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[What's New Archive]

May 2000

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

SLD has just posted to this web site new forms for applicants to fill in to receive discounts or reimbursements for approved E-rate discounts. These forms are now in use. Recipients of Year 3 funding commitments will receive these forms in the mail.

Simplified Form 486

The new and simplified FCC Form 486, Receipt of Service Confirmation Form, replaces the old FCC Form 486, which was dated July 1999. Do not use the old form. In mid-June, old Forms 486 will not be accepted by the SLD. Watch this web site for news of the precise cut-off date.

This new Form 486 features just a few, but important changes:

1. The new form makes provision for you to file NOW your Form 486 for Year 3 if:

1. You have received a funding commitment for Year 3 (i.e., for the year beginning July 1, 2000),

2. Your services are scheduled to begin delivery in July, and you have confirmed that plan with your service provider, and

3. You are comfortable giving the "green light" for invoices to arrive at SLD for payment.

Such "early filing," before services have actually started, can help facilitate the appearance of discounts on your bills early in the Funding Year.

If, however, you have filed early but your start date is delayed beyond July, you should notify SLD immediately of a change in the service start date via the Form 500.

2. The new Form 486 eliminates the need to identify to SLD whether or not you will be submitting a Form 472, Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement Form (BEAR). You should, however, work with your service provider to determine whether your price reductions will be through reimbursement or discounts on your bills.

3. The new Form 486 has now only one function: to indicate that services have been or will be received.

Functions formerly served by this form, i.e., to cancel an FRN, extend the contract termination date, or to modify the information on start dates submitted in a previous Form 486, are captured in the new Form 500, Adjustment to Funding Commitment and Modification to Receipt of Service Confirmation Form.

4. The turnaround time for the new Form 486 is different.

For those eligible for early filing (i.e., those receiving Year 3 services in July 2000), the form may be filed any time after the receipt of the Funding Commitment Decision Letter. It should, however, be filed no later than 10 business days after the start of services.

For those who have a funding commitment and whose Year 3 services start in August or later, the form should be filed within 10 business days of the start of services.

New Form 500

The new FCC Form 500, Adjustment to Funding Commitment and Modification to Receipt of Service Confirmation Form, serves certain functions formerly served by the Form 486, with one new function provided. These functions are:

1. To change a previously reported service start date;

2. To change a previously reported contract expiration date;

3. To cancel irrevocably an FRN;

4. To reduce the amount of a previously committed FRN

This form is immediately relevant to those Year 2 funding recipients who wish to extend the service period for non-recurring services past June 30, 2000, to a date as late as September 30, 2000. The FCC issued an order on May 5, 2000, extending the service period for non-recurring Year 2 services to September 30. SLD, however, will not process invoices for services rendered after June 30, 2000, unless the contract expiration date is consistent with the service delivery period.

Form 500 is the form to use for this notification. By filling in Block 2, Item G of this form to indicate a later contract expiration date, established with your vendor, you will give SLD the "green light" to pay invoices for services rendered up to the expiration date, or up to September 30, whichever is earlier.

If the contract expiration date you entered on your FCC Form 471 already makes provision for services rendered up to September 30, there is no need to file a Form 500. SLD will accept invoices for non-recurring services rendered up to September 30.

Again, because the SLD will stop accepting the old Form 486 in mid-June, we urge you to use the new Form 500 to alert SLD of any intent to take advantage of the extended service period. If, however, you previously used the old Form 486, SLD will accept that form up until mid-June. You do not need to resubmit. For more details about the waiver, watch the SLD web site at www.sl.universalservice.org.

NOTE: If you have not yet submitted an initial Form 486 to indicate the start of Year 2 services, please do so as soon as possible if services have already started! If you also want to take advantage of the waiver for services that are non-recurring, you will need to file the new Form 500 as well!

These forms can be found on the SLD web site by clicking the "SLD Forms" button. These forms are being mailed to recipients of Year 3 funding commitments. They can also be obtained by calling the Client Service Bureau toll-free at (888) 203-8100, where client service representatives can also help you with your questions about the form.

Remote access routers have generally been considered ineligible for E-rate discounts because such routers can be used for Internet access by anyone with the phone number to dial in to them, that is, access may not be limited to entities eligible to participate in the E-rate program. We have been alerted by program participants that this policy seriously disadvantages many of them since they have such routers and wish to secure discounts for their maintenance or because the purchase of such routers is the most cost-effective alternative for meeting their needs. Many participants have such routers because they were the most cost-effective alternative even though they do not use the remote access capability. Others have such routers in central offices, and their schools secure access to the Internet by dialing in to the routers.

In November 1999, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a decision on an appeal from White Sulphur Springs School District in Montana (DA 99-2537, released November 16, 1999). In that decision, the FCC upheld the eligibility of a remote access router because it was not being used as a WAN router nor to provide remote access (in fact, the contract with the service provider said the router would not be used to provide remote access).

With that policy decision from the FCC, SLD will consider the circumstances surrounding use of remote access routers before deciding on their eligibility. Specifically, SLD will consider remote access routers eligible if the applicant requesting discounts for such routers provides the following certification to SLD's Program Integrity Assurance team:

"The remote access router(s) for which I seek discounts either will not be used to provide remote access in the funding year or, if it is to be used remotely, I will take steps to ensure that only entities eligible for support under the Schools and Libraries program have the capability to access it. In the latter case, for example, access will not be available from homes or other non-school or non-library sites."

If a router is to be used for remote access, such access must only be from sites for which services would be eligible for discount under the E-rate program. For example, schools may call in to a remote access router at a school district central office, but teachers and students should not be provided with the phone number for them to call from their homes.

If discounts for remote access routers have been denied in Year 3 Funding Commitment Decision Letters dated within the last 30 days and the applicant is able to make the above certification, the applicant may appeal the denial to SLD.

The Schools and Libraries Client Service Bureau will be closed on Monday, May 29, 2000, in observance of Memorial Day. The Client Service Bureau will resume normal operations on Tuesday, May 30 at 8:00 a.m. ET.

Applicants who believe that their requests for discounts have been incorrectly denied or reduced by SLD may appeal the funding decision either to SLD or the FCC. The table below shows how such appeals have been decided by SLD and the FCC as of May 11, 2000. Figures are for appeals on which decisions have been issued.

Applications Appealed

SLD needs the help of applicants so we can complete processing your Year 3 applications.

If you have already received a Form 471 Receipt Acknowledgment letter, but have not yet received a Funding Commitment Decision Letter, your application may be under review by SLD's Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) unit in New Jersey.

As noted on our web site in Step #6 of the application process, ("SLD Processes Form 471 Applications"), there is a 7-day deadline for providing to PIA the information it requests from applicants. We know that this is a short period, but we also are eager to complete the processing of all Year 3 applications as soon as possible. Failure to respond within 7 calendar days may subject your application to rejection.

In particular, many applications are slated for in-depth review as part of our integrity assurance procedures. Please be on alert to hear from PIA staff who will need your help in this process.

Our PIA team has taken extra measures to make sure that it is accessible to clients. Specifically, if you have had contact with a PIA representative but have not been able to reach her or him using the telephone number provided to you, the following telephone numbers have been established as back up to the number given to you by your PIA representative:

Phone numbers no longer available as of 05/08/2001

You should generally receive a live contact. If, however, you reach a voice mail please be ready to provide the following information when using either of these two numbers: your name, your telephone number, the State your application is from, the application number if known, and the name of the PIA representative who contacted you. This information will assist us to respond expeditiously to your call.

For details on PIA deadlines click on "What is the deadline for responding to PIA inquiries?"

Responding to concerns raised by schools and libraries that they would be unable to complete installation of internal connections by June 30, 2000, the Federal Communications Commission voted yesterday to extend the deadline for using Year Two E-rate funds until September 30, 2000, the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) announced today. The Commission extended the deadline and concluded that, "all schools and libraries in the country, who have received nonrecurring services discounts would benefit from a waiver of this deadline for Year Two. We further conclude that the public interest is best served if all schools and libraries receiving Year Two discounts on nonrecurring services have the benefit of an extension of the deadline for their use of nonrecurring services from June 30, 2000 to September 30, 2000." The Commission also addressed the situation of applicants whose contracts for nonrecurring services expired June 30, 2000, voting to permit them to extend existing contracts through September 30, 2000. "This is good news for E-rate participants," said Kate L. Moore, President of USAC's Schools and Libraries Division. "Now schools and libraries will have more time to work with their service providers to build the vital links between learners and the Internet in libraries and schools across the nation. "

It is a violation of FCC rules and SLD Form instructions for a service provider to file a Form 470. For this reason, SLD has removed Year 3 Forms 470 from the web site in instances where the SLD has evidence that service providers signed the Forms. Such action was taken on April 28, 2000. The SLD will also deny Funding Requests that cite those Forms 470.

Schools and libraries are reminded to read the Forms and instructions carefully and call the Client Service Bureau at 888-203-8100 if they have questions.

View the list of Year 3, Deleted Form 470s