Feburary 2000 Announcements

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

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules require schools and libraries to implement services for which discounts have been committed by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Schools & Libraries (USAC) within the funding year for which the discounts were sought. The FCC, in its Fifth Reconsideration Order, extended the first funding year by six months so that the Year One funding period for schools and libraries support ran from January 1, 1998, through June 30, 1999. To account for delays in the implementation of the schools and libraries support mechanism, the FCC subsequently amended its rules to extend the deadline for schools and libraries to use their discounts for non-recurring services from June 30, 1999 (the end of the funding period) to September 30, 1999. The extended deadline gave schools and libraries with funding commitments more time in which to implement any discounted non-recurring services, such as the installation of internal connections, and thereby make greater use of their universal service discounts.

In Orders released on October 8, 1999, and December 28, 1999 (FCC 99-292 and DA 99-3013, respectively), the FCC recognized certain categories of applicants that had not been able to meet the September 30, 1999, deadline through no fault of their own. As a result, these applicants did not have sufficient time to complete installation of their non-recurring services before the September 30, 1999, deadline.

We have determined that the Funding Request Numbers (FRNs) referenced below qualify for an extension of the deadline for use of discounts for non-recurring services pursuant to the FCC's October 8 and December 28 Orders. The new deadline for receipt of non-recurring services under these FRNs is also shown below. (In some instances, the new deadline date may have already passed. Please note that the non-recurring services must have been provided on or before the new deadline date to qualify for reimbursement.) For reimbursement of discounts on these FRNs, SLD must receive an invoice (either an FCC Form 472, Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement from an applicant, or an FCC Form 474, Service Provider Invoice Form from a Service Provider) no later than the Last Date for SLD Receipt of Invoice (472/474) shown below.

Important Reminders

• The extended deadline applies only to discounts on NON-RECURRING services. Monthly charges for such recurring services as basic phone service delivered after June 30, 1999, are NOT eligible for reimbursement from Year One funds.

• SLD cannot process an invoice for an FRN until it has received an FCC Form 486 indicating that service has actually begun to be delivered (that is, a date is featured in Column E in Item 6). If you have not already filed a Form 486, you may obtain a copy of the form and its instructions on this web site under Reference/forms, or by calling our Client Service Bureau at (888) 203-8100.

• If the applicant indicated a Contract Expiration Date on its FCC Form 471 (Services Ordered and Certification Form) that is prior to the date that discounted services are being delivered and has not previously notified us of an extension of that date by submission of an FCC Form 486, the applicant should submit a new Form 486 and include a Contract Extension Termination Date (Column G of Item 6), if State and local procurement rules permit the contract date to be so extended. SLD cannot reimburse for services delivered after the Contract Termination Date

View the PDF file of FRN Extension Dates

As you know, December 15, 1999 was the deadline by which the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Schools & Libraries (USAC) had to receive Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) forms or Service Provider Invoice Forms (SPIF) for Year 1 commitments. We have previously reminded applicants and service providers that "Each day beyond the December 15 deadline increases the risk that your payment may not be fully processed."

USAC is generally restricted by regulation from processing SPIFs or BEARs for Year 1 commitments beyond March 31, 2000. In order to accommodate the necessary review and processing time needed to ensure that the SPIF or BEAR information is accurate and complete, and to give SLD a reasonable chance to ensure that the payment is issued by March 31, 2000, USAC needs to receive those SPIFs and BEARs well in advance of the March 31, 2000 deadline. Late invoices will generate a notification from USAC that no payment will be made.

Exceptions

The ONLY exceptions to the statement above are funding requests with a one time cost component that fall into one of the following categories:

• Contained in a Funding Commitment Decision Letter dated on or after April 4, 1999; or

• Approved for a Service Provider change and the new Service Provider received notification on or after April 4, 1999 that the SPIN change request was granted;

• Disbursements were delayed on the funding request and the applicant received a letter from the SLD dated January 27, 2000 or February 3, 2000, stating the applicant had additional time to receive the non-recurring services and submit an invoice.

In these cases, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of the September 30, 1999 deadline for installation of non-recurring services, and therefore, an extension of the time to submit invoices to SLD for such services. A list of the Funding Request Numbers (FRN's) affected by the waiver, the last allowable date for delivery of non-recurring services, and the last date for SLD to receive an invoice will be posted to the web site soon. An announcement will be made on the web site when the FRN's are available for your review.

Please note that the SLD Client Service Bureau will be closed on Monday, February 21, 2000, in observance of Presidents' Day. The Client Service Bureau will resume their normal hours of operation at 8 a.m. EST on Tuesday, February 22.

The Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Schools & Libraries (USAC) reported to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that $4.72 billion in requested funding has been estimated for schools and libraries seeking E-rate discounts for Year Three. The estimated demand represents more than the previous two years combined.

Of the 36,000 applications filed within the application filing window, which closed January 19, 2000, more than 28,000, or nearly 80 percent, were submitted electronically using USAC's SLD web site. Nearly 60 percent of the requests are associated with the neediest schools and libraries: those qualifying for program discounts of 80 to 90 percent. These schools and libraries represent populations where 50 percent or more of students are eligible to participate in the National School Lunch Program. Demand in Year Three was calculated from a review of the 36,000 applications, versus the method in previous years that involved a statistical representation based upon a sample of the total applications.

In Year One of the Schools and Libraries program, more than 30,000 applications were filed for E-rate discounts requesting approximately $2.04 billion for 1998 (This equates to $2.302 billion for the extended program period of 18 months). In year two, with more than 32,000 applications, demand was approximated at $2.4 billion. The FCC set the funding cap to the full $2.25 billion in Year Two.