Rural Health Care Outreach
Conference Call Minutes
April 14, 2005

A milestone in the program was announced when the Rural Health Care Division (RHCD) said that over the 7 year life of the Rural Health Care Support Mechanism total funds committed had just surpassed $100 million dollars. It was also announced that the application window for Fund Year 2005 (July 1 2005 to June 30 2006) would open at noon April 18, 2005. Comments and Reply Comments to the FCC’s NPRM on the program were noted to be available on the RHCD website. Follow the link located in the Quick Links Box on the right side of the homepage to view these Comments and Reply Comments.

A caller asked which box to check on Form 465 Block 5’s “Request for Services”, where the applicant must select “Telecommunications Service”, “Internet Service” or “Both”. RHCD staff said that unless the applicant is sure they will only one of those services, they should check “Both”. Selecting only “Telecommunications Service” or only “Internet service” limits an applicant to only that service and changing the choice after posting Form 465 requires submission of a new Form 465 and waiting another 28 days. An applicant may subsequently choose which service(s) to receive as a result of the 465 posting and will indicate that choice(s) on Forms 466 or 466A.