The E-rate funding year 2022 application filing window closes 4 days from today, on March 22, 2022, at 11:59pm EST. Applicants are urged to file their Form 471 funding requests immediately. Applications are submitted via the online EPC portal, and it is not unusual for the system to experience delays, lockouts or outages in the days leading up to the final deadline. As recent as yesterday, March 17, the EPC system was taken offline for several hours for “system maintenance and updates,” despite the thousands of applications being prepared.
USAC has extended their Customer Service Center (CSC) hours through the end of the filing window to assist applicants with last-minute questions or issues. The CSC extended hours in eastern time are:
- Friday, March 18 – 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Saturday, March 19 – 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sunday, March 20 – 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Monday, March 21 – 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 22 – 8 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.
The USAC announcements regarding the EPC outage and extended CSC hours can be viewed here.
