News of the Week

Wave 27 for FY 2015 will be released this Monday, November 30th. Funding for FY 2015 is available for both Category 1 and Category 2 services at all discount levels. As of Wave 26, cumulative funding for FY 2015 was $2.61 billion.

“Lightning Bolt” Navigation:

Navigating efficiently within the EPC portal takes some practice. Navigation depends in large part on the level of permission of the user. The higher the permission — Account Administrator, full rights, partial rights, or view-only rights (in that order) — the more there is to see, do, and navigate.

We encourage users to establish their EPC portals as early as possible, then go into the portals and explore. There is a definite learning curve to using the EPC portal. Different resources can be accessed in different ways. The following discussion reviews the major pathways, focusing on what we have begun calling the “Lightning Bolt” page. In all cases, the examples shown are from the perspective of the Account Administrator (“AA”) who has the most options.

One starting point for navigating within EPC is the Landing Page. This is the first page a user sees upon a successful login. From the Landing Page, there are two sets of links (shown below). One is from the tabs shown in the top blue bar with pull-down menus to other EPC sections. The other is the line of direct links to other tasks found in the upper right-hand portion of the page.

Tip: The easiest way to return to the Landing Page from any other point within EPC is to simply click on the omnipresent USAC logo located on every page.

Another important navigational starting point is the applicant’s Organization Detail page, reached by clicking on the first Organization listed on the Landing Page. This page has the same top blue bar with the same functions as on the Landing Page, but has two other important navigation features. One feature is the four buttons in the upper right-hand portion of the page showing:

The first three buttons give the AA the ability to manage other employee EPC users. (Consultant EPC users are managed separately.)  The fourth button labeled “????” is less intuitive. It provides a pull-down list of five other EPC management functions.

The left-hand side of the applicant’s Organization Detail page also contains a list of the following linked actions (a list that is likely to be expanded as other forms are added):

The “Related Actions” link in this list leads to the “Lightning Bolt” page, the featured EPC page of this article. In its current form, likely to be expanded, the “Lightning Bolt” page, as seen by the AA, looks as follows (other users see less functions):

This is a more comprehensive navigational tool for the Account Administrator. In particular:

1. The first three “Lightning Bolts” are for user management. They match the functions of the three buttons shown on the applicant’s Organization Detail page.
2. The next five “Lightning Bolts” match the pull-down functions provided by the “????” button the Organization Detail page.
3. The last “Lightning Bolt” can be used to start a Form 470. It matches the function of the “Apply Now” link on the Landing Page. As other forms become available within EPC, we expect to see additional form creation “Lightning Bolts” added to this list.

The “Lightning Bolt” page provides a useful navigational tool that an AA user may wish to bookmark for easy access. Note, however, that any attempt to jump directly to the “Lightning Bolt” page will first require the normal EPC login if the user is not already logged in.

FY 2014 Invoice Deadline Extensions:

Under the current FCC invoice deadline rules, USAC is permitted to provide one and only one 120-day extension of invoice deadlines (with requests for extensions due on or before the deadline in question). This year, USAC received numerous deadline extension requests for the FY 2014 recurring service invoice deadline last October 28th, and is currently responding to these requests. In general, USAC is approving all invoice extensions (except for FRNs for which full disbursements have already been made). Emails have been, and may still be, going out on these deadline extension decisions.

The easiest way to check on the current invoice deadline for a given FRN is to check USAC’s FRN Extension Status table for Year 17 (07/01/2014–06/30/2015). In most cases, the requested invoice deadlines have been extended to February 25, 2016.

We are still seeing cases of rejected BEARs — so-called “Zero Funded BEARs” — that were submitted by the original October 28th deadline. The recommended process for correcting Zero Funded BEARs, now that the invoice deadline has passed, was discussed in our newsletter of November 9, 2015.

FCC Appeal Decision Watch:

The FCC issued another monthly set of precedent-based decisions in Public Notice DA 15-1368, including:

1. Dismissed as moot one request for review for which USAC had already approved the underlying funding request.
2. Dismissed three Petitions for Reconsideration as untimely. Note that unlike appeals, which must be filed within 60 days, Petitions for Reconsideration must be filed within 30 days.
3. Granted:
   1. One Petition for Reconsideration concerning a late Form 471 filed within 14 days of the close of the application window.
   2. One request for review for an applicant whose clerical error originally created the impression that the applicant had violated the 28-day bidding requirement.
   3. One request for review for an applicant who had mistakenly entered a discounted amount in the pre-discount price field of its Form 471 application.
   4. Three requests for waivers for applicants who had incorrectly indicated that contracts had been signed after the submission dates of their Form 471 applications. In these cases, the FCC also waived the 60-day appeal deadlines.
4. Denied:
   1. Two requests to extend service implementation deadlines “when applicants failed to demonstrate they were unable to complete implementation on time for reasons beyond the service providers’ control and failed to make significant efforts to secure the necessary extensions in a timely manner.”
   2. Three requests for review not filed within the 60-day appeal window.

Upcoming E-Rate Training:

USAC has completed its eight regular fall applicant training sessions. Copies of the slides used can be accessed via USAC’s Training and Outreach archives. USAC has also posted many additional EPC resources (including videos used during its training sessions). Over the next 4-5 months, we expect USAC to conduct additional webinar-based training on EPC and on other critical FY 2016 application topics.

A number of states will also be providing E-rate workshops, including:

Form 486 Deadlines for 2015:

The Form 486 deadline for certifying the start of service (and CIPA compliance, if applicable) is 120 days from the later of the FCDL approval date or the start of service date. The remaining 2015 deadlines for approved FY 2015 applications (adjusted to Monday for 120-deadlines falling on Saturdays) are:
                                          Wave 10                11/30/2015
                                          Wave 11                12/07/2015
                                          Wave 12                12/14/2015
                                          Wave 13                12/21/2015
                                          Wave 14                12/28/2015

No S&L News Brief Last Week:

USAC, as has been its tradition for the Thanksgiving week, did not publish its regular weekly News Brief last Friday. We hope everyone shared a wonderful holiday with family and friends.