September 1998 Announcements

Please click on the topic below to view the most recent announcements:

September 23, 1998

Dear School, Library and Telecommunication Industry Leaders,

With summer vacation behind us, many of you are asking about the status of the E-rate fund. What are the latest program developments?

Significant Progress
After three weeks as Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Schools and Libraries Corporation, my simple answer to you is this: the summer has been productive, and we are entering the home stretch. A dedicated SLC team is moving the program forward, and stands ready to assist you. We continue to benefit from the wisdom, direction, and support of the SLC Board of Directors. Furthermore, having served as SLC’s Chief Operating Officer since last November, I assure you of my commitment to rapid, but careful, completion of critical next steps.

With your cooperation and the intense work of our Client Service Bureau, over 29,000 of the 30,000-plus applications that were received during the 75-day application window have completed our data entry process. The remaining applications are in the final stages of preparation for data entry.

Meanwhile, work continues apace on the review of applications by the SLC Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) unit, with inquiries to applicants occurring on an as-needed basis. These inquiries will continue as applications move through our PIA pipeline. We appreciate your patience during this key phase of the process. These inquiries mean we are approaching decisions on your applications.

Looking ahead, to help you prepare for the arrival of funding commitment decisions letters, we have already scheduled over 40 training workshops in 40 states to explain the final steps of the funding process.

Funding Commitment Process
Many of you are asking, "When will the SLC launch the funding commitment process?"

My answer to you is firm, if not highly specific: "early fall," and "when we’ve got it right."  By "getting it right," I mean meeting a major milestone: implementing, consistent with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman’s direction, the recommendations which the General Accounting Office (GAO) made to the FCC and the SLC. The steps to be completed before launching the funding commitment process are:

• Conduct detailed reviews of a random sample of applications to test our review process.
  

• Finalize our post-commitment procedures and systems, so that invoices for approved discounts may be handled expeditiously.
  

• Obtain a report from our independent auditor affirming the soundness of our internal controls.

The random sample has been completed, and a written report is in process. Systems development is well advanced for the last processing phase: receiving Forms 486 and handling invoices. Finally, we are working side by side with our auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so they can complete their report on our controls, consistent with the direction given to the SLC by the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Rolling Out Funding Commitment Decisions

The SLC will be issuing funding commitment decisions letters in waves. For applications received and accepted during the 75-day window, the FCC’s 5^th Order places first priority on funding telecommunications services and Internet access for all approved applications. The second identified priority is to fund the neediest applicants for internal connections. Our goal is to provide applicants with one unified letter per Form 471 application, providing funding decisions on all of the services requested in that application. As a result, the first wave of letters will be comprised predominantly of commitment decisions on applications seeking discounts only for telecommunications services and/or Internet access, as well as requests from the neediest applicants for internal connections support. Mixed applications at lower discount levels will receive funding commitment decisions letters later in the process.

More Answers in the Days Ahead

Now that we are entering the final phase of the first program year, events will move quickly, and additional information will be posted frequently on our Web Site. Over the next several weeks you can expect us to post additional information about:

• The kind of data to be included in the Funding Commitment Decisions Letters for applicants and service providers;
  

• Requirements for filling in the FCC Form 486: Receipt of Service Confirmation Form;
  

• Notification Letters to Service Providers re: acceptance of Forms 486;
  

• Reimbursement and invoicing procedures.

Service to Clients

Our mission is to deliver universal service support in a manner that provides for the most effective use of technology in our schools and libraries. As we administer the program, we will uphold the operating principles described to you in November 1997. As noted then, we will:

• Conduct open and regular communications with all of those interested in the universal service program;
  

• Take the extra steps to ensure that all schools and libraries, regardless of financial resources or geographic location, have the opportunity to participate in the program; and
  

• Provide for the integrity of the program through careful planning and sound controls to protect this investment in schools and libraries for the long term.

These principles will remain central in this start-up program, as we administer this dynamic initiative where rules and policies have changed mid-course to address new circumstances. We will ask for your advice and keep you informed as well as we are able. We ask for the gift of your wisdom, patience, and optimism, and we offer in return an eagerness to listen, learn, and improve.

A Personal Note
As the Acting CEO of the SLC, I want to personally assure you that I am dedicated to this mission. Career experience in three different sectors – private, government and not-for-profit – has proven useful here at the SLC. My government work previously as Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation, for example, has facilitated communications with government colleagues and officials, especially those involved in oversight. Additionally, three years as Chief Financial Officer of United Way of America, during its financial recovery phase, taught me lessons about technology implementation and the significance of effective internal controls. These lessons are being applied here.

Finally, my own liberal arts background – a degree in American history and a wonderful two-year stint in publishing art and history books for children -- engenders a profound appreciation for the central role of the E-rate program in the Information Technology revolution. I look forward to our shared journey in transforming the classrooms and libraries of today into global gateways to learning for all Americans.

With a sense of history, urgency, and integrity, we will together move this program forward. Together we can. Thank you for your counsel and support.

Sincerely,

Kate L. Moore
Acting CEO
Schools and Libraries Corporation

To prepare schools and libraries for the release of their funding commitment decision letters and the subsequent steps they must take to begin the flow of E-rate discounts, the Schools and Libraries Corporation is working with state education agencies and state library associations to hold a variety of training workshops.   Click here for a schedule of confirmed and tentative state workshops available by date as well as by state.

These workshops, which will be led by members of SLC's outreach team, will focus on the specifics of the funding commitment decisions letters, Form 486, the applicant reimbursement process, and service provider invoicing of discounts. In some cases, states have scheduled "train the trainer" sessions for a targeted group of local E-rate experts; in other cases, the sessions are open to a broad audience in person and via teleconference.  The design of each workshop is up to the state hosting it.  For more information about each state's workshop, please call or email the contact person listed for each state.

The SLC is also working with the Virginia Department of Education to host a national satellite videoconference on Monday, September 28, 1998, from 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. EST.  The teleconference will air in analog format on C-Band satellite Galaxy 7, channel 8 (3860 Mhz).  Galaxy 7 is located at 91 degrees west. A test signal will air at 1:15 p.m. EST.  Many schools, libraries, and state networks are planning to downlink this program, and all are invited to tape, rebroadcast, and redistribute the program at no charge.  Contact your state library, state department of education, or state network to locate downlink sites near you.

As part of this active outreach schedule, SLC has distributed some draft documents and forms to trainers for use during the workshops. Please be aware that Form 486, the Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form, and the Service Provider Invoice are all DRAFT forms still to be reviewed and approved by the Federal Communications Commission and the Office of Management and Budget. None of these forms are ready for applicant use, and since no applicants have yet received their funding commitment decisions letters, filing any of forms is not yet necessary or permitted.   Furthermore, applicants who attempt to use these draft forms after funding commitments will have them returned, because only official, final forms will be accepted at that time.  Final forms WILL BE AVAILABLE when funding commitments are made.

The SLC invites service providers and vendors to join a regularly scheduled conference call to learn about and discuss billing issues, invoicing procedures, and other important aspects of the E-Rate program. Participants may ask questions of SLC staff and share solutions with each other. The call occurs each Wednesday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The number to call is 800-991-9019, passcode 708855#.

The minutes of past calls and the list of issues discussed will also be posted on the SLC Web Site when available.

Notice to New Participants:  New Participants may join the Wednesday Conference Call at 12 (noon) ET for a "pre-meeting," which will revisit issues discussed on previous calls.   Agendas and supporting documents (when necessary) will be E-mailed to participants prior to the pre-meeting. 

Suggestions for the agenda of the pre-meeting may be E-mailed to jjones@universalservice.org by close of business each Monday. 

Reminder:  Both of these Wednesday calls address issues specific to service providers and vendors.

Over the past several months, some vendors have made necessary changes to their Service Provider Identification Numbers (SPIN). The SLC has made every effort to automatically correct such SPINs on all Form 471 applications we are reviewing, with the result that our future communications with you may list different SPINs from those you originally included in your Form 471.

If you encounter this situation, please consult the List of Modified SPINs  to determine if your service provider has changed its SPIN since you filed your Form 471. You should then confirm the new number with the service provider. (The List of Modified Spins contains names and contact information for those service providers that have recently changed their SPINs.)

Please use the corrected SPIN for all future business involving that particular service provider. If the SPIN we list is incorrect, please notify USAC immediately by calling 1-888-641-8722.

Over the next few weeks, the Schools and Libraries Corporation will be notifying about 400 Universal Service Fund applicants that a particular line item of their Form 471 applications has been rejected, prior to data entry, for violation of program rules. These applicants will be informed via a special letter labeled Form S that a specific line from their Form 471 Item 15 or 16, known as a Funding Request, cannot be accepted for data entry, but that the remainder of their application is continuing through processing. To assure prompt and proper delivery, the Form S letters are being sent via priority mail for second-day delivery, with return receipt requested.

There are several reasons why a specific Funding Request must be rejected before data entry. In some cases, the service requested is not being provided during the current program year—for example, a one-time order that was delivered and paid for in 1997.

In other cases, applicants did not comply with the rules governing posting of Form 470. As program application materials make clear, all services not covered by a formal, written contract signed before January 30, 1998, were required to be filed as New Services on Form 470 and posted on the SLC Web Site for 28 days before a contract or service agreement could be executed AND before the applicant could file a Form 471 for that service. Applicants who failed to post such services (including tariff services, which are not covered by written contracts) for competitive bidding, or who signed a contract or submitted Form 471 before the end of the 28 days, will be notified that these specific Funding Requests have been rejected.

The Form S rejections are being issued now because these specific Funding Requests cannot be entered into the data system. Every effort has been made to verify the applicants’ Form 471 information so that Funding Requests won’t be rejected due to clerical error on the part of either the applicant or the SLC.

Form S will also explain that other Funding Requests in the applicant’s Form 471 will be duly data processed, followed by Program Integrity Assurance review for full compliance with program rules prior to funding commitment.

Applicants who receive Form S and wish to appeal their specific Funding Request rejection are instructed how to do so in their letter.

For questions about the Form S letter or the rejection of specific Funding Requests, please call 888-203-8100.

The SLC invites E-rate applicants and service providers to tune in to a live satellite teleconference on September 28, 1998 from 1:30 - 3:30 Eastern time, hosted by the Virginia Department of Education.

At the teleconference, SLC staff experts will walk through the remaining steps of the 1998 E-rate program year, from the issuance of funding commitments this fall to the implementation of discounts by service providers through June 1999. SLC will begin with a preview of the Funding Commitment Decisions Letter that approved applicants will receive, followed by step-by-step instructions on filling out FCC Form 486 (Receipt of Service Confirmation Form), which triggers payment of discounts. We’ll also provide detailed instructions for applicants who will seek reimbursement for funds they’ve already spent on services for which they are approved for discounts. The teleconference will pinpoint who is required to submit which forms, when, and under what circumstances. A brief overview of the application schedule for the next program year will also be covered.

The teleconference will air in analog format on C-Band satellite Galaxy 7, channel 8 (3860 Mhz). Galaxy 7 is located at 91 degrees west. A test signal will air at 1:15 p.m. eastern time.

For more information, prior to the broadcast day of September 28, contact Greg Weisiger of the Virginia Department of Education, (804) 692-0335. The SLC thanks Greg for once again making it possible for us to get important program information out via a very timely national teleconference.