January 2005 Announcements

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

The FY2005 Form 471 application filing window has been extended one day, to 11:59 PM EST on Friday, February 18. The SLD, in consultation with the FCC, has extended the window because the first version of the Letter to the Field for 2005 incorrectly featured January 21, 2005 as the last possible day to post a Form 470 and still file a Form 471 before the close of the filing window. This change will allow applicants who posted a Form 470 on January 21 the opportunity to file a Form 471 before the close of the filing window.

The SLD will conduct the following WebEx training sessions during January and February 2005. To enroll, please go to the following link on the SLD's WebEx training site and click on “Live Sessions”.

Seating is limited and signup for the session is first-come first-serve. Participants must pay for their own long-distance charges.

WebEx will provide notification via e-mail to those registrants accepted to participate in the training. If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to sldwebextraining.

List of topics:

This letter provides you with valuable information on applying for discounts on eligible services for Funding Year 2005 (July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2006) from the Universal Service Support Mechanism's Schools and Libraries Program ("E-rate"). It has been compiled to offer you highlights of the most up-to-date information to assist you in submitting a successful application. The letter contains important dates for Funding Year 2005. "). The letter has been revised. Please note that the last date to post your Form 470 has been corrected to January 21, 2005. Also note that the Funding Year 2005 application filing window closes on February 18, 2005, which is a Friday. Follow this link to the Revised Letter to the Field [PDF, 59kb]

Wave 11 for Funding Year 2004 will be issued on Tuesday, January 11, 2005.  This wave will include funding for approved Internal Connections requests down to the 81% discount level.  With this wave, the SLD expects to resume issuing biweekly funding commitment decisions on FY2004 applications.

There is no decision yet on whether funds will be sufficient to fully fund Internal Connections requests with discount percentages below 81%.  Further information on funding requests for Internal Connections below 81% will be posted to this web site as it becomes available.

The issuance of this wave is consistent with HR 5419, which President Bush has signed into law.  Among other things, this law provides a temporary suspension (through December 31, 2005) of the Antideficiency Act as applied to the Universal Service Fund.

SLD has scheduled a second training session on the Online Item 21 for Wednesday, January 12, from 2:00 - 3:30 PM EST.

To register for a session or to review the complete schedule of all USAC WebEx training sessions — which cover Invoicing, Appeals, Technology Planning, Competitive Bidding, Program Compliance, Audits, and other topics of interest — please visit the SLD WebEx site.