 - down to 80%, may go as low as 70%
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me at jtschell@comcast.net. Happy Filing!
- Julie
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