USAC News Brief 3/5/2010

Taken from USAC’s website:

March 5, 2010

TIP OF THE WEEK: If you do not have any corrections to your Form 471, DO NOT submit a copy of your RAL to USAC. If you do have corrections to report, be sure to clearly identify your corrections, sign your RAL, provide your contact information, and submit your corrections in a timely manner following the instructions in the RAL.

Commitments for Funding Year 2009

Funding Year 2009. USAC will release FY2009 Wave 43 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) March 9. This wave will include commitments for approved Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance requests at 80% and above and denials at 54% and below. As of March 5, FY2009 commitments total over $2.54 billion.

On the day the FCDLs are mailed, you can check to see if you have a commitment by using USAC’s Automated Search of Commitments tool.

Highlights of the RAL Correction Process

After you have submitted and certified a Form 471 and USAC has determined that the form is in-window, USAC will issue you a Receipt Acknowledgment Letter (RAL). This letter contains a summary of the data you reported on the Form 471 and gives you an opportunity to submit corrections to the information contained in many of the fields on the form.

•Note: If you submitted your Form 471 online in-window but did not certify it before the window closed, you can certify your form online or on paper on or before March 30, 2010 and still have your form considered in-window. We will discuss this extended Form 471 certification deadline in more detail next week. However, in this situation, USAC will not issue you a RAL until after the extended deadline has passed and we have modified the status of your form to “CERTIFIED – IN WINDOW.”
If you find that information on your RAL is incorrect, mark up a copy of your RAL as indicated in the instructions and submit your corrections to USAC. In addition to the instructions in the RAL, review the RAL guidance on the website for information on where to submit your corrections.

Here are a few tips to help you with the RAL correction process:

Compare the data in your RAL and in the Form 471 Display with the data in your file copy of the Form 471 to make sure that all of your entries are correct. The RAL includes most of the entries currently in our system, but you must use the Form 471 Display to view the information in Block 4 worksheets. Because Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) uses all of this information in its review of your application, it is important that you verify its accuracy.

•If incorrect information appears on the RAL, you can mark a line through the incorrect information and supply the correct information to the right of the incorrect entry. Note that the RAL correction process cannot be used to correct Billed Entity information.
•If the incorrect information appears on the Form 471 Display but not on the RAL – for example, if the incorrect information is in (or missing from) a Block 4 worksheet – follow the instructions in the RAL to correct that information.
If all of the information matches, DO NOT submit a RAL correction. Submitting a RAL with no corrections only delays the review of your application.

If you submit a RAL correction, make sure you supply all necessary information. You don’t need to include the first two pages of the letter or any pages of the letter that do not contain corrections. However, to make corrections to a Block 4 worksheet, you will need to include a copy of the worksheet and/or a separate sheet listing entities to be added, deleted, or corrected. If you do not have a copy of the worksheet, you can use the Form 471 Display to print a copy.

Remember that not all errors can be corrected using the RAL correction process. For example, you cannot request corrections to the Billed Entity name, address, and phone and fax numbers (Form 471 Block 1, Items 1–4). If your Billed Entity name or Billed Entity contact information has changed, you must contact the Client Service Bureau to make those changes in the database. Those changes will be reflected in program forms you file in the future.

Submit your RAL corrections as soon as possible. Near the top of the first page of the RAL, USAC identifies the deadline for submitting RAL corrections, which is 20 days after the date of the letter. It is to your advantage to submit RAL corrections as soon as possible so that we can make the changes and have accurate information when we begin your review.

Always include a signed copy of page 3 of your RAL, even if you are printing out and including other pages with corrections. We cannot process RAL corrections without a signature, printed name, title, contact information, and a date.

Check to make sure you have supplied current contact information. If we have questions about the information you submitted, we will attempt to contact you using the contact information you supplied. Requests to correct some fields – such as the category of service, contract award date, or contract expiration date – may require additional review and approval by USAC before they can be corrected. Also, if you are submitting multiple pages, we suggest that you put identifying information – BEN, Form 471 Application Number, and contact person name and telephone number – at the top of each page.

Be prepared to answer questions about your requested corrections. In some cases, USAC may need more information from you or need to perform some review work before a requested change can be made. If you have the necessary information at hand, USAC can complete its review more quickly and determine if a change that must be reviewed is permitted under program rules.

Reminder to Complete FCC E-rate Survey

On behalf of the FCC, Harris Interactive, Inc. (Harris), a national marketing research firm, sent out a survey on February 25th by email to randomly selected E-rate applicants to determine the current state of broadband access and usage of schools and libraries and future technological needs.

If you receive a survey, the FCC asks that you complete it as soon as possible. For questions related to the survey, please contact Harris at the link provided in the invitation text for the survey. Specifically, if you represent several applicants, Harris will provide you with the applicant name and Billed Entity Number.

FCC Allows Community Use of Broadband Services

On 2/18/10, the FCC issued a ruling regarding community use of school internet facilities during non-operating hours. This FCC ruling temporarily permits schools to “…allow members of the general public to use the schools’ Internet Access during non-operating hours…” and waives requirements for schools to cost-allocate out such non-educational usage of
the school’s internet access. The “temporary” period is the remainder of
the 2009-10 funding year and the upcoming 2010-11 funding year.

This may be a step towards broadening the use of Universal Service Funds
(USF) in support of the FCC’s national broadband initiative announced last year. There is also speculation that this may be a sign that the FCC is grappling with proposals made last year to radically expand on-line access to school systems by students and faculty outside of the school campus.

There are three provisions that the FCC has established which define and limit this community access and prevent any significant increased request for E-rate funds:

1. Schools cannot request E-rate funding for services beyond what is
necessary for educational purposes. This effectively limits significant additional pressure on the USF.

2. Community usage is limited to “non-operating” hours: after normal
closing time on school days, during weekends and school holidays, and during other periods when school in not in session. The school must continue to remain CIPA compliant, 24/7/365.

3. Schools cannot charge community users for the use of the facilities
beyond “”reasonable fees to cover overhead costs for using school services and facilities.” The FCC is very clear that services funded through the USF must not be “sold, resold, or transferred by such user in consideration for money or anything of value.”

The FCC 2/18 news release as well as the statements from four FCC Commissioners and the formal FCC ruling on the matter can be accessed by clicking on this link.

USAC releases FY2009 FCDLs

USAC released FY2009 Wave 19 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) September 3. This wave includes commitments for approved Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance for schools and libraries at 85% and above. As of August 28, FY2009 commitments total over $720 million.

Priority II Funding Requests

Priority II Funding Requests (FRN) are being approved for funding year 11 (2008 – 2009) at entity discount levels of 88 percent or higher (Priority II FRNs represent Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance for Internal Connections).