E-Rate for FY 2024 – The Application Window is Closed:
The Form 471 filing window for FY 2024 closed last Wednesday, March 27th. Preliminary demand, as reflected in the “In Window” applications certified by the deadline, 11:59 p.m. EDT Wednesday night showed:
| |
No. Applications |
Funding Requested |
| Nationwide |
35,227 |
$ 3,234 Million |
| Category 1 |
22,849 |
1,917 Million |
| Category 2 |
12,378 |
1,317 Million |
| |
|
|
Total initial demand for FY 2024 is up roughly 10% from FY 2023 but remains well below the year’s $4.94 billion funding cap set last month by the FCC. Total demand is somewhat of a moving target, initially increasing as the FCC grants waivers on late-filed applicants certified within two weeks of the window close, then decreasing as pending requests are reduced during the PIA review process. Overall, as we have seen in previous years, we expect total demand will be closer to $3 billion.
A more interesting factor to track will be the Category 2 demand. As discussed in our newsletter of March 18th, the total funding cap of $4.94 billion for FY 2024 actually has two components. The Category 1 cap for FY 2024 is $3.70 billion, well above the initial demand level. The Category 2 cap, however, is only $1.24 billion, currently slightly below the $1.32 billion demand. While it may be close, we expect that final Category 2 demand will ultimately fall below this year’s cap. *
The new element in Category 1 demand this year will be funding requests for school bus Wi-Fi equipment and services. Our preliminary estimate of demand, derived primarily from those FRNs specifying “bus Wi-Fi” in their nicknames as instructed by USAC, indicates demand of $30.0 million.
E-Rate for FY 2023:
USAC issued Wave 49 for FY 2023 on Thursday, March 28th, for $1.69 million. Total funding remains $2.60 billion. At this point, USAC has funded 98.0% of the originally submitted applications representing 93.8% of the dollars requested.