Commitments for Funding Years 2011 and 2010

Funding Year 2011. USAC will release FY2011 Wave 20 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) November 1. This wave includes commitments for approved Priority 2 (Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance) requests at 90%. As of October 28, FY2011 commitments total just over $1.2 billion.

Funding Year 2010. USAC will release FY2010 Wave 73 FCDLs November 2. This wave can include commitments for approved Priority 2 requests at all discount levels. As of October 28, FY2010 commitments total over $2.84 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.

Last Regular FY2009 Funding Wave

Wave 95, which was mailed on October 17, will be the last regular wave for FY2009. From this point forward, USAC will issue occasional funding waves for FY2009 as applications complete the review process and funding decisions can be made.

Future FY2009 waves will be identified by the last regular funding wave number followed by a letter: Wave 95A, Wave 95B, Wave 95C, and so on. The first of these occasional waves, Wave 95A, will be issued October 31. (For more information on how wave numbers are assigned, refer to the May 20, 2011 SL News Brief.)

Some applicants and service providers have not yet received FCDLs for FY2009. On October 17, USAC issued a letter to most of these program participants giving them additional information about the current status of their applications. Note that the following program participants will not receive one of these letters:

• Applicants and service providers that already know the reason USAC has not issued an FCDL because of other communications from USAC.
• Applicants with applications that are nearing the final stages of the review process, where USAC expects to issue an FCDL in the very near future.

If you have not received either an FCDL or an explanatory letter by the end of November, you can Submit a Question or call the Client Service Bureau at 1-888-203-8100 to check on the status of your application.

Consultant Registration Numbers

Item 7 of the Form 470 and Item 6g of the Form 471 ask for the name, contact information, and Consultant Registration Number of the consultant that is assisting you with the application process. If you are not using a consultant, you can leave these fields blank. If you are using a consultant, review the information below to complete these items correctly.

What is the definition of a consultant?

A consultant is any non-employee of the entity applying for funding that assists in filling out the application materials for a fee. Consultants can be organizations with one or more employees or they can be individuals.

The term "consultant" below refers to the name – whether an organization or an individual – linked to the Consultant Registration Number and entered in the "Consultant Name" field on the Form 470 and/or Form 471.

What is a Consultant Registration Number?

A Consultant Registration Number (CRN) is a unique eight-digit identification number assigned by USAC to a specific consultant. Employees of a consultant do not request their own CRNs but instead use the CRN of the consultant.

How does a consultant obtain a CRN?

To get a CRN, a consultant should call the Client Service Bureau (CSB) at 1-888-203-8100. You should have the following consultant information ready:

• Consultant Name
• Consultant Street Address, City, State, and Zip Code
• Consultant Telephone Number
• Consultant Fax Number
• Consultant Email Address

If the consultant has one or more employees, you should also have the following information for each employee:

• Employee Name
• Employee Telephone Number
• Employee Email Address

CSB will first search by zip code, then by street address, to find out if USAC already has a CRN on file. If so – and if there are no changes to any of the contact information – CSB can provide the CRN over the phone.

If CSB must create a new CRN, or if there are changes required to an existing CRN record, CSB will request that the changes be sent by fax to 1-888-276-8736 or by email. After the CRN record has been created or updated, CSB can reply to the fax or email and provide the CRN.

How does an applicant find the CRN for its consultant?

If the consultant is completing a form on behalf of the applicant, the consultant can enter the CRN in the appropriate field of the form. If the applicant is completing a form, the applicant can obtain the CRN from the consultant or call CSB. CSB can provide the CRN over the telephone as long as the applicant provides enough information for CSB to identify a specific consultant.

• Consultants and applicants filing online should check after entering the CRN to verify that the correct consultant information is populated in the form. If it is not, check that no digits were transposed in the number you provided and call CSB if you are still having difficulties.

Where is consultant information located on Form 470 and Form 471?

Consultant information is entered in Block 1, Item 7 of the Form 470 and Block 1, Item 6g of the Form 471. Online filers can enter the CRN and the consultant contact information will populate automatically. If the consultant has employees, those employee names will appear in a drop-down menu and the correct employee can be selected.

Paper filers must complete all relevant fields.

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