Minutes for April 7, 2004 Service Provider Call

A.

FUNDING COMMITMENTS

A reminder that service providers can view funding commitments online.

• FY2002
  No new waves.

• FY2003
  Letters in Wave 25 issued on March 30, 2004; commitments in this wave totaled approximately 225M. Total commitments for FY2003 are now approximately 2.3B. This is the first time that we have committed more than 2.25B.

• FY2004
  No waves have yet been issued. We are working on the demand estimate.

B.

ONLINE INTERNAL CONNECTIONS DATABASE

A status report was provided for the pilot program mandated by the FCC for an online Internal Connections database of E-rate eligible products. The SLD has completed preliminary planning and is now involved in active program development. This includes software development, consideration of the review process SLD will use when products entries are submitted to us, and communication activities such as upcoming information to be posted on the SLD web site.

C.

INVOICING ISSUES

a. Invoice line items processed during March totaled were over 34,200. The dollars paid out was over $88,859,000. 86% of the lines processed were processed within 30 days and 83% were within 7 days.

b. Due to recent deadlines many invoices have been received. In January the SLD Committee approved an increase in the invoice review staffing and these positions have been filled. Training is ongoing and full function of those staff positions should begin to be seen in the time to approve payments.

c. The FCC Second Report and Order permits the application to choose the method of invoicing. Applicants may select discounts and it is felt that a group meeting should be arranged to assist service providers in this process. A call will be arranged by SLD, not to direct but rather to facilitate a discussion. Service providers who have been successful in providing discounts within their billing systems are encouraged to participate. Service providers with issues are encouraged to submit a list of topics to discuss through the “Submit a Question” feature found on the sl.universalservice.org web page.

D.

WEBEX RECORDINGS AVAILABLE

WebEx recordings have been recorded and are available at universalservice.webex.com under the link “Attend a Session” by clicking on “Recorded Sessions. The sessions are available to applicants and service providers. The topics are as follows: Appeals, Program Compliance, E-rate Overview for Beginners, E-rate Overview, Audits, SLD Website Navigation, DRT Tool, Contracts, Forms & Letters, Item 21, Program Update, and SLD Eligible Services.

E. 

GENERAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RECEIVED BY E-MAIL