Step 4 Applying for Discounts

FCC Form 471 Filing

An applicant that applies for Schools and Libraries Program support for eligible services must calculate the discount percentage that it and the schools or libraries it represents are eligible to receive.

What to File

FCC Form 471

Description of Services Ordered and Certification Form

You can file this form online.

Purpose of Form

Applicants file an FCC Form 471 to request discounts on eligible products and services. Applicants must include information on the recipients of services, discount calculations, costs of service, dates of service, and service provider(s), and attach detailed descriptions of services. Applicants must also certify compliance with program rules.

When to File

Applicants cannot file FCC Form 471 before the Allowable Vendor Selection/Contract Date (ACD), which is 28 days after the FCC Form 470 is posted to the USAC website. This date is provided on the FCC Form 470 Receipt Notification Letter (RNL). The FCC Form 471 can be filed as soon as the application filing window opens. The exact date and time of the window is announced in advance on the USAC website each year.

Deadline: The FCC Form 471 must be received or postmarked by 11:59PM Eastern Time on or before the date that the application filing window closes. Applications filed after this date will be considered out-of-window, and are unlikely to receive funding. The exact date and time is announced and counted down on the USAC website.

Services and products for which discounts are requested must be described on the Item 21 Attachment. Beginning with Funding Year (FY) 2011, the Item 21 Attachments must also be received or postmarked by the close of the application filing window.

Special Feature: Block 4 Bulk Upload

Applicants with large Block 4 worksheets can create them offline in a spreadsheet and then upload the data to the FCC Form 471 using the Block 4 Bulk Upload feature. This feature is located to the right of the "Copy Block 4 Worksheet" button in the online FCC Form 471. Applicants can upload multiple files to one or more worksheets using a Comma Separated Value (CSV) format.

View the Bulk Upload Instructions.

After Filing

USAC issues an applicant version and a service provider version of the FCC Form 471 Receipt Acknowledgment Letter (RAL) upon successful data entry and certification of an FCC Form 471. (Note: RALS are only issued to certified and in-window forms.) The applicant version of this letter can be used to submit allowable corrections.

USAC issues a Notification of FCC Form 471 with No Certification if an FCC Form 471 is filed online before the application filing window closes but is not certified.

USAC issues an applicant version and a service provider version of a Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) after the review of an FCC Form 471 has been completed.