News of the Week

Funding Status

The FY 2012 Form 471 application filing window opened on January 9, 2012, and will close at 11:59 pm EDT on Tuesday, March 20, 2012.

Wave 36 for FY 2011 will be released on Tuesday, February 28th, for $29.6 million. Cumulative funding for FY 2011 will be $1.85 billion. Priority 2 funding for FY 2011 is currently being provided only at the 90% level.

Wave 87 for FY 2010 will be released on Wednesday, February 29th, for $11.0 million. Cumulative funding for FY 2010 will be $3.0 billion. Priority 2 funding is being provided at all discount levels.

Timely and Late-Filed Form 470s for FY 2012

Since Form 470s must be posted for 28 days, the last day to file a valid Form 470 for FY 2012 was last Tuesday, February 21, 2012. Twenty eight days from that date (including the extra day in February for Leap Year) will be March 20th, the deadline for Form 471 applications.

Applicants who met that deadline are now positioned to meet the Form 471 deadline, but it is critical that they wait the required 28 days. We stress this because: (a) it’s an E-rate rule; and (b) the SLD may be about ready, as they’ve done the last few years, to send confusing letters labeled "Notification of Form 470 Posted but No Associated Form 471" to every applicant who posted a valid Form 470, but who has not yet — as most have not — filed a Form 471. Applicants should not let these letters trick them into filing premature Form 471s.

Any applicant who missed the Form 470 deadline may have a real problem. The following alternatives can be considered:

1. Applicants with services being provided under a multi-year contract, executed under a valid Form 470 for an earlier funding year and extending through FY 2012, can file a Form 471 for those services citing the earlier Form 470.
2. Educational service agencies which have filed Form 470s (and plan to file Form 471s) may offer services to their members on a consortium basis.
3. Some states (and certain regional bidding cooperatives) provide master contracts for E-rate eligible services. These contracts are valid for E-rate purposes and can be referenced in Form 471s if both of the following conditions are met:
   1. The state or cooperative filed a valid Form 470 for the service; and
   2. The contract was competitively bid, meaning that, at least on a regional basis, there was a single winner. If the contract involves a multi-vendor award, the Form 470 may still be cited on a Form 471, but only if the applicant conducts a “mini-bid" among all contract vendors.
4. As a last resort, an applicant can file a late Form 470 anyway in the hope that:
   1. A large snow storm (as occurred two years ago) or a major SLD system problem leads to a last minute extension of the application window; or
   2. Upon appeal, which is not typically a quick process, the FCC may waive the Form 471 application deadline. In the past, the FCC has shown some flexibility if the delays are 15 days or less.

E-Rate Updates and Reminders

More FCC Appeal Decisions:

The FCC continued its work to reduce its appeal backlog last week by releasing seven new orders approving appeals for 50 applicants, denying appeals for 32 applicants, and issuing a split decision on one other applicant. Most of the decisions were based on “past precedent," providing little detail on the FCC’s decision-making process. The appeal topics covered are outlined below.

• Changes to Form 471 applications – 12 approved, 5 denied (DA 12-240).
• Failure to pay non-discounted share – 1 approved, 16 denied (DA 12-241).
• Competitive bidding violations, including additional decisions involving Trillion and its customers (see our newsletter of February 20th) – 37 approved (DA 12-248 and DA 12-261), 11 denied (DA 12-247 and DA 12-260), and 1 split (DA 12-259).

Schools and Libraries News Brief Dated February 24 – Form 471 Hints

Last week’s SLD News Brief for February 24, 2012, provides a number of hints for preparing and filing Form 471 applications, focusing on the following two issues:

1. The importance of filing separate Form 471s for Priority 1 and Priority 2 services.
2. The preparation and submission of Item 21 attachments, including a description of the information required for all four categories of service.