{"id":26881,"date":"2018-08-09T03:17:51","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T03:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e-ratepaorg.local\/?p=26881"},"modified":"2018-08-10T03:19:41","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T03:19:41","slug":"august-2018-e-rate-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=26881","title":{"rendered":"August 2018 E-rate Update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>August 9, 2018<\/p>\n<p>Happy summer, E-raters!\u00a0 I know E-rate is the very last thing on your mind these days, so I\u2019ll try to keep this brief (so you\u2019ll read it!).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>FY 2019 E-rate Window Filing Dates &#8211; <\/strong>USAC is expected to announce the FY 2019 filing window dates in the next few days which will be the earliest such announcement ever.\u00a0 The real news, however, is that they will likely announce that these will be the permanent filing dates that we can count on for all future funding years.\u00a0 Hurray for predictability!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>FY 2019 Form 470 Available<\/strong> \u2013 The FY 2019 Form 470 is now available to use if you need to start your procurements early.\u00a0 The Category 1 drop down options are *barely* improved from last year, unfortunately.\u00a0 I will be sending a complete breakdown of the changes shortly, but if you need to post a 470 before September and need assistance, please let me know.\u00a0 If possible, wait until you receive my 470 guidance before filing for FY 2019.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Important<\/strong><strong> \u2013 Timing of FY 2019 PEPPM Mini-Bids<\/strong> \u2013 If you intend to use the PEPPM Mini-bid system as the procurement vehicle for your FY 2019 Category 2 equipment purchases<strong>, NOTE THAT YOU CANNOT RELEASE A PEPPM MINI-BID TO VENDORS UNTIL AT LEAST JANUARY 2, 2019<\/strong>.\u00a0 The reason is\u00a0 that the current PEPPM contract expires at the end of 2018 and the next contract will not become available for use until January 2, 2019.\u00a0 Thus, no mini-bids can be issued to the new awarded vendors until at least that date.\u00a0 The Form 471 filing deadline is expected to be mid-March, which means that, assuming your PEPPM procurement is conducted in early January, your C2 contracts will have to go to your school boards in late January or February. \u00a0Yes, it\u2019s going to be a very compacted bidding\/contract approval\/contract signing window this year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>FCC Requests Comments on Draft FY 2019 Eligible Services List<\/strong> \u2013 Each summer, the FCC releases the draft E-rate Eligible Services List for the upcoming funding year.\u00a0 The FY 2019 draft ESL is available at <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.fcc.gov\/public\/attachments\/DA-18-789A1.pdf\" class=\"mtli_attachment mtli_pdf\">https:\/\/docs.fcc.gov\/public\/attachments\/DA-18-789A1.pdf<\/a>.\u00a0 There are very few changes from last year and I expect the final ESL will be approved this fall and will almost mirror the draft.\u00a0 If you would like to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/ecfs\/filings\">submit comments<\/a> to the FCC on the draft ESL, they are due August 29, with reply comments due September 13.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Changing EPC Account Administrators\/Adding New EPC Users:\u00a0 <\/strong>Summer often brings staffing changes and it\u2019s important that the new staff get set up in EPC so they are prepared to file for FY 2019 this fall.<strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>Hints:\u00a0 Only AA\u2019s can create new EPC user accounts and assign User \u2018permissions.\u2019\u00a0 Only AAs can transfer their AA \u2018credentials\u2019 to another existing EPC User.\u00a0 If the AA is the new staff member and the previous AA is no longer with the school or library, contact CSB at 888-203-8100 and they will set up a new EPC AA account (only CSB can do this).\u00a0 Also, if you need any new E-rate contacts added to the PA E-rate Listserve, please e-mail me their contact information.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Also\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t forget to file FY 2017 BEARs<\/strong> \u2013 The deadline to file Form 472 BEARs for recurring services is October 28, 2018.\u00a0 I\u2019ll send a message to the listserve in early September with a detailed list of who still must file (file now to not show up on this list).\u00a0 If you want to see the invoice status of all FY 2017 FRNs as of June 29 or review the BEAR Filing Guide, go to:\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=26451\">https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=26451<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t forget to file FY 2018 Form 486s<\/strong> \u2013 The Form 486 tells USAC that you are CIPA compliant and services have started, and is due no later than 120 days from the FCDL date or July 1, whichever is later.\u00a0 I\u2019ll send a separate message to the listserve in a few weeks showing which entities haven\u2019t filed yet. \u00a0See <a href=\"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=25591\">https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=25591<\/a> for a copy of the Form 486 Filing Guide.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget not to get \u201cclick happy\u201d on the CIPA certifications as this will land your 486 in manual review and delay its approval significantly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Enjoy the remaining days of your summer and we\u2019ll ramp up for Funding Year 2019 in September!<\/p>\n<p>&#8212; Julie<\/p>\n<p>Julie Tritt Schell<br \/>\nPA E-rate Coordinator<br \/>\n717-730-7133 &#8211; o<br \/>\n717-730-9060 &#8211; f<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:jtschell@comcast.net\">jtschell@comcast.net<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.e-ratepaorg.local\">www.e-ratepa.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=eratepenn\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-size=\"large\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 9, 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-listserve_archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}