Important: Category 1 Form 470 Options:
Reminder from last week’s newsletter: USAC has posted, but still has not yet publicized, a Reference Table for FCC Form 470 Category One Drop-Downs. The table provides additional USAC guidance concerning which Form 470 menu options must be used (for Form 470s filed on or after August 26, 2017) when requesting various combinations of transport and Internet services. Those seeking Internet service with bundled transport need to be particularly careful. If USAC strictly enforces these new menu options, applicants relying on last year’s Form 470 selections may find themselves facing funding denials for FY 2018.
The table also notes which combinations of requested transport services affirmatively require uploaded RFP documents. As a small matter, it should be noted that both the table and the underlying Form 470 filing instructions incorrectly indicate that the “Cellular Data Plan/Air Card Service” option does not require an RFP. Selecting that option without uploading an RFP, however, leads to an error message. The workaround is to upload some form of an “RFP.”
Form 471 EPC Updates:
EPC’s FY 2018 version of the Form 471, scheduled to become available with the opening of the Application Window on January 11th, will operate in much the same fashion as last year. Minor changes, many designed to help applicants avoid problems experienced with FY 2017 filings, are reviewed in USAC’s December 22nd News Brief discussed below.
Form 500s and the Category 2 Budget Tool:
Applicants who have filed Form 500s to reduce Category 2 commitments for earlier funding years, and whose reductions have been approved, may find that USAC’s Category Two Budget Lookup Tool does not yet reflect EPC-generated Revised Funding Commitment Decision Letters (“RFCDLs”). We expect the Category Two Budget Lookup Tool to be updated soon to reflect FY 2017 data, with or without a fix for the Form 500 reduction problem. In the meantime, RFCDL information for FY 2016 and FY 2017, including revised funding commitment amounts, are shown in the FRN Status Tool (“FST”).