October 21, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m so excited to announce the beginning of the E-rate Funding Year 2025 application process! Below is a summary of the changes you can expect for FY 2025, important reminders, and a helpful \u201cwhat to do by what date\u201d chart at the bottom. Many of these changes and updates were also presented in the FY 2025 Veterans Webinar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, if you\u2019re new to E-rate or need a refresher, please be sure to register for one of the upcoming Beginners\u2019 Trainings being held this week: https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?page_id=745<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Off-campus hotspots and related mobile wireless Internet services are eligible for Category 1 E-Rate funding beginning in FY 2025.\u00a0 Applicants are limited to device\/service plan funding caps and all equipment and services are subject to the E-rate competitive bidding process.\u00a0 Complete details are available at:\u00a0Hot-Spot-Lending-Webinar-Oct-2024-PA.pdf<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0and on\u00a0USAC\u2019s site<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0The Form 470 has been revised to include options for this equipment\/service option and screenshots are available on\u00a0slide 4<\/a>.\u00a0 Also, I created a calculator for determining your 3-year hotspot budget (and 45% calculation) and it\u2019s available at:\u00a0\u00a0Hot-Spot-3-Year-Budget-Calculation-Worksheet-.xlsx<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For many years, applicants and service providers have used the FRN Status Tool<\/a> (FST) to download FRN details by funding year. Soon, USAC will be decommissioning this tool and requiring everyone to use Open Data instead. Open Data contains about every piece of application data since 2015, and requires a bit more filtering to obtain the data you need. There are OD \u201cTools<\/a>\u201d that have pre-determined datasets, but all E-rate datasets<\/a> also are available. The tool most similar to the FST is: E-Rate-FRN-Status-Tool-FY2016-\/8xzh-ytkh<\/a>. I encourage you to become familiar with Open Data and the tools available, and watch USAC\u2019s OD Training Webinar<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the last few months, applicants have been reporting they are receiving the following error message when logging into EPC after they go through multi-factor authentication: \u201cAuthSDKError: Unable to parse a token from the URL\u201d. We have found the three possible ways to overcome this error are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) Cleare your cache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) Select Control F5 when you receive the error.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3) Enter this USL after receiving the error and it often takes you directly into EPC without requiring a new authentication – https:\/\/portal.usac.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beginning in FY 2024, libraries will have a Category 2 Form 470 bidding exemption) where the total pre-discount price is $3,600 or less per library per funding year. The cost cannot be averaged across a number of libraries and signed contracts are still required prior to filing the Form 471. For example, if a library system requests C2 support for 3 libraries, the amount of funding for each library must be $3,600 or less to be eligible for this exemption from filing the Form 470. Schools are not included in this exemption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beginning immediately, a 10% ineligible usage safe harbor for all applicants is established which says that cost allocation is not required when ineligible usage of Internet is limited to 10% or less of total usage. This change is a huge relief for our Career Technology Centers that offer adult education classes, schools that operate child-care and health care centers, etc. as they no longer have to worry about whether a nominal amount of their Internet usage is being used for technically ineligible purposes. \u201cAs a means of providing a safe harbor, we adopt a presumption that if at least 90% of an applicant\u2019s requested Internet service is being used for eligible purposes, the remaining ineligible use of the Internet service will be presumed to be ancillary and, therefore, cost allocation is not required.\u201d The FCC emphasized that applicants are still required to select the most cost-effective Internet service offering to meet its needs, may seek E-rate funding only the amount of bandwidth needed for eligible use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you haven\u2019t yet done so, now is the time to file Form 470s for expiring or new Category 1 services, and Form 470s (or PEPPM mini-bids) for Category 2 purchases that you will need for FY 2025 (July 1, 2025 \u2013 June 30, 2026). <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have any questions, please don\u2019t hesitate to contact me! <\/p>\n\n\n\n — Julie<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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<\/strong>Beginning in FY 2024, school bus wi-fi equipment and service became E-rate eligible. The FY 2025 Form 470 has been modified to include new Category 1 options for School Bus Wi-Fi Equipment and School Bus Wi-Fi Internet Service (must be requested separately). A School Bus Wi-Fi Guide is available at: School-Bus-Wi-Fi-Eligibility-and-Filing-Guide-1.pdf<\/a>. Also, helpful RFP templates are available at: https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=35259<\/a>.
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FY 2025 is the 5th<\/sup> and final year of the current 5-year Category 2 budget which spans FY 2021 \u2013 FY 2025. To view your remaining C2 budget for FY 2025 (as of 9\/17\/2024), see: https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=35679<\/a>. If you update your C2 enrollment in EPC, the C2 budget will change and the results can be found on USAC\u2019s C2 Budget Data Tool at: E-Rate-C2-Budget-Tool-FY2021-\/8z69-hkn7<\/a>. Simply use the filter on the right side of the page.\n\n
<\/strong>The FY 2025 \u2018Administrative Window\u2019 is the period when schools and libraries update their schools\u2019 enrollment and NSLP\/CEP data or library\u2019s square footage. If your school participates in NSLP or CEP, you may wish to wait until the PDE enrollment data is released mid-December before deciding whether to update your C2 enrollment budget and requesting a C2 budget recalculation with USAC. However, if you would like to update your C2 data in EPC now, here\u2019s a guide to help: Entering-Enrollment-NSLP-Square-Footage-in-EPC-FY-2025.pdf<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>If you were committed funding in Funding Years 2021, 2022, 2023 or 2024 and your expenses were not as high as you anticipated or you didn\u2019t need the funding, you may want to file a Form 500 to cancel or reduce the FRN. Why? Because these remaining funds will be put back into your Category 2 budget for the remaining 2 years of this C2 budget cycle. Please note: If you don\u2019t use the funding and don\u2019t file the Form 500, the funds aren\u2019t automatically reinstated into your account. You must take this proactive step to reduce the funding commitment to get the funds back into your C2 budget. To learn more about returning unused C2 funding from prior years, see: https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=35679<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
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If you need to change your EPC Account Administrator or Add\/Remove EPC Users, be sure to refer to my EPC Guide: EPC-How-To-Guide-as-of-Nov-2023.pdf<\/a>. 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<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
The FCC has not yet released the official FY 2025 Eligible Services List (ESL) which means that USAC cannot yet announce the official Form 471 Filing Window dates. However, they indicated recently that they expect the window dates to be very similar to last year, which means it would likely open around the second week in January and close around mid-late March 2025. For a suggested FY 2025 bidding\/filing timeline, see the chart at the bottom of this message.
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The \u201cAdministrative Window\u201d is the period before<\/em> the 471 application window, during which time schools update their enrollment and NSLP (or CEP%) data in each school\u2019s EPC profile, update their Category 2 enrollment data (if it increased), and libraries update their square footage (if it changed). The Admin Window is now open and is expected to close the first week in January. Schools are required to update their EPC profiles with their fall 2024 data. In mid-December I will send to the listserve a spreadsheet from PDE that provides the enrollment, NSLP (or CEP%) data along with a guide that will walk you through the process for updating each school\u2019s EPC profile.
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<\/strong>In order to remind you of the status of your current Category 1 contracts (telecom and Internet), see this listserve message that shows a list of all FY 2024 C1 funded and pending FRNs, and the expiration dates of those contracts. The spreadsheet also shows an additional column \u2013 \u201cJulie\u2019s Rebidding Status Notes\u201d \u2013 explaining whether I think the service must be rebid for FY 2025. https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=35734<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
If your original contract included (finite, not open-ended) voluntary extensions and you wish to exercise one of those extensions for FY 2025, be certain to notify the vendor in writing of that decision before the Form 471 is filed. USAC will ask for a copy of that written notification during PIA review, so be sure to retain evidence of that notification.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>If you will be using the PA PEPPM Contract as the bidding vehicle for your FY 2025 procurements, ALWAYS download and use the most recent version of the PEPPM Category\/Awarded Vendor List when sending PEPPM mini-bids. The Category\/Awarded Vendor List is Attachment C on the PEPPM page: https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?page_id=6121<\/a> and is a live document. Additional product lines are added, authorized resellers change, and vendor contact information changes, so it\u2019s important that you always use the most recent version. Also, the updated FY 2025 PEPPM Mini-Bid Guide is available at: PEPPM-E-rate-Bidding-Guide-2024.pdf<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n
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Step:<\/strong><\/td> Timeline:<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Post Form 470<\/strong> in EPC to competitively bid all new\/expiring contracts (unless using the PEPPM mini-bid option for C2)<\/td> Now \u2013 early December (by Thanksgiving, if possible!)<\/td><\/tr> Update enrollment\/NSLP data<\/strong> in school EPC profiles<\/td> Now \u2013 early January (hint: wait for PDE data in mid-Dec)<\/td><\/tr> Conduct bid evaluation<\/strong><\/td> Early January<\/td><\/tr> Obtain school board approval<\/strong><\/td> January or February board meeting (no later)<\/td><\/tr> Sign vendor contracts<\/strong><\/td> By End of February<\/td><\/tr> Create Contract Records<\/strong> in EPC\/upload signed contracts<\/td> Late February\/Early March<\/td><\/tr> Submit Form 471<\/strong><\/td> February\/early March<\/td><\/tr> Earliest applicants can purchase<\/strong> C2 equipment<\/em><\/td> April 1, 2025<\/em><\/td><\/tr> Funding Commitment Letters (FCDLs) issued<\/em><\/td> End of April \u2013 Sept 1 (goal)<\/em><\/td><\/tr> File Form 486<\/em><\/td> Upon receipt of FCDLs<\/em><\/td><\/tr> Earliest that FY 2025 BEARs or SPIs can be submitted to USAC<\/em><\/td> July 1, 2025<\/em><\/td><\/tr> <\/em><\/td> <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Julie Tritt Schell
Pennsylvania E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org<\/a> <\/p>\n\n