Bulletins

There's a new worry for schools and libraries already jittery about possible changes to the popular federal E-rate program. But what's not clear is whether the issue signals a larger shift in priorities at the Federal Communications Commission, an ongoing problem with the E-rate's cumbersome application process, or both.

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017. — The USAC Board of Directors accepted the resignation of Mr. Chris Henderson, USAC's CEO, on May 3, 2017. Mr. Henderson has served as USAC's CEO since September 2014. During his tenure, Mr. Henderson led the company through a period of tremendous growth and change focused on enhancing program integrity and improving the stakeholder experience, as part of fulfilling the FCC’s universal service mission. The Board thanks Mr. Henderson for his leadership and wishes him continued success in his future endeavors.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) hereby submits the federal Universal Service Support Mechanisms fund size and administrative cost projections for the third quarter of calendar year 2017 (3Q2017), in accordance with Section 54.709 of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC or Commission) rules.

Pursuant to our procedure for resolving requests for review, requests for waiver, and petitions for reconsideration of decisions related to actions taken by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) that are consistent with precedent (collectively, Requests), the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) grants, dismisses, or denies the following Requests. The deadline for filing petitions for reconsideration or applications for review concerning the disposition of any of these Requests is 30 days from release of this Public Notice.

Pursuant to our procedure for resolving requests for review, requests for waiver, and petitions for reconsideration of decisions related to actions taken by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) that are consistent with precedent (collectively, Requests), the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) grants, dismisses, or denies the following Requests. The deadline for filing petitions for reconsideration or applications for review concerning the disposition of any of these Requests is 30 days from release of this Public Notice.

In this Order, we grant two waivers related to the E-rate program's invoicing rules.First, we waive the requirement in section 54.514(b) that applicants must request an extension prior to the invoice filing deadline as it applies to those applicants for whom the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) had not, as of October 31, 2016, issued the FCC Form 498 ID, and who therefore were unable to submit an invoice. We direct USAC to grant these applicants an extension of the invoice filing deadline for 30 days from the release of this Order. Second, we grant a waiver of our rules for several petitioners that properly requested an invoice deadline extension but failed to timely file their invoice filings due to circumstances beyond their control, including USAC's inability to timely process their invoice deadline extension requests.

Pursuant to section 54.507(a) of the Commission’s rules, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) announces that the E-rate program funding cap for funding year 2017 is $3,990,207,000. The new cap represents a 1.3 percent inflation-adjusted increase in the $3,939,000,000 billion cap from funding year 2016. The Commission began indexing the funding cap to inflation in 2010 to ensure that E-rate program funding keeps pace with the changing broadband and telecommunications needs of schools and libraries.

In this Public Notice, the Office of Managing Director (OMD) announces that the proposed universal service contribution factor for the second quarter of 2017 will be 0.174 or 17.4 percent.

Pursuant to our procedure for resolving requests for review, requests for waiver, and petitions for reconsideration of decisions related to actions taken by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) that are consistent with precedent (collectively, Requests), the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) grants, dismisses, or denies the following Requests. The deadline for filing petitions for reconsideration or applications for review concerning the disposition of any of these Requests is 30 days from release of this Public Notice.