Upcoming Dates:
| March 25 |
USAC Cybersecurity Pilot Program Form 471 webinar: 3:00-4:00 PM EST | Register |
| March 26 |
Close of the E-Rate Form 471 application window for FY 2025. |
| March 26 |
Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund (see our newsletter of November 25, 2024). |
| March 27 |
FY 2024 Form 486 deadline for Wave 32. 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 33 04/04/2025
Wave 34 04/11/2025
Wave 35 04/18/2025 |
| April 4 |
USAC Program Integrity Assurance and the Selective Review Process webinar: 2:00-3:00 PM EST | Register |
| April 11 |
Comments due on the FCC’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” Initiative (DA 25-219). |
| April 28 |
Reply comments due on the FCC’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” Initiative. |
| May 28 |
Extended invoice deadline for FY 2023 non-recurring service FRNs with approved extensions beyond the original January 28, 2025, deadline. |
| July 1 |
Withdrawal deadline for Cybersecurity Pilot participants opting not to continue in the Program. |
| September 15 |
Close of the Cybersecurity Pilot Form 471 application window and deadline for filing the Form 484 Part 2. |
FCC Commissioner Starks to Resign:
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks announced last week that he intends to resign “this spring.” As the FCC is currently configured, what this would traditionally have meant is that President Trump would nominate a Democratic Commissioner as a replacement for Starks. This would bring the FCC Commission back to full strength with a 3:2 Republican-Democratic split structured as follows:
| Republican: |
|
Brendan Carr, Chairman
Nathan Simington
Olivia Trusty — nominated, but not yet confirmed |
| Democratic: |
|
Anna Gomez
Geoffrey Starks’ replacement yet to be nominated |
What happens next to the FCC, under the current administration, is anyone’s guess. It was made more uncertain last week when President Trump removed two Democratic members of the Federal Trade Commission. As noted in one news report, “Trump may refuse to fill Stark’s seat, or select a Democrat more aligned with his administration’s telecom priorities, braking with the long-standing tradition of allowing the Senate minority leader to help choose the nominee.”
USDA Issues NSLP Eligibility Guidelines for 2025-26:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (“USDA’s”) Income Eligibility Guidelines, setting family income thresholds for free and reduced-price lunches, was published in the Federal Register last week. Schools and school districts not covered by the Community Eligibility Provision (“CEP”) can now update their family income surveys for the 2025-26 school year. E-Rate Central provides sample income survey letters, updated with the latest guidelines, in both English and Spanish.