E-rate Commentary

by Kimberly Beck

FY2026 E-rate Records: What to Keep, and for How Long

If you are ever asked for paperwork during an E-rate review and you can’t produce it, your funding can be reduced or recovered, even when your original application was filed...

Eric Jester, CEMP

Fielding a PIA Question About a Tax or Fee? Start Here.

If you are working through Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review and a question comes up about a tax, fee, or surcharge, start with this: these charges are often eligible. USAC...

by Todd Lawrence

When Your Enrollment Number Changes, Your Funding Can Too.

Your enrollment number drives your discount percentage, so if it is wrong, the fix can affect your funding before you ever see it. In FY2025, USAC modified enrollment on 3,796...

Micah Rigdon, CEMP

by Micah Rigdon

Preparing for FY2027: Don’t Let Bidding Season Catch You Off Guard.

If you rely on a multi-year contract for your internet or wide-area network services, that agreement gave you years of more affordable connectivity. It also means your needs have probably...

by Michelle Jackson

Happy New Year! FY2026 Has Started. Here’s What to Do Now.

Happy New Year! Not the January kind. As of July 1, Funding Year 2026 is officially underway, and that makes this the real start of the year for E-rate applicants. ...

Cathy Cruzan, CEMP

by Cathy Cruzan

A Connectivity Program, and Why the States Already Decide the Rest

The comments before the Commission run from one pole to the other regarding the draft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. What unites them is a temptation...

by Christopher Odom

Where FY2026 Funding Stands at Mid-Year

We are midway through the year and here’s where FY2026 E-rate funding stands. Applicants requested $3.59 billion, USAC has committed about $1.2 billion so far, roughly $2.29 billion is still...

Cathy Cruzan, CEMP

by Cathy Cruzan

A Consistent Message Is Emerging in the E-rate NPRM Docket

From libraries and state coordinators to superintendents and providers, recent ex parte filings are converging on the same ask — give the record more time. As the FCC moves toward an...