E-Rate for FY 2025:

Wave 19 of Funding Commitment Decision Letters for FY 2025 was released on Friday, August 29th, for $112 million.  Total funding is now $1.95 billion.  Currently, USAC has funded 88.0% of submitted applications (just short of its 95% goal of “workable applications” by September 1st), representing 61.6% of the dollars requested.

Cybersecurity Pilot Program – Application Window:

The Form 471 application window for the Cybersecurity Pilot Program opened on March 18th and will close on September 15th, 2025.  Total pilot funding is capped at $200 million for 690 applicants. 

In a notice to USAC last week (DA 25-765), the FCC announced the approval of the PIA review procedures for the CBR Form 471 applications.  As has been the case with E-Rate, this was just simple announcement of the approval; no details of the procedures were released publicly.  It is, however, a necessary step proceeding the eventual issuance of Cyber Funding Commitment Decision Letters (“FCDLs”) — and an indication that PIA review of pending Cyber Pilot applications is about to begin.

E-Rate Central held a Cyber Pilot webinar (Passcode: qke^kt5R) last week suggesting additional guidance on bid evaluations, service periods, contracts, and CBR Form 471 service types.

Upcoming Dates:

USAC’s E-Rate News Brief dated August 26, 2025, covers the following topics:

• Resources to understand the Form 470 and competitive bidding process for FY 2026, including the following Competitive Bidding Infographic.
  

   

• Requesting Service Delivery Deadline Extensions (normal deadline is September 30th) for FY 2024 non-recurring services (other than special construction networks).
  • Updated E-Rate’s Service Provider Process section of the website, including adding three new resources:
    • E-Rate Service Provider Activities for Funding Year (FY) 2025.
    • Select an Invoicing Method in E-Rate.
    • Registering for a Service Provider Identification Number (“SPIN”) Checklist for New Tribal Service Providers (updated tip sheet for new Tribal service providers).
• USAC announced that it will be transitioning its business processing work (PIA application and invoicing review) over the next quarter from Maximus, its current vendor, to Ernst & Young, its new vendor.  USAC states, with more confidence than we have, that the “transition to the new vendor should be seamless for E-Rate participants.”  More specifically:

  “USAC will reach out to E-Rate participants that have active applications, invoices, or post-commitment requests to share additional information about any changes related to the transition to the new vendor. We will continue to share information with affected participants by email, especially if the transition to the new vendor will affect those participants’ open E-Rate activities. We expect that by the beginning of January 2026, all open forms and requests (including invoices, appeals, and post-commitment requests) will be assigned to new reviewers.”

  The good news from our perspective is that Ernst & Young is already handling USAC’s Customer Service Center (“CSC”) so it is not entirely new to E-Rate.
• USAC’s 2025 training and outreach includes two in-person training days:

  Denver, CO	September 9, 2025
  Washington, DC	September 16, 2025 (also available online)