Introduction
The E-Rate Central News for the Week is prepared by E-Rate Central. E-Rate Central specializes in providing consulting, compliance, and forms processing services to E-rate applicants. To learn more about our services, please contact us by phone (516) 801-7804 or by e-mail. Additional E-rate information is located on the E-Rate Central Web site.
FY 2003 Funding Status
| With Wave 6 having been pushed up one week to maximize the number of applications addressed before the start of the current funding year, the SLD now plans to return to its normal pattern of releasing a new funding wave every two weeks. This should mean that Wave 7 will be released on Monday, July 14.
Although Internal Connection requests are currently being funded only at the 90% level, we have noticed that the SLD is actively reviewing requests down to at least the 80% level. Valid Internal Connection FRNs at these lower levels may be included in FCDL letters with a status designation of “As Yet Unfunded.” This is akin to conditional approval. It means that the SLD has completed its review of these FRNs and that they will be funded (although not necessarily at the amounts originally requested) if and when the SLD determines that there are sufficient funds for Internal Connections at a given level.
The SLD has already determined that sufficient funds will not be available in FY 2003 for Internal Connections requests below 70%. Such requests are currently being denied.
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| Responding quickly to the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Internet filtering provisions of CIPA as applied to libraries, the FCC issued a press release on June 30 indicating that it would provide further guidance by July 18 (the effective date of the decision). Most encouragingly, the FCC suggested that the guidance would include “a reasonable schedule for libraries to acquire and install filtering software” — with “reasonable” being the key word. We continue to believe, therefore, that libraries will not be subject to full CIPA compliance until at least FY 2004 (see DA-03-2117A1).
The reaction of the American Library Association has also been encouraging. A link on the ALA’s CIPA Web site to an analysis by FindLaw indicates that the Supreme Court’s decision “is less significant than it might first appear.” The analysis (see analysis by FindLaw) notes that “The stakes of the American Library Ass'n case were significantly lowered when the government promised, in the course of litigation, that the libraries could, and would, remove the filters if users asked them to do so. It also promised that users would not have to explain why they were making the request.”
In parallel, the ALA announced that it would begin meeting with Internet filtering companies to discuss the need for compliant software that would permit easy ways to disable blocking upon request.
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| Applicants funded in either FY 2002 or FY 2003 must file their Form 486s within 120 days of the start of service (normally July 1) or the date of the FCDL, whichever is later.
The common deadline for FY 2003 applicants funded in Waves 1 – 6, all of which occurred before July 1, is October 29, 2003. Deadlines for subsequent waves will follow at roughly two week intervals.
The deadlines for FY 2002 applicants funded in Waves 1-23 have already passed. Applicants funded in subsequent waves, have later Form 486 deadlines. Here are the remaining deadlines for the regular waves:
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FCDL Date |
486 Deadline |
| Wave 24 |
03/10/03 |
07/08/03 |
| Wave 25 |
03/24/03 |
07/22/03 |
| Wave 26 |
04/07/03 |
08/05/03 |
| Wave 27 |
04/22/03 |
08/20/03 |
| Wave 28 |
05/05/03 |
09/02/03 |
| Wave 29 |
05/19/03 |
09/16/03 |
| Wave 30 |
06/27/03 |
10/25/03 |
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| The penalty for missing a Form 486 deadline is a reduction in funding. If, for example, a FY 2002 applicant funded in Wave 24 does not file the associated Form 486 until August 1st, the SLD will adjust the start date to 120 days prior to the postmark date (i.e., to April 3, 2003) and reduce the funding accordingly (i.e., to 3/12ths of the originally approved amount). |