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August 28, 2023

Introduction

The E-Rate Central News for the Week is prepared by E-Rate Central. E-Rate Central specializes in providing consulting, compliance, and forms processing services to E-rate applicants. To learn more about our services, please contact us by phone (516-801-7804), fax (516-801-7810), or through our Contact Us web form. Additional E-rate information is located on the E-Rate Central website.

E-Rate for FY 2023:

USAC issued Wave 18 for FY 2023 on Thursday, August 24th, for $69.0 million.  Total funding is now $2.01 billion.  At this point, USAC has already funded 92.1% of the originally submitted applications representing 68.9% of the dollars requested.

ECF for 2021-2023:

Wave 32 for Window 3 was issued on Wednesday, August 23rd, for $68.0.  Window 3 funding is now being committed down to the 40% discount level.  Total commitments for all three ECF windows are now $6.93 billion.  USAC has funded 94.1% of the ECF applications representing 68.5% of the requested funding.

Upcoming Dates:

September 8 End of the summer deferral period for FY 2023 PIA reviews.
September 25     Due date for comments on the FCC’s Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking portion of (FCC 23-56) regarding additional rule changes to simplify E-rate (see the second half of the article in our newsletter of July 3rd).  Reply comments are due October 23rd.
September 25 Due date for comments on the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 23-65) on cybersecurity labeling for internet devices (see our newsletter of August 14th).
October 2 Last day to receive service or to submit a Service Delivery Deadline request for FY 2022 non-recurring services.  (Note: September 30th, the normal Service Delivery Deadline, falls on a Saturday this year.)
October 24 Nominations are due for six positions, including one school representative, on the USAC Board of Directors (see DA 23-753 and article below).
October 30 E-rate invoice deadline for FY 2022 recurring services.
October 30 ECF invoice deadline for most Window 1 and Window 2 committed FRNs with service delivery deadlines of June 30, 2023.  For details on other upcoming invoice deadlines, see USAC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund Invoice Deadline Tool.
October 30 The first Form 486 deadline for FY 2023, for FCDLs issued on or before July 1st (i.e., Waves 1-9).

FCC Seeks USAC Board Nominations:

As it does every year, on a three-year cycle, the FCC has requested nominations for six members of the USAC Board of Directors (DA 23-753).  The USAC Board has nineteen members made up of USAC’s CEO, Radha Sekar, and eighteen others representing the interests of the programs administered by USAC.  The 18 representatives serve three-year terms, normally with one-third of the slots open for nominations (or renominations) each year.

From an E-rate perspective, the four most important board slots are held by school and library representatives, currently:

School     Dr. Dan Domenech, former Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators
Julie Tritt Shell, Pennsylvania State E-Rate Coordinator
Dr. Joan H. Wade, Executive Director, Association of Educational Service Agencies
Library Amber Gregory, Manager of E-rate Services, Arkansas State Library
 

This year, one school board slot, currently held by Dr. Wade, is up for renewal.  Nominations for all or any of the six positions, with terms expiring at the end of this year, must be filed by October 24th.

Additionally, as the result of newly adopted E-rate rules, the FCC will add a Tribal representative to the USAC Board (see FCC 23-56 and our newsletter of July 24th).  Nominations for that position will be solicited in a separate notice after the new Tribal rules become effective in mid-September.