Post-SPIN Change BEARs:
Applicants attempting to file BEARs after having recently received approvals for SPIN changes are reporting encountering the following error message.
Whereas FRN information within EPC is being updated for approved SPIN changes, those changes are apparently not being fed back into the legacy BEAR system. The BEAR system seems to be associating those FRNs with the original SPINs. Hopefully, this mismatch will be corrected shortly.
In the meantime, applicants seeking more immediate BEAR payments in these situations may want to try a work-around solution reportedly recommended by CSB when similar problems arose during last year’s invoicing cycle — file the BEARs using the original SPINs. As a practical matter, since service providers are no longer involved in the reimbursement process, SPINs are not critical information. For audit trail purposes, however, it is suggested that notes regarding the SPIN changes be includes in the BEARs’ additional information section.
Form 500 Misinformation on Special Construction Deadline Extensions:
Traditionally, the Service Delivery Deadline (“SDD”) for non-recurring services is September 30th of the following funding year, e.g., September 30, 2017, for FY 2016. The extra three months is provided to give applicants (particularly schools) the opportunity to install new services and equipment during the summer months. If additional time is required, the SDD may be extended another year. This SDD extension is granted automatically if initial funding, SPIN changes, or services substitutions are not approved by March 1st of the funding year. Alternatively, if services cannot be delivered due to circumstances beyond the service provider’s control, an applicant can request an SDD extension. A key point to remember is that such an extension request must be filed by the original SDD — in other words, the Service Delivery Deadline date is the deadline for filing a Service Delivery Deadline extension request.
With two critical differences, the same deadline extension principle applies to the completion of any special construction project for fiber (or any self-provisioned) network. Under the FCC’s E-rate Modernization Orders:
- The network must be completed (e.g., the fiber must be lit) by June 30th of the funding year, not the following September 30th; and
- A year’s extension may be granted by USAC, but must be requested. Unlike the traditional SDD, which, for example, is automatically extended if an FCDL is issued after March 1st of the fund year, there are no automatic extensions.
Applicants funded for special construction in FY 2016 are fast approaching the June 30, 2017, network completion deadline. If that deadline is not going to be met, requests to extend the deadline another year must be submitted by the end of this month.
As discussed in our newsletter of May 29th, USAC is now advising applicants wishing to request a one-year extension of this year’s June 30th deadline for lighting fiber systems to do so via the Form 500. The current EPC version of the Form 500, however, contains one critical piece of misinformation on the deadline for filing network completion extension requests. As indicated below, the “Type of Change” language in the Form 500, while expanded to include a reference to special construction, still refers only to the traditional September 30th deadline.
This is not correct. To be clear, the FY 2016 deadline for requesting a one-year extension of the special construction network completion deadline is June 30, 2017, not September 30, 2017.