A.

Funding Commitments for FY2006 and FY2005
 
FY2006

USAC is currently funding Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance at the 90% discount level.

FY2005

USAC is currently funding Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance at the 81% level and denying for threshold at 79% and below. We are working with the FCC to determine if we can fund the large number of requests at the 80% level.

B.

FY2007 Window

The FY2007 window will open at noon EST on November 14, 2006 and close at 11:59 p.m. EST on February 7, 2007. This window is longer than usual to give applicants plenty of time to file the necessary forms

C.

Update on FY2007 Eligible Services List

The FCC released the FY2007 Eligible Services List on October 19, 2006. This list covers products and services for the funding year starting on July 1, 2007.

The Eligible Services List page continues to feature the FY2006 Eligible Services List for reference as well as the new FY2007 Eligible Services List. The FY2007 list includes hyperlinks and other navigation aids.

In the coming weeks, USAC will be providing additional insight into particular entries in the FY2007 Eligible Services List. For now, here are some of the principal updates and clarifications for the FY2007 list:

Overall changes. The 2007 Eligible Services List is 49 pages and includes a 19-page Glossary and a five-page Index. By comparison, the FY2006 Eligible Services List was 71 pages. Note, however, that because this reduction was achieved largely by consolidating redundant entries, there is no net loss of information in the detailed guidance on the essential eligibility of products and services.

Interconnected Voice over IP. The FCC has added interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (Interconnected VoIP) to the FY2007 list as an eligible service. Eligibility for VoIP is limited to services that connect to the public switched telephone network, i.e., voice services. Therefore, direct connectivity between sites for video interconnectivity remains ineligible in the Internet Access category of service.

Applicants can apply for VoIP services in the Telecommunications Services or the Internet Access category of service. However, applicants that intend to request VoIP services may wish to post for both categories of service on their Forms 470 (see below).

Wireless Internet access designed for portable electronic devices. USAC will fund Internet access designed for portable electronic devices, such as email services on Blackberry and cell phone devices. Wireless access services for laptop computers are also eligible. Remember the presumption that such access is provided for Educational Purposes.

Redundant components. Components that are installed in standby mode, are redundant, or are not active and in service are not eligible.

Applicants should be sure that their FCC Form 470 indicates ALL categories of service for which they desire services. For example, Internet access services (including email) can, in some cases, be requested in the category of Telecommunications Services. However, applicants considering these services must specify on FCC Form 470 that they are seeking Internet Access by completing Item 9.

For those applicants that are unsure about the correct category of Priority 1 services being requested, USAC strongly recommends that they complete both Item 8 (Telecommunications Services) and Item 9 (Internet Access) on the Form 470. Additionally, if a Request for Proposals (RFP) is or will be issued, that RFP should indicate the specific products and services being sought.

D.

Update on Planning for Service Provider Training

Thanks to many comments during the fall training – both in person and on evaluation forms – USAC intends to offer service provider training in the spring of 2007.

We have set up a special email address – SPtraining@usac.org – for you to provide feedback to USAC. Please send in your thoughts on training for service providers by December 15 – for example, when and where to hold training, how long the training should be, what topics we should cover, and your interest in networking opportunities with other service providers.

E.

Two-in-Five Tool Update

Work on the Two-in-Five tool continues. For those of you who did not see a demonstration of the tool at the fall training, it will allow you to look up the Two-in-Five status of any entity or group of entities by Form 471 Application Number, Funding Request Number, Billed Entity Number, or Service Provider Identification Number. This feature will give you a means to quickly identify those entities that are (or are not) eligible for Internal Connections funding in FY2007.

Invoicing Update / Online BEAR Update

Payments for the month of October totaled $229,984,632.50 against requests for $313.6M. In total, 14,020 invoices were processed for 1,938 service providers. This represented 48,056 lines in October with 99% being completed within 30 days and 241 lines over 30 days.

There are currently under 30 in-process lines over 30 days old out of 1,326 lines in process. This is especially significant because we just passed a major deadline (October 30 for invoicing for FY2005 recurring services).

BEAR Update

Service providers, please do not send signed BEAR Forms to the Kansas address for processing.

An applicant should receive the signed fourth page of a paper BEAR Form from the service providers and then the applicant submits the complete form. When service providers also submit a copy of the same form, these duplicates result in additional processing time and slow down the review process.

Online BEAR

We anticipate that the online BEAR form will go live in mid-November. The volunteers for testing the online BEAR Form are accessing the site and we are receiving their feedback. Please watch the website and the weekly News Briefs for the actual implementation date.

We are modifying the E-Cert system to allow service providers to certify BEAR Forms. This new feature will be available when the online BEAR Form goes live. Service providers will be able to create additional users if they wish to do so. This feature will remain accessible under the Form 498 and Form 499 information on the website.

When users log into the system for the first time, they will be required to accept the terms and conditions of use. Please read the terms and conditions carefully.

A PIN will be issued to applicants who do not already have a PIN and who have filed a BEAR in the last year. These BEAR-only PINs will be issued by mail in the same manner as regular PINs. The mailer will clearly identify these PINs as BEAR-only.

Other

No items.

General Questions Received by E-mail

1. Please clarify some confusion surrounding contracts and tariffed items....We have received conflicting info between site, SP training and other inquiries...
 
For tariffed items, if the service is a multiple year order (ie. - 3 year PRI which for time committment usually receives a reduced monthly rate), - is a contract required? The general understanding that was for anything other than month to month a contract (per SLD guidelines) IS REQUIRED. Could you please clarify?

Services provided under tariff or a month-to-month arrangement must be re-bid every year. That is, the applicant must file a Form 470 every year. A contract is not required.

Services provided under a multi-year contract — which can include tariffed services — do not have to be re-bid every year of the contract, as long as the applicant indicated the desire for a multi-year contract on the Form 470 or RFP. The applicant can reference the establishing Form 470 in subsequent years on the Form 471 for the life of the contract.

2. We have two 2006 schools that were recently put in the category “Held for Policy Guidance”. We can’t offer any optimism about this situation as we have a 2004 applicant that has been sitting in that pile for over two years. Whenever this latter school has asked what the problem is it’s basically been told that no information is available – or it’s none of its business. Two questions:
 
Shouldn’t there be some statute of limitations on remaining in limbo forever? Some schools have applications that fall into black holes and no information is ever forthcoming.

If a school is reapplying, wouldn’t it be helpful for them to know where they’re making an error, in advance of a new application?

There are many reasons why an application can be held for policy guidance. In some situations, we can provide limited additional information; in others, we cannot provide ANY information. We understand and regret that in some cases the lack of information makes it difficult for applicants to make decisions on the application process for subsequent years.

3. A school is approved for Dell (Windows) equipment. It puts in a request to change to the equivalent Apple equipment and is approved. Then they realize they should go with Dell. Do they have to apply for another change or will the first approval stand?

We do not save old approvals to be revived if needed. Therefore, an applicant that wants to request a second service substitution back to the originally requested service will have to submit a second service substitution request. However, the applicant will probably get a speedier decision by indicating that the second request is actually similar to or the same as the original approved request.