February 2005 Announcements

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

The Schools and Libraries Client Service Bureau will be closed on Monday, February 21, 2005 in observance of Presidents’ Day. The Client Service Bureau will resume normal operations on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 at 8:00 a.m. EST.

The SLD has recently seen marketing efforts regarding video and other services in the Telecommunications and Internet Access categories that misconstrue FCC eligibility requirements.

In the Telecommunications category of service, the FCC’s Eligible Services List indicates, in the listing for “Distance Learning Circuits,” that “[t]ransmission services that provide [video or other] distance learning are eligible for discount.” Some may have mistakenly concluded that this statement indicates that any Distance Learning service is eligible, when in fact the statement is limited to eligibility for the transmission services that enable distance learning.

Since a full distance learning system may include components beyond the FCC’s definition of a telecommunications service, applicants must use care that the costs of ineligible features have been removed when submitting funding requests.

In the Internet Access category of service, the FCC’s Eligible Services List indicates that the Internet Access category of service is “limited to the provision of ‘basic conduit access’ to the Internet.” Some may have mistakenly concluded that Internet Access can include functions that go beyond “basic conduit access” to the Internet, such as a direct exchange of data or video between applicant sites. Such conclusions are incorrect. In the Internet Access category of service, the SLD will only fund services that are within FCC requirements for “basic conduit access” to the Internet. Funding in this category will not be provided for transport of point-to-point connectivity of data, video, or voice applications that are to be provided only by eligible telecommunications carriers.

Applicants are cautioned that funding requests for products and services that are ineligible should not be submitted. Any funding requests that include a combination of eligible and ineligible components must be cost-allocated to remove ineligible features.

SLD has initiated an evaluation of the invoice review process. The goal of this evaluation is to speed up the processing of invoices without compromising program integrity. As SLD implements improvements to the invoice review process, notice will be posted to this web site with “Invoice Improvement Update” in the title. This is the first of these postings.

In the past, if the date for customer billing or shipping reported on a line in Column 11 or Column 12 on an FCC Form 474 (SPI Form) was

• before the start of the funding year,
• before the service start date reported on the Form 486, or
• after the close of the funding year and the last allowable date to invoice,

the invoice reviewer was required to contact the service provider, work through the discrepancy, and then verify receipt of the necessary documentation that supported compliance with program rules.

Under a recently-enacted change to the review process, if the billing or shipping date in a line item on a SPI Form does not comply with program rules, that line item will be denied.

A line item denied for this reason will be featured on a remittance statement with the appropriate invoice error code. This line item may be submitted on a new SPI Form with the correct date.

If you have any questions, please contact the Client Service Bureau.

If you are still filing your Form 471, and are filing online, you must have a Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) for each Funding Request in order to progress through Block 5 of the online form. Filers who do not have a SPIN will receive a message as they attempt to complete the form directing them to call the Client Service Bureau (CSB) for assistance.

Please note that SPIN assistance is available for those online filers who have completed the competitive bidding process and selected their service providers, but whose service providers' SPIN assignment has not yet been completed. (Manual filers are able to provide either the service provider name or the SPIN in order to meeting Minimum Processing Standards.) The Item 21 attachment should clearly indicate the name of the service provider. Call the CSB toll-free at 1-888-203-8100, and representatives will provide you this assistance. Remember that the CSB hours of service are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST.

SLD has posted an improved online Form 474. The information required on the form is the same as the previous version; however, the look and feel is somewhat different. The improved form has more functionality and is easier to use. Following is a summary of the changes:

Block 1, Item 7 – The total invoice amount is now an automatic calculation. This item will be automatically updated each time you complete a new line in Block 2.

Save and Exit – You may now save your work and exit the system without submitting the Form 474. You may then return at a later time to complete and submit the form. To access an incomplete form, you will need the invoice number and security code that was supplied to you after you first completed Block 1. Once you have submitted a Form 474, you may not make any changes to that form. However, you may still view your Form 474 at any time using the invoice number and security code.

Question/Problem – Click this button to submit a problem or comment about the Form 474 to the Client Service Bureau.

Print Preview – When you click the Submit button, the Print Preview function will display a copy of your Form 474. You may print your form at any time using the Print Preview function.

Unlimited number of line items – You may now submit an unlimited number of line items.

Block 2 Line Item Summary – As you add each line item, the Block 2 total will be updated.

If you have any questions please call the Client Service Bureau.

The SLD has begun to issue Receipt Notification Letters for Funding Year 2005 Forms 470. These letters will be mailed in daily batches of about 5,000 per day, from January 31 through February 8, 2005.

You may view a Sample Form 470 Receipt Notification Letter [PDF] in the Reference Area of this web site.

The SLD has posted a sample Letter of Agency (LOA) in the Reference Area of this web site.

A Letter of Agency demonstrates the authorization of the person (on FCC forms, the “Authorized Person”) to sign an FCC form on behalf of one or more eligible schools and/or libraries. Generally, two situations require an LOA or similar authorizing document:

1. Consortium members file a LOA with their consortium leader verifying their knowledge of their membership and participation in the consortium. The consortium leader must keep these letters on file.
2. A consultant — or anyone signing as the authorized person who is not a school or library employee — should have an LOA from the applicant expressly authorizing the consultant to represent the applicant.

You can view the Sample Letter of Agency through the document Letters of Agency posted to the Reference Area of this web site.

Following is a list of the documents or pages that have changed on this web site since the last posting on updates:

A new link — Site Visits — has been created in the right-hand column of the SLD web pages. This link will take users to a new external web site that acts as a guide to the site visit process, with a description of the process, documentation needed, and contact information

The document Item 21 Attachments for Form 471 has been updated to include optional information that applicants can include in their Item 21 attachments to reduce the likelihood that Program Integrity Assurance will ask for that information during the application review process.

The document Cost Allocation Guidelines for Products and Services that Contain Eligible and Ineligible Components
has been updated to feature the correct telephone number for questions about cost allocation from service providers and manufacturers.