Funding Status
Wave 8 for FY 2012 will be released on Tuesday, August 28, 2012, for $39.1 million. Priority 2 funding is being provided at 90%, and is being denied at 89% and below. This will raise cumulative funding for FY 2012 over the billion dollar level (to $1.04 billion).
Wave 58 for FY 2011 will be released on Wednesday, August 29, 2012, for $317 thousand. Priority 2 requests are being funded at 88% and above, and denied at 87% and below. Cumulative funding for FY 2011 is $2.35 billion.
No funding wave for FY 2010 is scheduled this week.
E-Rate Updates and Reminders
FCC Appeal Decisions Watch:
The FCC released two appeal decisions last week. The most interesting was the approval (DA 12-788) of a long-standing appeal filed in 2001 by the Iowa Department of Education. In early 1998, as the E-rate program began, the Department had filed an FCC petition seeking a ruling that the Iowa Communications Network ("ICN") was an eligible telecommunications carrier. This was important to Iowa applicants who were receiving telecommunications services from ICN and who would not receive E-rate discounts on these services unless ICN was deemed an eligible carrier. However, it was not until late 2000, after a U.S. Court of Appeals decision, that the FCC concluded that ICN was an eligible carrier. In the meantime, USAC had denied funding on ICN services from FY 1998 to FY 2000, and the Iowa DOE appealed.
In approving the Department's appeal, the FCC noted that its 2000 decision had approved discounts on ICN services on a "prospective basis," affecting funding for FY 2001 and later. Normally, when the FCC makes a prospective decision, it applies only from that point forward. In last week's decision, however, the FCC concluded that the "prospective" language of the 2000 decision "was not intended to foreclose applicants receiving E-rate discounts for services provided by ICN for funding years 1998, 1999, and 2000." This backward looking decision may serve as a useful precedent for other appeal situations preceding favorable, but prospective, rule changes or appeal decisions.
The second decision denied an appeal by Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools (DA 12-1361). USAC had found, and the FCC agreed, that the district had failed to evaluate all the bids that it had received for basic maintenance. The decision hinged on the finding that the bid evaluation worksheets submitted for review were dated more than a month after the service contract had been signed.
FCC Comment Deadlines:
Reply comments on the FCC's FY 2013 draft Eligible Services List are due this week by August 29th. Comments on the SECA petition seeking clarification on "free" bundled end-user equipment (see DA 12-1325) are due September 10th; reply comments are due September 24th.
Schools and Libraries News Brief Dated August 24 – Non-Recurring Services, cont.
The SLD News Brief for August 24, 2012, continues a discussion on non-recurring services and contracts. It reviews the process for extending contract expiration dates and provides a series of tips on funding commitments for non-recurring services.