News of the Week

E-Rate for FY 2022:

The FY 2022 Form 471 Application Window closed on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.  We expect FY 2022 funding waves to commence in mid-to-late April.

A special extended application window for new Tribal libraries closes May 26th (see DA 22-231 and our newsletter of March 14th).

E-Rate for FY 2021:

Wave 52 for FY 2021 was released on Thursday, April 7th, for $6.31 million.  Cumulative commitments are now $2.64 billion. Nationwide, USAC has funded 98.7% of the FY 2021 applications representing 95.1% of the requested funding.

ECF 2021-2023:

As of Wave 12, released March 23rd, cumulative ECF commitments are $4.76 billion.  USAC has funded 92.5% of filed applications.  Authorized disbursements as of last Friday totaled $669 million.

The FCC has announced a third ECF application window (DA 22-309) which will open on April 28th and close 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 (albeit capped at 12-months of service for internet access).  For details, see our newsletter of March 28th and the FAQs in USAC’s ECF newsletter of March 29th.

Upcoming Dates:

April 15	Form 486 deadline for FY 2021 covering funding committed in Wave 36.  More generally, the Form 486 deadline is 120 days from the FCDL date or from the service start date (typically July 1st), whichever is later.  Upcoming Form 486 deadlines are: Wave 37            04/22/2022 Wave 38            04/29/2022
April 15		FCC reply comments due on the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Affordable Connectivity Program (“ACP”) (FCC 22-2). E-Rate Central and WestHab filed early reply comments focusing on the need to eliminate Footnote 309 of the original ACP order prohibiting or restricting the use of ACP discounts for residents of homeless shelters.
April 27	FCC comments due on the FCC’s proposal to create an E-rate competitive bidding portal (FCC 21-124).  Reply comments are due May 27th.  Note: These are new extended deadlines granted by the FCC in response to a request filed by a coalition of 27 E-rate stakeholder organizations.
April 28	Opening of the third ECF application window (see DA 22-309 and article above).  The window will close May 13th at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
May 26	Extended FY 2022 application window deadline for new Tribal libraries (see DA 22-231).

USAC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund Program Newsletter of April 5, 2022, as frequently happens, simply repeats reminders and FAQs from last week’s newsletter.

Update on DUNS-to-UEI Transition:

This topic, covered in last week’s USAC ECF newsletter of March 29th, was addressed separately this week in a short USAC release entitled “SAM.gov Transition to UEI” on April 7th and in a more detailed FCC Public Notice (DA 22-371) released on April 6th.

ECF applicants and service providers that are already registered in SAM.gov, which is needed to file ECF invoices, are not affected by this transition.  Current SAM.gov registrations, already including a DUNS number, have already been assigned an UEI number.  Unregistered entities will be assigned UEI numbers when they do register with SAM.gov.

For E-rate applicants not participating in ECF, the key point in both releases is that, although SAM.gov registration is currently not required for E-rate invoicing, it will be required in the future.  The FCC indicates that it is working with USAC to complete a full transition to the collection of UEIs and the use of SAM.gov for the collection of payment information from Universal Service Fund recipients including E-rate applicants and service providers.

Although the timing of a SAM.gov registration requirement for E-rate invoicing is unspecified, it may not be too far away.  USAC is already recommending initiating the registration process in advance of an E-rate requirement.  SAM.gov registration and periodic renewals are free for registrants handling the process themselves or can be done with the assistance of consultants specializing in federal registrations.  In either case, the registration process is not instantaneous and can take several weeks.