On September 28, 2011, the Federal Communications Commission released the final Eligible Services List for Funding Year 2012 and authorized USAC to open the FY2012 filing window no earlier than November 28, 2011.
On June 24, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission released the draft Eligible Services List for FY2012. Comments to the FCC’s proposed changes will be due on July 15, 2011, and reply comments must be submitted by July 25, 2011.
The SLD will hold eight trainings for E-rate applicants in the fall of 2011. The complimentary applicant trainings give the SLD an opportunity to present timely information to participants and help applicants stay in compliance with the rules and regulations.
In the latest News Brief, USAC provided updated guidance regarding cost-allocation of Basic Maintenance funding requests. The News Brief provided clarifications for applicants who are currently under existing multi-year contracts for maintenance services, as well as examples of contracts for which cost-allocations will be allowed.
The SLD will hold two trainings for E-rate service providers after the close of the Funding Year 2011 Form 471 filing window. The service provider trainings are designed to give the SLD an opportunity to present timely information to participants and help service providers stay in compliance with the rules and regulations.
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) released their Quarterly Report on January 31 announcing that they have $400 million currently available for potential rollover into FY2011.
The USAC Schools and Libraries Committee held their quarterly meeting on January 24, 2011. The Committee approved their operating budget and discussed how to continue to make the E-rate program run more efficiently.
The FY 2011 Form 471 application filing window will officially open at noon EST on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 and close at 11:59 EDT on Thursday March 24, 2011. This means that the filing window will be open for 73 days.
The USAC Schools and Libraries Committee held their Quarterly Board Meeting on October 25, and decided that they would alert the E-rate stakeholder community of the anticipated Form 471 window dates for FY2011.
The USAC Schools and Libraries Committee held a non- Quarterly Board Meeting on September 22, and are recommending to the FCC that they start funding priority two applications at 85% and above.
In order to minimize the required efforts of applicants and avoid the on-site visits associated with audits, USAC has implemented the Payment Quality Assurance (PQA) Program. USAC is utilizing the PQA program to request information on specific payments in order to determine if these payments were made within program rules. While the PQA does defer on-site visits from auditors, it poses special challenges in terms of information required and associated time frames.
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) released their Quarterly Report on August 2, announcing that they have $100 million currently available to potentially rollover into FY 2011. Based on the FCC's Third Report and Order, the FCC can direct USAC to apply unused funds to increase the amount of available funding for a particular funding year and every quarter USAC is required to revise their estimates of the unused funds.
Starting August 31, 2010, all Universal Service payments must be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT). After August 31, if a service provider fails to provide the required financial institution information on its FCC Form 498 to enable payment by EFT, USAC will withhold payment until the required information is provided.
The USAC Schools and Libraries Committee is holding their Quarterly Board Meeting today and are recommending to the FCC that the final FY 2009 priority two discount threshold be set at 77%.
The USAC Schools and Libraries Committee has recommended to the FCC that sufficient funds were available to satisfy Funding Year 2009 priority two applications at discount levels of 78% and above.
The SLD opened registration for the fall applicant training sessions and each session is open to 200 participants. Each training session will cover the same material and the registration is complimentary.
On March 24, 2010, USAC asked the FCC for approval to start issuing priority one funding waves for FY2010 and the first wave of funding commitment decision letters will be issued on May 26. This wave will be the largest wave since the inception of the program and will commit $429 million in support.
On Tuesday, May 13, the FCC notified USAC that their FY 2010 PIA procedures have been approved, making way for the SLD to start issuing FY 2010 commitment letters. While the SLD has been reviewing applications since the Form 471 window closed in February, had the FCC required any major revisions to the procedures the SLD would revisit the funding requests tied to specific guidance changes.
Last week Funds For Learning reported that at the Universal Service Administrative Company’s (USAC) Quarterly Board Meeting, administrator’s revealed that $900 million in unused funds are available for use to supplement current and future requests for E-rate discounts.
At the Schools and Libraries Committee (SLC) of USAC's quarterly board meeting held earlier today, it was reported that approximately $900 million of unused E-rate funds from previous years could be used to increase available funding for Funding Year 2010. The full details of the source of the funds will be released next week in USAC's quarterly report.
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has released its 2009 Annual Report. Among the goals of the Annual Report is to provide the Federal Communications Commission and Congress details about the non-profit company's activities, expenses, and performance measures regarding it's management of the Universal Service Fund programs.
On March 31st USAC submitted their Semi-Annual Audit Report to the FCC for their review. Based on the FCC's Schools and Libraries Fifth Order, the report must summarize the status of all outstanding audit reports.
Following the release of the Funding Year 2010 demand estimate, the USAC Schools and Libraries Committee is seeking FCC for approval to start issuing funding commitments for Funding Year 2010 Priority One requests. USAC typically obtains authority from the FCC within a few weeks of its request.
In a communication from USAC to the FCC which was released this week, the SLD estimates that $3.92 billion in funding has been requested for the 2010 Funding Year. This represents a drop of 1.8% over last year according to the communication from Mel Blackwell, Vice President of the Schools and Libraries Division of USAC.
The USAC Schools and Libraries Committee met this week and is recommending to the FCC that they have enough funds to cover FY 2009 priority two applications at 78% and above. It typically takes a few weeks before the FCC approves USAC’s recommendations for lowering the discount threshold.
The SLD has just announced that the Form 471 Application Filing Window has been extended until 11:59PM Eastern Time on Friday, February 19, 2010 due to adverse weather conditions.
In its quarterly report to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) reported that approximately $500 million in unused funds from previous Funding Years could be used to supplement current and future requests for E-rate discounts. The amount of unused funds increased $150 million over the last quarterly report issued in October 2009. Based on the FCC's Third Report and Order, the FCC can direct USAC to apply unused funds increase the amount of available funding for a funding year.
The SLD has opened the Filing Window, accepting Forms 471 for requests of E-rate discounts in Funding Year 2010. The window opened at Noon Eastern Time on December 3, 2009, less than one day after receiving authorization from the FCC to begin this phase of the E-rate application process.
The SLD has announced that Service Providers can now access Items 21 submitted online for funding requests associated with their SPIN(s). Service Providers who have access to USAC's E-File portal can log in to see their online Item 21 data.
In its quarterly report to the Federal Communications Commission, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) reported that approximately $350 million in unused funds from previous Funding Years could be used to supplement current and future requests for E-rate discounts. The amount of unused funds increased $150 million over the last quarterly report issued in July.
