February 1999 Announcements

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

The Schools and Libraries Division has issued its final wave of funding commitment decisions for the 1998 program year. This final wave means:

• Funding commitment decision letters will go to the 6% of in-the-window applicants who had not yet received a decision from us. Information about these funding commitments is now posted on this Web Site (www.sl.universalservice.org/reference/fndcommit.asp), and applicants should receive their letters during the following week.

• Letters will also go out to those applicants whose internal connections requests were deemed "as yet unfunded" until this wave. Approved internal connections requests at the 70% discount level and above will be funded; we will NOT have funds to accommodate internal connections requests at or below 69% discount.

• We now know definitively that we will NOT be able to consider for funding any applications received outside the 75-day window. These applicants will be notified soon of our regrets in this regard.

• Special note: If you filed a 1998 application but have not had ANY response from SLD through this final Wave 10, watch the Web Site for instructions on how to proceed with an inquiry about your application.

Congratulations to the tens of thousands of trailblazing schools, libraries, and consortia who are now celebrating their well-deserved Year One E-rate successes. We know you will inspire your colleagues who have not yet been reached by the E-rate, and we look forward to serving both veterans and newcomers in Year Two. But both must act quickly: the deadline for all Year Two applications is fast approaching. We strongly recommend that you file your Form 470 so that it is posted on the SLD Web Site no later than March 5, 1999. Keep the E-rate flowing for your school or library - file Form 470 today!

The SLD has added a new search function to the Provider Area.  This "Service Provider Information by SPIN" search provides service providers with important information regarding the "post-commitment" phase of the funding process, including:

• Status of the certification of service provider's SPIN

• Percentage of FRNs for which this company received a FCDL per Wave

• Dates Form 486 Notification letters sent to service provider's SPIN

• Dates BEAR (Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement) letters sent to service provider's SPIN

Click here to download state reports on the Funding Commitment Decisions in Wave Nine, the largest wave of letters released to date.   This Wave consists of approximately 3700 funding commitment decisions letters totaling $323 million in E-rate funds. The Wave Nine release pushes the total dollars committed to over $1.4 billion, covers 94% of applicants who filed within the E-rate application window, and, for the first time, extends funding to cover internal connections requests for applicants who qualify for a discount level as low as 70%.

Minimum Processing Standards are the procedures that the SLD uses to review your application when we first receive it. Your application must pass the Minimum Processing Standards in order for us to begin entering your application into our data system.  Click here for Minimum Processing Standards.

If you are among the thousands of E-rate applicants receiving a funding commitment decisions letter in Wave 8 (in the mail now) or Wave 9 (scheduled for next week), you may be preparing to file a Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form for the first time. Officially known as FCC Form 472, the BEAR Form is the tool you use to request reimbursement for E-rate discounts on approved services you’ve already paid for. The BEAR Form comes with your funding commitment letter; it’s also available on the Schools and Libraries Division Web Site (www.sl.universalservice.org) as a downloadable PDF file and as a type-in/print out form.

Click here to read some reminders about how the BEAR process works-and some tips to make it work well for you.

The Form 470 Guidance Section in the Reference Area now features a Fact Sheet on Library Consortia.

The SLD has created a new application tool: a version of the Form 486 that you can download from this Web Site, fill in on your computer, print out, and mail to us. This Form 486 is virtually identical to the PDF (Portable Document Format) file that has been available on our Web Site, but now you can enter information directly into the form rather than just printing out a blank hard copy and then filling out the form by hand.

Type-In/Print Out Form 486

Please note: This form does NOT electronically transmit data to the SLD, but instead makes your completion of the paper form easier and neater.

You must have Adobe's free Acrobat Reader 3.01 installed on your computer in order to access the Form 486.  Click here for information on obtaining this software, as well as specific instructions for downloading the Form 486 from this Web Site.

Please read SLD's "Helpful Hints" for using the new Type-In and Print-Out Forms 470, 471 and 486.

To give you more time to prepare your 1999-2000 E-rate application, and to increase the chances that you'll have heard a decision on your 1998 application before you need to apply for Year 2, the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Schools & Libraries (USAC) has officially extended the closing date of the Year 2 application window to 11:59 p.m. ET on April 6, 1999.

In order to be considered "in the window," you must file Form 470, wait 28 days, and then file Form 471 so that your entire application, including all paper attachments and certifications, is received by SLD by 11:59 ET on April 6. Technically, this means that the last day to file Form 470 and complete the rest of the process within the window is March 9-but you would have to sign any new contracts, complete and sign Form 471, and hand-deliver it to the SLD office in Lawrence, Kansas all on April 6 if you waited that long to file Form 470. WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU FILE YOUR FORM 470 NO LATER THAN MARCH 5, 1999. Click here to begin filling out your Form 470 online.

The previous recommended Form 470 filing date was February 5 for a window closing date of March 11.

While this window extension gives you almost a month more to start and complete your Year 2 application, we urge you to begin filing as soon as possible. If you file your Form 470 now, you will:

• Avoid the heaviest traffic on our Web site (www.sl.universalservice.org ) and customer service line (888/203-8100).

• Give our data entry staff the opportunity to contact you to resolve any problems with your paper applications.

• Allow yourself adequate time to complete your competitive bidding process and prepare your Form 471 with care.

• Be among the early Form 471 applicants to be reviewed and acted upon as we move toward funding commitments for 1999-2000.

• Observe the Passover and Easter holidays that immediately precede the April 6 deadline without having to worry about rushing your Form 471 application and attachments into overnight mail on Monday, April 5.

For help filing your Form 470 in a timely fashion, please see "Top 10 Reasons You Should File Your Year 2 E-Rate Application NOW" (at www.sl.universalservice.org or via fax-on-demand, 800-959-0733, document #206) and the forthcoming "Quick Tips for Filing Your Form 470 - Even If You Don't Have a 1998 Funding Letter Yet."

Click here to download state reports on the Funding Commitment Decisions in Wave Seven. This Wave consists of 1,500 funding commitment decisions letters totaling $140 million in E-rate funds. The average commitment in this wave is over $93,300 per applicant.

With the Wave 7 commitments plus the number of applicants notified that their requests could not be funded (due to ineligible services or internal connections below the discount threshold), SLD has responded to more than two-thirds of its 1998 in-the-window applicants. Approximately $760 million has been committed through Wave Seven, or about 40% of the available funding.

Wave Seven is NOT the last wave of E-rate funding commitments for the year. It will be followed by two to four additional waves before the process is concluded. While we had hoped to make the vast majority of commitments by the end of January, and worked diligently to do so, we are also committed to providing detailed review of each application for compliance with program rules, as we agreed to do in the course of our audits by both the General Accounting Office and PricewaterhouseCoopers. We are completing our final review of each application as quickly as we can without sacrificing assurance of program integrity, and have continued to add staff resources to expedite the overall review process.

Please watch the SLD Web Site (www.sl.universalservice.org) and our Newsflash distribution for more information about the schedule of upcoming funding commitments. We are also encouraging all current and potential E-rate applicants to get their 1999-2000 Form 470 in as soon as possible to begin the E-rate process for Year 2.