News of the Week

FY 2017:

Wave 8 for FY 2017 was released Friday, July 21st, for a total of $85.7 million. Cumulative national funding through Wave 8 is $538 million. Wave 9 is scheduled to be released on Friday, July 28th.

FY 2016:

Wave 55 for FY 2016 was released on Tuesday, July 18th, for a total of $940 thousand (for only one applicant). Cumulative national funding through Wave 54 is $2.82 billion. Wave 56 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, July 25th.

The major comments on the FCC’s proposed Eligible Services List (“ESL”) for FY 2018 (DA 17-602), due last Friday, are summarized below.

1. AdTec supported an option for applicants to categorize connections between different schools or libraries in the same building as either Category 1 or Category 2. As the FCC itself noted in providing a waiver in FY 2017, forcing such applicants to file for such connections as Category 1 would often subject the applicants to adhering to the more complex dark fiber or self-provisioned broadband procurement rules.
   
   What neither the FCC nor AdTec have addressed is a similar problem in categorizing connections between different buildings on the same campus (now technically referred to as a single “geographically contiguous property”). Although the actual circuit connections may be the same, current FCC rules require the connections between a single school and its annex(es) on the same campus to be Category 2, but connections between different schools or libraries on a campus to be Category 1. To be consistent with the proposed same-building rule, applicants should be given the same option for using Category 1 or Category 2 for circuits between all campus buildings.
2. ETCVideo, through the President-Elect of the US Distance Learning Association (USDLA”), requested that video components — specifically, video conferencing endpoints and routing equipment — be added back into the ESL’s list of eligible equipment.
3. Kellogg & Sovereign Consulting, and a number of supportive applicants, asked the FCC to clarify the treatment of circuit eligibility for an applicant transitioning to a higher bandwidth and/or changing providers. As is, USAC’s application review process makes it difficult, if not impossible, for an applicant to accurately request and receive discounts when a transition is required and/or the exact “cut over” date cannot be pre-established. The comments recommended that funding for both services be permitted, without being treated as duplicative, during a transition period of no more than 30 days.
   
   Hopefully, should the FCC adopt this approach, the new procedure would also simplify the application and processing problems of multi-circuit funding requests for which different circuits are installed in phases throughout the funding year.
4. Various applicants petitioned the FCC to eliminate the phase-out of discounts for voice services and restore full funding. Similar requests have been made, and rejected, during the previous three ESL comment periods. Although the FCC is now operating under a Republican administration, there is no indication that the “new” Commission will support additional E-rate funding.

All the public comments on the 2018 ESL may be accessed through the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (“ECFS”) entering “13-184” as the “Proceeding” number and clicking “Search” near the bottom of the page. For ESL comments, focus on the most recent search result entries designated:

Reply comments on the 2018 ESL are due August 7th.

FY 2017 Invoicing Capability Now Available:

USAC’s News Brief of July 21st, referenced below, notes that USAC’s legacy invoicing has been updated to handle service provider invoices (“SPIs”) and applicant “BEAR” reimbursement invoices for FY 2017 funding. For invoices to be accepted, approved, and paid, the following conditions must be met:

1. A Funding Commitment Decision Letter (“FCDL”) and subsequent Form 486 Notification Letter must have been issued for the associated FRN(s).
2. The service provider must have certified its Form 473, the Service Provider Annual Certification (“SPAC”), for FY 2017.
3. For a BEAR payment, the applicant must have a current and approved Form 498 on file to provide accurate electronic payment information.

Upcoming 2017 E-Rate Deadlines:

USAC’s Schools and Libraries News Brief of July 21, 2017, supplements Category 2 (“C2”) budget information, previously provided in its June 2nd News Brief, in a Q&A format addressing the following questions:

1. How do I calculate the C2 budget for a school or library under construction?
2. I know that each school or library has its own C2 budget. How do I calculate the C2 budget for an annex or a NIF?
3. How do I know how much is left in my C2 budget for FY 2017?
4. If my C2 budget goes down from FY 2016 to FY 2017, do I have to give money back if I spent my entire C2 budget by FY 2016?
5. How does the Category 2 Budget Tool calculate the pre-discount cost of services allocated to my school or library?
6. What if I disagree with the C2 budget calculation in the Category 2 Budget Tool?
7. What if my project will cost more than my available C2 budget?