Funding Status
As announced last week (see SLD press release), Wave 1 for FY 2012 will be released on Tuesday, July 10, for $646 million. Wave 2 will also be released this week on Wednesday, July 11, for $62.8 million. This will bring cumulative FY 2012 funding to $708 million.
Waves 1 and 2 include funding for Priority 1 applications only. Funding for Priority 2, even at 90%, remains problematic and may not be resolved until later in the fall.
No waves for either FY 2010 or FY 2011 are scheduled this week.
FCC Seeks Comment on Draft ESL for FY 2013
The FCC released the draft FY 2013 Eligible Services List ("ESL") for public comment last week (see DA 12-1052). The proposed ESL makes no significant changes in product and service eligibility, nor does it provide much clarification on several outstanding eligibility issues.
The biggest proposed change is in ESL structure, particularly for Priority 1. Through FY 2010, Priority 1 services were split into two types of services: "Telecommunications Services" and "Internet Access." Beginning in FY 2011, when dark fiber was again made eligible a third type, "Telecommunications," was added. The distinction between "Telecommunications Services" and "Telecommunications" is a fine regulatory point, understandably confusing to most E-rate applicants.
In an attempt to resolve this confusion, the draft ESL replaces those three types with three new ones" "Communications Connectivity," "Voice Services," and "Other Designated and Related Services." It's not clear if this is an improvement. From an application standpoint, the underlying problem is that the Form 470 and Form 471 still require applicants to request services in either "Telecommunications Services" or "Internet Access" categories — and sometimes in both. Recognizing this problem, the draft ESL now includes a third column in the Priority 1 eligibility table with check boxes indicating if a specific eligible service is "Telecom. services" and/or "Internet access." If both boxes are checked, applicants are advised to request such a service under both Priority 1 categories in their Form 470s.
Another more minor change is the elimination of most citations to FCC orders and other legal or regulatory language not generally needed by applicants. The FCC's stated goal is to "streamline the ESL into a more user-friendly resource" — although we note that this year's "streamlined" ESL is three pages longer than last year's. A few other points worth noting include:
- As in the current ESL, dark fiber is deemed eligible "as long as applicants light the fiber immediately." The draft explicitly adds that dark fiber warehousing is not eligible, explaining that applicants "are not permitted to use E-rate discounts to acquire unneeded capacity or warehouse dark fiber for future use."
- The draft more explicitly states that "Costs to subscribe to interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are generally eligible for E-rate discounts" under either Telecommunications Services or Internet Access. It does not address the contentious issue that arose during the FY 2012 filing period regarding the provision of "free" telephone sets as a Priority 1 service.
- No additional guidance is provided on the Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections equipment.
- The draft continues to include Virtual Private Network ("VPN") equipment as eligible under the Priority 2 Data Protection entry. Not surprisingly, it does not address the use of VPN equipment to support remote access by students and staff, which is the subject of a current FCC request for comment (see reminder below).
Comments on the draft ESL are due August 6th; reply comments are due August 21st.
E-Rate Updates and Reminders
FCC Appeal Decisions Watch:
The FCC issued one appeal decision (Albany City School District et al., DA 12-1016) last week approving appeals by five applicants and denying an appeal by another. The granted appeals dealt with late-filed corrections to applications for ministerial and clerical ("M&C") errors. The one denial involved a request deemed to involve more than an M&C error. Interestingly, four of the six appeals had been filed within the last five months, suggesting that the FCC is indeed bringing its appeal backlog under control.
FCC Seeks Comment on VPN Remote Access:
As discussed in our newsletter of June 25, 2012, the FCC is seeking comment on a petition for clarification filed by the State Educational Technology Directors Association ("SETDA"). SETDA's petition asks for clarification on the "educational purpose" criterion as it applies to remote VPN access to school computer systems by students and teachers. Comments are due July 23; reply comments are due August 6.
Schools and Libraries News Brief Dated July 6 – Form 486 and Form 479
The News Brief for July 6, 2012, discusses FCC Forms 486 and 479. The Form 486 is particularly important for those FY 2012 applicants funded in Waves 1 and 2 who will be receiving their Funding Commitment Decision Letters ("FCDLs") later this week or early next week, particularly those who wish to begin receiving discounted bills from their service providers.
Before USAC will begin paying invoices for FY 2012 services, applicants must file, and USAC must process and approve, Form 486s for all funded FRNs. The Form 486 has several purposes, including:
- Notifying USAC that services have begun (normally July 1, 2012, for recurring FY 2012 services).
- Authorizing USAC to pay BEAR or SPI invoices for discounts on services received.
- Indicating that the applicant has an approved technology plan (required for Priority 2 services — not for the Priority 1 services being funded in the early FY 2012 waves).
- Indicating that the applicant is compliant with CIPA requirements (required for all but pure telecommunications services), including the new Internet safety policy educational/cyberbullying provisions.
The Form 479 is a special form used by consortia. Form 479s, completed by all consortium members and filed with their consortium leader (not with USAC), are used to certify to the consortium leader that the members are technology plan- and CIPA-compliant. By collecting these Form 479s from its members, the consortium leader is then in a position to certify compliance to USAC on the consortium's own Form 486.