News of the Week

FY 2017:

Wave 14 for FY 2017 was released Friday, September 1st, for a total of $83.8 million. Cumulative national funding through Wave 14 is $1.05 billion. Wave 15 is scheduled to be released on Friday, September 8th.

FY 2016:

Wave 61 for FY 2016 was released on Tuesday, August 29th. Cumulative national funding through Wave 61 remains $2.91 billion. A scheduled release date for Wave 62 has not been announced.

Form 470 Simplified Drop-Down Options:

SPIN Change and Service Substitution Requests in EPC:

As noted in last week’s USAC News Brief, referenced below, requests for SPIN changes and service substitutions can now be filed through EPC for both FY 2016 and FY 2017. From the “Related Actions” menu on the applicant Landing Page, choose either of the following:

Note that there are two types of SPIN changes, namely:

• “Corrective” used to fix data entry errors, or company mergers or acquisitions, for situations in which the underlying service provider has not changed; or
• “Operational” required — and subject to more stringent restrictions — when a new service provider has actually changed.

A service substitution requires product/service description(s) and cost(s) down to the FRN line item level equivalent to the detail provided in the initial application so as to show the new “To” service as compared with the original “From” service (automatically generated within EPC). The service substitution process also permits applicants to provide an “Optional Narrative” text and to upload “Optional Supporting Documentation.”

SPIN changes and service substitutions recognized before their associated FY 2017 applications have been approved can be handled more easily by submitting RAL corrections and/or by working with PIA reviewers.

Consortium Form 479 for FY 2018:

USAC has confirmed that the Form 479, used by consortia to certify the CIPA status of their members, will remain a paper form for FY 2018. It is neither required in nor available through EPC. Consortium applicants collecting member LOAs for FY 2018 may want to collect Form 479s at the same time. Please remember that paper Form 479s are not submitted to USAC, but are to be retained by the consortia.

A “type-in” version of the Form 479 is available on the E-Rate Central website.

Upcoming 2017 E-Rate Deadlines:

FCC Decision Watch:

The FCC issued another set of “streamlined,” precedent-based decisions (DA 17-796) last week. Applicants facing similar problems as addressed in these decisions may garner useful information by carefully reading the additional FCC explanations found in the footnotes. The original appeals and waiver requests can be found online in the FCC’s Search for Filings.

In summary, last week’s FCC decisions:

1. Dismissed:
   1. Three Requests for Review or Waiver deemed moot because USAC had already granted the request or because invoice records demonstrated that the applicants had been fully compensated for the requested funding.
   2. Five Petitions for Reconsideration (or equivalent) deemed untimely or having failed to provide any arguments not already fully considered by the FCC.
2. Granted:
   1. Two Requests for Review or Waiver granting the applicants additional time to respond to USAC requests for information.
   2. Nine Requests for Waiver of the FY 2017 application deadline for Form 471s filed within 14 days of the window close.
   3. Two Requests for Waiver for applications involving ministerial and/or clerical errors.
   4. One Request for Waiver involving late-filed BEAR(s) pending USAC actions on Form 498s, PINs, or other requests.
3. Denied:
   1. One Request for Review (filed in 2007) dealing with improper service provider involvement in the Form 470 competitive bidding process. In part, the FCC decision apparently relied on USAC’s findings that the Form 470 was filed from the service provider’s IP address and that the description of services required displayed “striking similarities” with other Form 470s of clients of the same service provider.
   2. Six Requests for Waiver for invoice deadline extensions.
   3. Twenty-four Requests for Waiver for late-filed Form 471 applications filed more than two weeks late.
   4. One Request for Waiver involving a late-filed appeal by a service provider arguing that, although it had been involved in a client’s invoice review, it had not been notified by USAC that the invoice had been denied until after the 60-day appeal window had expired. This decision illustrates the importance of vendor-applicant coordination on application or invoice denials.

USAC’s Schools and Libraries News Brief of September 1, 2017, summarizes three recent changes to the EPC system, including:

• The revised drop-down Category 1 service menu in the Form 470 (see also our newsletter of August 28th)
• SPIN changes (see discussion above)
• Service substitutions (see discussion above)