Commitments for Funding Year 2010

Funding Year 2010. USAC will release FY2010 Wave 48 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) April 26. This wave includes commitments for approved Priority 2 (Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance) requests at 81% and above and denials at 79% and below. As of April 22, FY2010 commitments total over $2.45 billion.

On the day the FCDLs are mailed, you can check to see if you have a commitment by using USAC’s Automated Search of Commitments tool.

FY2011 Deadlines for Form 471 Certifications and Item 21 Attachments  

Next week, USAC will be issuing two letters – one to applicants that filed Form 471 online but have not yet completed the certification process, the other to remind applicants to submit their Item 21 attachments. These letters will be issued on Wednesday, April 27; responses are due on or before Tuesday, May 17.

• If you do not certify your Form 471 on or before May 17, your Form 471 will be considered out-of-window. You can certify a Form 471 online on or before May 17 if you have a PIN; you can also postmark a paper certification on or before May 17.
• If you do not submit an Item 21 attachment on or before May 17, the Block 5 Funding Request Number (FRN) associated with that Item 21 attachment will be considered out-of-window. You can submit an Item 21 attachment online, by email, or by fax on or before May 17; you can also postmark a paper Item 21 attachment on or before May 17.

Each letter is discussed below.

Notification of Form 471 With No Certification

USAC will issue just under 660 letters to applicants that filed a Form 471 online on or before 11:59 pm EDT March 24 but that have not yet certified that form. These letters notify applicants that they must certify their forms online or on paper on or before May 17 for those forms to be considered in-window.

Remember that Commission rules require USAC to consider all in-window funding requests first and, except for FY1999, funding has run out before out-of-window requests could be considered.

If you receive a Notification of Form 471 With No Certification, you can certify online or on paper.

To certify online, you must have a PIN and the security code for the Form 471 you filed online:

• Go to the Apply Online page and click on the Certify Complete button in the Form 471 column.
• Enter your Form 471 application number and security code and click on Electronic Certification.
• You will see your Block 6 certification page with the information you entered when you submitted your form online. You must enter your PIN and check the box to affirm that you understand that the use of your PIN is the same as your written signature.
• When you click on the Done button at the bottom of the page, the system will return a CertID, a unique number that confirms your successful certification. We suggest that you click OK on the popup box and then print a copy of the resulting certification page, which will feature your CertID in the signature line as proof of your successful online certification.

To certify on paper:

• Go to the Apply Online page and click on the Certify Complete button in the Form 471 column.
• Enter your Form 471 application number and security code and click on Paper Certification.
• You will see your Block 6 certification page with the information you entered when you submitted your form online. Print out a copy of the page, sign and date it, and send it to the address at the bottom of the page. You are advised to keep proof of postmark or delivery.

After you successfully certify your Form 471, the status of that form will change to "Certified - Out Of Window" on the Form 471 Application Status tool. Once all of the paper certifications postmarked on or before May 17 have been processed, USAC will move all applications with timely filed certifications (both online and on paper) in-window.

Item 21 Attachment Urgent Reminder Letter

USAC will issue just over 15,500 letters to applicants that filed a Form 471 received or postmarked on or before 11:59 pm EDT on March 24 but did not use the online system to file all of the associated Item 21 attachment(s). These letters remind applicants that they must submit their Item 21 attachments on or before May 17 for the associated FRNs to be considered in-window.

NOTE: Applicants that file Item 21 attachments by email, fax, or on paper can include more than one Item 21 attachment in their submissions. For the purpose of this reminder, USAC will issue a letter to all applicants that did not file ALL of their Item 21 attachments using the online system. (Applicants must submit Item 21 attachments individually if they use the online system.) This letter is not a notification that you still need to file your Item 21 attachments; it is only a reminder to make sure you have done so.

• USAC will not issue a letter for a Form 471 for which ALL Item 21 attachments were filed online. If you believe you filed your Item 21 attachments online and you receive this letter, check to be sure you filed Item 21 attachments for ALL your FRNs. Remember that you must click on the Submit button on the last page of the online Item 21 attachment to complete your submission.
• If you have already filed your Item 21 attachments by email, fax, or on paper, you can Submit a Question or call the Client Service Bureau to verify that we have received them. However, you should check your submission to make sure it includes Item 21 attachments for ALL the FRNs on your Form 471.
• If you have not yet submitted your Item 21 attachments, you must do so on or before May 17 for your FRNs to be considered in-window. The Item 21 Attachments guidance document has information on what to include in your Item 21 attachment(s) and how to file them online, by email, by fax, or on paper.

Remember that the Form 471 Application Status tool will only show the status of a Form 471, not the status of each FRN on that form.

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