Last week, the FCC announced (DA 22-309) a third ECF application window that will open on April 28th and close at 11:59 p.m. EDT on May 13th. The FCC indicates that a minimum of $1 billion will be available to fund the same type of eligible equipment and services as in the original two windows but for delivery within the 18-month span from July 1, 2022, through December 31, 2023. New recurring service funding during this 18-month period, however, is limited to 12 months (see below).
Funding will be available to applicants that had applied for equipment and services in the first and second windows as well as to schools and libraries that had not previously applied for ECF.
Funding for Continued Recurring Services:
For existing ECF applicants already funded for recurring services, it is important to understand how the potential for an additional 12 months of funding will work. Consider the following examples:
- Applicant A originally applied for 12 months of internet service beginning July 1, 2021. Funding for that service ends June 30, 2022. Applicant A can now apply for another 12 months of internet service any time within the new 18-month period (for consistency, most likely for July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023).
- Applicant B originally applied for 12 months of internet service but did not begin using that service until school began in September 2021. Based on the FCC’s recent ECF service delivery extension (see DA 22-176 or our newsletter of February 28th), Applicant B can use that funding to provide service through August 2022. If approved for another 12 months, service could be funded through August 2023.
Here are two more increasingly complicated examples:
- Applicant C also originally applied for 12 months of internet service but did not begin using that service until September 2021. In October, trying to be a good ECF citizen, Applicant C voluntarily reduced its approved funding to 10 months of service thus providing coverage only through June 2022. The FCC’s ECF service delivery extension order invited applicants in this situation to file FCC waivers to restore the funding that they had relinquished. If Applicant C does that and the FCC approves it — so far, there have been no such waiver approvals — Applicant C’s original funding would provide services through August 2022, and it could apply for an additional 12 months of service through August 2023.
- Applicant D also originally applied for 12 months of internet service, but delayed beginning service until April 2022 awaiting ECF funding approval that was not received until March 2022. Under the FCC’s ECF service delivery extension order, Applicant D’s service is covered through March 2023. Technically, Applicant D can now apply for an additional nine (9) months of service in the third window to provide internet coverage through December 2023.
Recognizing that situations such as those discussed above may complicate the third-window application process, the FCC’s third window order includes the following Form 471 narrative instruction:
To avoid duplicative support and expedite the review of the third filing window applications, applicants should include in the narrative section of the ECF FCC Form 471 application information regarding services funded during the first or second filing windows, including the ECF FCC Form 471 application number(s) and the service end date(s) for any services funded during the first or second window that an applicant is seeking to continue between July 1, 2022, through December 31, 2023.
Invoice Deadlines:
Consistent with the new window, there will now be two primary invoice deadlines. As a general rule, invoices must be filed within 60 days from the date of an FCDL, a RFCDL, a successful appeal of denied funding, or the service end date, whichever is later. The most common service end dates for ECF are:
- June 30, 2023, for funding in the first and second ECF windows — making the invoice deadline August 29, 2023; or
- December 31, 2023, for the third ECF window — making the invoice deadline February 29, 2024 (yes, it’s Leap Year).
Limited Funding Possibilities:
There are two big questions regarding the third filing window. How much demand will there be? How much funding will be available?
Our guess is that Window 3 demand will exceed the “at least $1 billion” currently identified by the FCC. We assume that most existing ECF applicants will request funding for another 12 months of recurring service and for some level of new devices (if only for new students in 2022-2023). We would also expect significant demand from schools and libraries that did not participate in the first two windows.
If demand exceeds available funding, ECF rules specify that funding will be allocated to the highest discount applicants first using the following modified discount rate table.
With limited funds, this is an all-or-nothing scheme. Higher discount applicants would be reimbursed at 100%; lower discount applicants would get nothing.
The problem, assuming third window demand is in excess of $1 billion, is that neither USAC nor the FCC will know how much extra funding is available until: (a) all remaining first and second window applications are funded; and (b), all approved funding is invoiced. With a first invoice deadline of August 29, 2023, this could easily be a year and a half from now. This would suggest a third window funding strategy would be to start at the highest discount level — 95% rural — then slowly work down the discount ladder as available funds are identified. Fortunately, funding, when approved, will be retroactive. But, for many applicants, it may take a year or more to be funded. Lower discount applicants may never be funded — and will have to decide within a month whether to even bother applying.