Upcoming Dates:
| December 30 |
FY 2024 Form 486 deadline for Wave 19. The Form 486 deadline is 120 days after the FCDL date, or the service start date (typically July 1st), whichever is later. The next Form 486 deadlines for FY 2024 are:
Wave 20 01/03/2025
Wave 21 01/10/2025
Wave 22 01/17/2025
Wave 23 01/24/2025
Wave 24 01/31/2025 |
| January 2 |
FY 2023 Form 486 deadline for Wave 63. Upcoming Form 486 deadlines for FY 2023 are:
Wave 64 01/30/2025
Wave 65 02/17/2025 |
| January 3 |
Last day of USAC’s winter deferral period for PIA responses. |
| January 9 |
Expected close of the EPC administrative window. |
| January 15 |
Opening of the Form 471 application window for FY 2025 (noon EST). |
| January 20 |
President Trump’s inauguration will mark a change in control of the Federal Communication Commission (“FCC”). The current Chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, has announced plans to step down that day. President-elect Trump has already announced that current Commissioner Brendan Carr will become the new FCC Chairman (see our newsletter of November 11). |
| January 28 |
Normal Invoice deadline for FY 2023 non-recurring services. |
| February 25 |
Extended invoice deadline for FY 2023 recurring services for deadlines extended beyond the original October 28, 2024, deadline. |
| March 26 |
Close of the Form 471 application window for FY 2025 (11:59 p.m. EDT). |
New York State’s Affordable Broadband Program:
With the termination of the Affordable Connectivity Program (“ACP”) last June, no serious prospects for renewed ACP funding from Congress, and the limited (and uncertain) nature of E‑Rate for hotspots, the prospects of federal funding for free or low-cost internet for low-income families looks bleak. A decision last week by the U.S. Supreme Court, however, raises the possibility of low-cost, low-income internet by individual states.
This story starts in 2021 when New York State first attempted to initiate its own Affordable Broadband Program to require the State’s broadband providers to offer qualifying low-income consumers basic internet service plans of either 25 Mbps for $15 per month or 200 Mbps for $20 per month. ISPs in the State (and their national trade associations) challenged New York’s law, fearing that other states would follow with their own plans if the law was allowed to stand. They argued, in part, that only the FCC could regulate internet rates. Last April, a federal court ruled to the contrary and the industry sought Supreme Court review. Last week, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case thus leaving in place the lower court’s decision that states — or at least New York State — could regulate internet rates.
Barring any action by either Congress to reinitiate ACP funding, or the FCC to assume jurisdiction over internet rates, we are likely to see other states seek legislation supporting free or low-cost pricing on internet services for low-income users.
FCC Names Eight Members to the USAC Board:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel appointed eight members to new or extended terms on the USAC Board of Directors. Of most interest to the E-Rate community, the Chairwoman extended the term of Julie Tritt Schell, the State E-Rate Coordinator in Pennsylvania, one year to December 31, 2025, and appointed David Schuler, Executive Director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, to a new three-year term expiring December 31, 2027.