On October 20, 2016 the FCC released an Order while granting FCC waivers on late filed Form 486’s. The FCC has also taken the opportunity to change their “….approach to granting relief to petitioners that fail to timely submit an FCC Form 486…” The FCC is reversing the Alaska Gateway Order and going forward, will only grant appeals that have been denied or reduced funding due to a late filed Form 486 when an applicant has complied with these requirements:
Sought an extension of the FCC Form 486 deadline no more than 120 days after the last day to receive the E-rate supported service at issue
Demonstrated good cause justifying the late submission of the FCC Forms 486
The FCC is also requiring “…USAC to develop additional outreach and educational efforts to inform applicants of the application requirements in an attempt to reduce these types of filing errors. Specifically, USAC shall develop a targeted outreach program designed to identify schools and libraries that have not filed their FCC Form 486 120 days from the date of their funding commitment decision letter or service start date, whichever is later.” The FCC continues to emphasize the need to enforce their deadlines associated with the E-rate program.
