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.
Wave 11 Funding for FY 2003
| Wave 11 for FY 2003 is scheduled for release on Tuesday, September 9. Funding in this wave is $94 million on 464 applications. This brings total FY 2003 funding to $971 million.
The funding threshold for Internal Connections remains at 85%. No Internal Connections funding will be available below 70%. The availability of funding for applicants in the 70-84% range is still uncertain, although funding requests in this range are currently being reviewed by the SLD.
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| Several years ago, in recognition of the fact that many schools and libraries are closed or are operating with reduced staffing levels during the summer, the SLD established a summer deferment policy for handling applicant responses to its requests for additional information on Form 471 applications and other forms. If the SLD could not reach an applicant’s designated contact, action on the request would be deferred until early September.
The 2003 summer deferment period has now ended. Beginning on Monday, September 8th, deferred requests will be reinitiated and will become subject to the normal seven-day response requirement.
It has been our experience in dealing with SLD reviewers that there is some flexibility to the SLD’s seven-day response deadline if — and this is an important “if” — the applicant is cooperating with the reviewer and has a valid need for more time.
It is also our experience that a “head in the sand” approach to SLD inquiries is not a winning strategy. As indicated in most inquiries, if a timely response is not received the “application will be reviewed using the information currently on file.” This does not mean that the SLD will thereby accept at face value any information previously submitted by the applicant. To the contrary, the SLD will disregard any documentation on which it has unanswered questions. In the case of a specific Form 471 or FRN inquiry, this normally leads to a denial for the stated reason that the applicant “has not provided sufficient documentation to determine the eligibility of this item.”
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| A new version of the Form 498, now designated the Service Provider Identification Number and Contact Information Form, is expected to be ready by late September. A draft copy of the new version, as well as a copy of the current version, is available on the USAC Web site at Service Provider Forms.
The Form 498 is a service provider form; it is not used by applicants. It was originally designed to collect service provider information (primarily corporate, E-rate, and banking contacts) before issuing a SPIN to an E-rate vendor. Unfortunately, as many applicants know, vendor E-rate contacts change frequently and the Service Provider Annual Certification Form (Form 473) does not provide a mechanism for updating contact information. The only avenue for changing contact information is to file a revised Form 498.
Although the current version of the Form 498 serves both functions, the new version will make it much clearer that the form can be used either as an original SPIN application or as a means to update vendor contact and business information. We strongly encourage all vendors to periodically review their contact information — particularly the E-rate contact information listed in the SLD’s SPIN Search database (SPIN Contact Search) — and to file revised Form 498s whenever necessary.
The new version of the Form 498 will be available in paper form as usual and, as a new feature, in an online version. Using the online capability, service providers will be able to type directly into the form. For a Form 498 revision, we would expect that the online form will pre-populate many fields to speed completion. Once completed, the data can be submitted online to speed USAC processing. Note, however, that since vendors do not yet have the capability to certify forms electronically (although this is under development), the authorized signature page of the new Form 498 will still have to be signed and mailed separately with a cover letter on company letterhead.
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