A.

Funding Commitments for FY2006 and FY2005
 
Funding Year 2006

Wave 35 12/19/2006 $20.6 M
Wave 36 12/20/2006 $33.3 M
Wave 37 12/27/2006 $14.9 M
Wave 38 1/9/2007 $ 1.9 M

Funding Year 2005

Wave 65 12/18/2006 $ 904 T
Wave 66 1/17/2007 $173.7 M (includes Internal Connections at 80%)

We have set the final funding and denial thresholds for FY2005. We will fund Priority 2 funding requests at 80% and above and deny at 79% and below.

USAC will issue occasional waves as commitments can be made, but FY2005 waves will no longer be issued weekly. These additional waves will be designated 66A, 66B, 66C, and so on.

B.

FY2007 Window Update

January 10 was the last day to file a Form 470 and still be able to meet the window filing requirements for the Form 471. The window closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on February 7.

C.

Update on New and Revised Letters for Applicants

Due to recent FCC orders, some new letters are being created and other letters are being revised. While most of these letters will be issued to applicants, the information they contain may have implications for service providers as well.

(NEW) Notification of Form 470 Posted but No Associated Form 471

USAC issues this letter to applicants that have posted a timely Form 470 but have not yet submitted a Form 471. These letters will be dated and mailed tomorrow, shortly after the last day to post a timely Form 470. Consequently, some applicants may be confused because they will receive this letter before the end of their required 28-day waiting period.

(NEW) Notification of Form 471 with No Certification

USAC issues this letter to applicants that have submitted a timely Form 471 online but have not yet certified the form. These applicants will have 20 days after the date on this letter to postmark a paper certification. (Applicants that certify a Form 471 online after the close of the window will receive an out-of-window letter.)

(NEW) Urgent Reminder: Your Form 486 May Be Late

USAC issues this letter to applicants that – based on the date of the Funding Commitment Decision Letter and the service start date reported on the Form 471 – may be late in filing their Forms 486. Applicants will have 20 days after the date on this letter to submit a Form 486 or Form 486 Certification (if the Form 486 is submitted but uncertified) online or on paper without penalty. Note that, if the service start date has been delayed beyond the date reported on the Form 471, the Form 486 may not be late.

(REVISED) Receipt Notification Letter (RNL)

The Form 470 RNL is issued after a Form 470 has been posted to the website. The FY2007 RNL has been reformatted to make it easier for applicants to submit ministerial and clerical error corrections.

(REVISED) Receipt Acknowledgment Letter (RAL)

The Form 471 RAL is issued after a Form 471 has been certified. The FY2007 RAL has been reformatted to make it easier for applicants to submit ministerial and clerical error corrections.

(NEW) Form 486 Rejection Letter

USAC reviews a random sample of Forms 486 for compliance with technology plan requirements. USAC issues this letter if a Form 486 is being rejected for failure to comply with these requirements. In the situations where applicants can come into compliance later (for example, an applicant with an unapproved technology plan can get its plan approved by a USAC-certified Technology Plan Approver), these applicants can submit a new Form 486 once compliance has been achieved.

Watch for a detailed update on these and other letters in a future Schools and Libraries News Brief.

D.

Update on Service Provider Training

Thanks for all of your input on spring service provider training.

We are currently looking at holding two sessions in April, probably in Atlanta and Chicago. We reviewed our Form 498 records and found that these two locations would be convenient for many of our current service providers. We are developing an agenda and researching possible locations, and will publicize information and provide a registration page once arrangements have been finalized.

The SPtraining@usac.org box is still open if you have additional comments.

E.

Two-in-Five Tool Update

This is just a reminder that the Two-in-Five Tool is available to any interested user to check the Two-in-Five status of particular entities. You may find this information helpful as you review Forms 470.

Invoicing Update / Online BEAR Update

Invoicing Update

Payments for the month of December totaled $80,071,664.89 against requests for $105.4M. In total, 5,903 invoices were processed for 1,208 service providers. This represented 22,498 lines in December with 98% being completed within 30 days and 430 lines over 30 days.

There are currently just over 60 in-process lines over 30 days old out of 862 lines in process.

The invoice deadline for all non-extended Funding Year 2005 FRNs is January 29, 2007. If you have already invoiced USAC and been paid all eligible funds for your FRN, there is no need to file a new invoice. Please work with your customers to ensure that they have submitted any BEARs for covered services.

Online BEAR Update

The Online BEAR form is now live. Applicants continue to tell us how easy the online BEAR is to use. We have received 1,560 online BEARs with over 3,500 lines submitted by 715 applicants for over 400 service providers. This represents 34% of the BEARs filed during this period and over $65M in reimbursement requests.

If your customers use BEAR Forms, you should log into the E-Cert system on a regular basis to see if you have any Online BEARs waiting for your review and approval. You can access the E-Cert system by following the “Form 498” or “Form 499-A” links on the USAC Forms page or the “Certify BEAR Online” link on the Required Forms page. If you are having difficulty with the E-cert system, please contact our customer service group at 1-888-641-8722.

Please note that this system requires that you approve – either individually or in total – the lines for the invoices you review by checking the appropriate box(es). If you simply click the “Certify” button at the bottom of the BEAR Form without checking the boxes to the right of each line, the system will consider you to have rejected the lines.

USAC sends you an email notification email from no-reply@saic.com when one of your customers files a BEAR Form online. Please make a note of this email address so that you can check to see that the email is not blocked by your system.

Do not submit paper copies of any BEAR Forms you certify online. If you wish, you can print and retain paper copies of the forms you review, but it is not necessary to do so. You can always use the Certify BEAR or Bulk Download feature of the online BEAR Form to retrieve historical copies.

To access help with the online BEAR Form, click on the Need Help selection at the top of each page.

Form 498 Reminder

The company officer who submits the Form 498 will receive a password automatically via email. Email addresses cannot be generic (e.g., serviceprovider@yourcompany.com) as the system must be able to identify the individual who certifies forms. Remember that you must also include a certification letter when you first file a Form 498 on paper. If you are updating an existing Form 498, be sure to review Blocks 1, 2, 10, and 11 for correct contact information.

Other

No items.

General Questions Received by E-mail

1. In a Midwestern state, the regional educational consortiums (operating under the state umbrella) act as service providers for both telecommunications and Internet services for member districts. The state, through the dept. of education, provides cash grants to districts that purchase services from the consortium service provider. Districts purchasing services from providers other than the consortium are denied the cash grants. The state run consortium is encouraging applicants to select their bid while reminding applicants that by doing so they can receive the grants. I understand that some of this may be viewed as a state funding issue. Can you review “an open and fair competitive bidding process” and how this may be affected by these actions? Thank you.
   
   In general, if you have a concern about a situation, using the Whistleblower or Code 9 process is really the best vehicle to relay information to us about a situation you feel that we should investigate. Remember that (1) we may have additional questions – so if you want to remain anonymous we may not be able to contact you about those questions and that may limit our investigation – and (2) we don’t report back to individual callers on anything we find.
   
   
2. We have filled out several 498 forms and changed information by mailing and faxing in the forms yet the information is not being changed. How long should this take and how many times do we need to send it in? Our contact passed away in June and 6 months later is still receiving emails. We need to get this changed. Thanks.
   
   We did some research into this specific problem. This service provider filed a form in September that was missing information in several required fields and contained a generic email address. (We require the email address of an actual person.) The service provider submitted another form in December which was rejected because the necessary certification letter was missing. In both cases, the name in question had not been removed from the form prior to submission.
   
   If you submit a form to us and you don’t get the result you expect, please call us at 1-888-641-8722 and ask us to walk you through the process.
   
   
3. What is the proper procedure for returning funds to USAC for overbilling on an FRN that is now out of funds? At one time I was told that USAC would contact us regarding payment, is this correct? If so, how does this happen, how long does it take, and how do we submit the amount to USAC?
   
   The short answer is that you should follow the guidance in the Reference Area entitled Returning Funds to USAC. In this case, however, you should first make sure that USAC understands what you are trying to do. For example, if you want to return funds because you invoiced USAC incorrectly but then want to request reimbursement for other, eligible services, we may not be able to accommodate your request because the deadline to invoice has passed.
   
   
4. As a Service Provider with multiple, multiple SPINs, is there a way to create a "master" SPIN in order to be able to access all of my online BEARs at one time? Or, at least be able to see what SPINs have Pending Certifications? To date, I am unable to receive the notifications because of a Form 498 situation that currently exists. We are working on this but a "master" or pseudo SPIN would be helpful.
   
   You can ask USAC to consolidate all of your SPINs into a single “master” SPIN. However, this will result in all FRNs being reassigned to that SPIN.
   
   We are looking at modifying the home page –the page a service provider sees after logging in to the Online BEAR system – to include a list of SPINs for that service provider and a count of BEARs awaiting approval.
   
   
5. Two years ago, an applicant filed a 470 for Priority One services and looked over bids during the 28-day waiting period. They decided on a five-year contract but with school board meetings and lawyer reviews, they missed the mid-February 471 signing deadline and it was signed in early March. The first year they were denied (withdrawn, actually, because PIA told them that they had "missed the window"). The second year's 471 application has been pending for a year for no known reason. I just want to confirm that this contract, while dated early March, is valid for the remaining years of the contract--they waited the 28 days, were not funded the first year due to a late contract signature, but the remaining four years are valid on the contract with E-Rate, right? Thanks.
   
   If the applicant misses the window deadline, USAC will not consider funding that application for that funding year until all other eligible requests have been funded first. However, as long as program rules have been followed, the applicant can file a Form 471 in the following funding year for this multi-year contract.
   
   
6. Recently a FL applicant filed a 470 asking for Digital Transmission Service and a WAN. We responded with a network solution and were told that they wanted their VoIP voice/video/data solution, which includes equipment on their prem. It would be more than the "single router/switch at the point of demarcation". The applicant said that they had been leasing this equipment under their monthly WAN payment from a wireless provider for several years. I thought that the Dec 03 FCC 3rd Order disallowed this type of arrangement. Am I right? If the applicant wants Interconnected VoIP for FY2007, did they need to mention that specifically on the 470 under Telecom and Internet Access? I know that you had a Friday News Brief that mentioned filing under both categories.
   
   We would need more information to be able to give a definitive answer to the first part of this question. However, the Eligible Services List does indicate that there can be one demarc for each WAN service.
   
   As for the Interconnected VoIP question, we advised applicants to file in both categories so that when it came time to file a Form 471, the service provider they chose could provide services in the appropriate category of service.
   
   
7. Rumor has it that FY2005 80% Priority Two funding will be approved soon. If applicants had signed a Basic Maintenance contract but had not implemented it until they received the funding letter, can they still use this? What dates should they use on their 486 for the Service Start Date? On Internal Connections, if it hasn't been installed, can they still use it? What date should they use on their 486 for the Service Start Date? I've heard that SLD will not pay for anything that has an invoice before the Service Start Date on the 486. Thanks.
   
   Reimbursement can only be requested for the months in which the service is actually delivered. Therefore, if the service provider started providing the service on July 1 of the funding year with the applicant paying for the service from its own funds, USAC can reimburse for the service as of July 1. If, however, the applicant has been waiting for the funding commitment decision before starting the service and the FCDL is issued (and service started) on January 1, only six months of the service can be reimbursed.