November 1, 2015<\/p>\n
On October 30, a webinar was conducted for PA applicants that outlined the changes to the E-rate program for Funding Year 2016.\u00a0 If you couldn’t attend, I encourage you to view the attached PowerPoint<\/a> from that workshop and read this message in its entirety.\u00a0 \u00a0The changes that went into effect beginning in FY 2015 are outlined at the end of the PP presentation as well.<\/p>\n Direct BEAR Payments to Applicants <\/strong>– Beginning July 1, 2016, applicants will submit Form 472 BEARs directly to USAC without first seeking service provider approval.\u00a0 USAC will then remit reimbursement payments directly to applicants — again without going through the service provider.\u00a0 All reimbursements from USAC must occur through electronic funds transfer (EFT) and no paper checks will be issued.\u00a0 In order to collect the banking information from all entities that submit BEARs, applicants will be required to complete a Form 498 in the EPC Portal at some point after January 2016.\u00a0 The form and its EPC functionality is not yet available.<\/p>\n Fiber\/WAN Eligibility Changes:<\/strong><\/p>\n EPC – New E-rate Portal <\/strong>– The single biggest change for FY 2016 is the new mandatory E-rate Portal whereby all E-rate forms, correspondence and interactions with USAC will be integrated.\u00a0 In order to apply for FY 2016, your Billed Entity’s Account Administrator (AA) must have set up your EPC account.\u00a0 If you have not yet done so, please call USAC right away (888-203-8100) to have them walk you through the EPC account set-up, including determining who is your EPC AA, or changing your AA.\u00a0 All Form 470’s must be filed in the EPC Portal, so don’t delay.\u00a0 Within the next few weeks I hope to have a list of entities that have or have not yet set up their EPC accounts which will hopefully help us provide targeted outreach to those entities that still need help.\u00a0 If you have your EPC password set up, but have not yet configured your account, be sure to perform these steps:<\/p>\n New FY 2016 Form 470 <\/strong>– The FY 2016 Form 470 is now available and must be filed in the EPC Portal using the “Apply Online” button at the top right of the page.\u00a0 This year’s form is much different than in previous years, as it asks more specific questions and uses drop down options to describe your service.\u00a0 The narrative boxes should be used to further describe any services you want because often the choices given in the form don’t exactly describe what you are seeking.\u00a0 In addition, if you are going to release a Request for Proposal (RFP) along with your Form 470, you MUST upload it into the Form 470.\u00a0 No longer can you give a URL and direct service providers to your website for a copy.\u00a0 Any RFP addenda that may be released also must be uploaded to the Form 470, a process that can be done using the Related Actions feature in EPC.\u00a0 A Form 470-specific webinar will be held on Wednesday, November 18 at 10 am.\u00a0 Register at:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/r\/470Nov18<\/a>.\u00a0 I strongly encourage you to have your Form 470s filed prior to leaving for Thanksgiving break!<\/p>\n New FY 2016 Form 471 <\/strong>– The Form 471 also will be new for FY 2016 and will be required to be completed in EPC.\u00a0 The new form will not be available until January; 471-specific training will be offered at that time.\u00a0 The biggest anticipated changes for the new 471 will be:<\/p>\n FY 2016 Form 471 Application Window <\/strong>– The Form 471 window is expected to open in early January and close in mid-late March.\u00a0 <\/strong>Firm dates will be announced in early December.<\/p>\n Category 2 Bidding Options <\/strong>– I know many of you are eager to submit your 470s or conduct a PEPPM mini-bid for FY 2016 and I will be sending the complete Category 2 Bidding Options message to the listserve within the next week.\u00a0 Further, there will be a Category 2 webinar held on Friday, November 6 at 10 am for schools and libraries only (no vendors).\u00a0 Registration is available at:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.surveymonkey.com\/r\/Cat2Nov6<\/a>.\u00a0 A link to the webinar will be sent to the registrants prior to the event.<\/p>\n It’s going to be another fascinating year in the E-rate program and I encourage you to embrace the changes!\u00a0 They are here to stay.\u00a0 If you have any questions about anything in this message, please e-mail me at jtschell@comcast.net<\/a>.<\/p>\n — Julie<\/p>\n Julie Tritt Schell<\/p>\n PA E-rate Coordinator<\/p>\n 717-730-7133 – o penn*link<\/p>\n\n\n
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\n717-730-9060 – f
\njtschell@comcast.net<\/a>
\nwww.e-ratepa.org<\/a><\/p>\n