January 2004 Announcements

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

In order to assist applicants as we near the end of the Form 471 application filing window, the Client Service Bureau (CSB) will be open on Saturday, January 31 and Sunday, February 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST.

CSB will be open on the final day of the Form 471 application filing window, Wednesday, February 4 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. EST. However, applicants are cautioned not to wait until the last few hours of the application window to file and certify Form 471. Applicants who wait until the last minute may not have all the necessary information to complete their Form 471 within the window, and their funding may be jeopardized.

You can reach the CSB by calling 1-888-203-8100.

The following materials associated with Funding Year 2004 Forms 471 must be received by 11:59 p.m. EST on February 4, 2004 or postmarked on or before February 4, 2004 in order for the request to receive consideration as inside the window. These materials are:

• The Form 471 itself (whether online or paper)
• The Block 6 certification of the Form 471 signed by the authorized person on paper or e-certified by the authorized person online
• The Block 5 certification of any Form 470 cited in a Funding Year 2004 Form 471 signed by the authorized person on paper or e-certified by the authorized person online. Forms 470 with completed certifications submitted in a previous year meet this requirement. Any Funding year 2004 Form 471, Block 5 funding request based on a Form 470 whose certification has not been received by 11:50 p.m. EST on February 4, 2004, or postmarked on or before February 4, 2004, will be rejected.

If you are still filing your Form 471, and are filing online, you must have a Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) for each Funding Request in order to progress through Block 5 of the online form. Filers who do not have a SPIN will receive a message as they attempt to complete the form directing them to call the Client Service Bureau (CSB) for assistance.

Please note that SPIN assistance is available for those online filers who have completed the competitive bidding process and selected their service providers, but whose service providers' SPIN assignment has not yet been completed. (Manual filers are able to provide either the service provider name or the SPIN in order to meeting Minimum Processing Standards.) The Item 21 attachment should clearly indicate the name of the service provider. Call the CSB toll-free at 1-888-203-8100, and representatives will provide you this assistance. Remember that the CSB hours of service are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. EST.

The toll-free fax number at the Client Service Bureau returned to service today, Friday, January 23, at 11:30 P.M. EST.

If you attempted to send a fax to the Client Service Bureau after 8:30 PM Wednesday but before service was restored, your fax was not successfully received. Please re-send your fax at this time.

Thank you for your cooperation.

The toll-free fax number at the Client Service Bureau went out of service Wednesday, January 21, at 8:30 P.M. EST. Service has not yet been restored. The toll-free telephone number and e-mail access have not been affected by this outage.

If you attempted to send a fax to the Client Service Bureau after 8:30 PM Wednesday, your fax was not successfully received. Please wait until we post a notice that service has been restored before attempting to re-send your fax.

Thank you for your cooperation.

If the deadline for delivery and/or installation of your non-recurring services was September 30, 2003 (regardless of Funding Year), the deadline for postmark or receipt of invoices for those services is generally January 28, 2004. This applies to non-recurring services for Funding Request Numbers (FRNs) with a September 30, 2003 delivery deadline and for which a Form 486 has been certified. Applicants filing Form 472 (BEAR Form) must allow sufficient time for their service providers to complete and return the Block 4 certification before submitting their BEAR Forms.

Remember that if your Form 486 Notification Letter was dated after September 30, 2003, the invoice deadline is the date 120 days after the date of the Form 486 Notification Letter, which would be later than January 28.

If your non-recurring services were or will be delivered after the Contract Expiration Date reported on your Form 471, you must file a Form 500 to modify that Contract Expiration Date. Please note that you must be able to extend your contract under state contract law. The SLD cannot pay invoices for products and services delivered after the Contract Expiration Date on file with the SLD.

If you have not yet filed a Form 486 for your non-recurring services, please do so as soon as possible. If the Actual Service Start Date you will report on the Form 486 is after the Contract Expiration Date reported on your Form 471, you must file a Form 500 to extend that date BEFORE the SLD will be able to process your Form 486. The SLD cannot pay invoices on FRNs for which a Form 486 is not on file with the SLD. Remember that you are not required to complete a certification for Form 486 Block 4 Item 11 for FRNs from funding years prior to Funding Year 2001.

To determine the service delivery and invoicing deadlines for an FRN, please refer to the FRN Extension Table posted in the Apply Online area of this web site.

To determine whether the SLD has a Form 486 on file for an FRN, please refer to the Funding Request Data Retrieval Tool posted in the Data Requests area of this web site. If there is a date entered in the "Service_Start_Date_486" field (Service Start Date as Shown on the Form 486) for an FRN, the SLD has a Form 486 on file for that FRN.

The SLD has scheduled an online training session on contracts for this Friday, January 16, using WebEx. Although this training is offered as part of the FY2004 service provider training, applicants are welcome to attend.

The first 68 service providers and applicants who sign up for the training will be accepted, and will receive a notice of acceptance by e-mail on Friday morning. To sign up, please go to the WebEx site. You can follow the registration instructions for an online session by selecting the “Registration” link.

Based upon demand, additional sessions on contracts will be provided at a later date.

The FCC and the SLD have already issued notices of changes and clarifications that are applicable to Funding Year 2004.  This posting serves to highlight these for you to help you take full advantage of E-rate support in the upcoming funding year and avoid denial of funding requests on Forms 471 for Funding Year 2004.  Applicants and service providers can find additional information on this web site.  You may also contact the SLD Client Service Bureau by using the Submit a Question link on this web site, by faxing toll-free at 1-888-276-8736 or by calling toll-free at 1-888-203-8100.

The SLD has posted two new documents to the Reference Area.

The document Educational Purposes replaces the document “Administrative Offices and Buildings Fact Sheet.” It contains additional guidance on the FCC’s expanded definition of “educational purposes” and provides specific examples of activities at non-instructional facilities that are eligible for E-rate discounts beginning with Funding Year 2004.

Because of this change in the definition of “educational purposes,” the SLD will collect certain additional information about services delivered to eligible non-instructional facilities. The document Entity Numbers for Non-instructional Facilities provides guidance for applicants to indicate their non-instructional facilities on FY2004 Forms 471 and Item 21 Attachments, and how to revise Item 21 Attachments that have already been filed. (Forms 471 that have already been submitted do not need to be revised.)

Funding requests will not be denied solely because non-instructional facilities were not listed on FY2004 Forms 471 and Item 21 Attachments. PIA will work with applicants during the review process to be sure that their non-instructional facilities are properly documented.