January 3, 2014

Commitments for Funding Year 2013

Funding Year 2013. USAC will release Funding Year (FY) 2013 Wave 33 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) January 8. This wave includes commitments for approved Priority 1 (Telecommunications Services and Internet Access) requests at all discount levels. Including Wave 33, FY2013 commitments total over $1.71 billion and encompass 34,614 of FY2013 applications.

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.

Revised FCC Forms 479, 486, and 500 Are Now Available

The Office of Management and Budget has approved the FCC's revisions to the FCC Forms 479, 486, and 500 and their accompanying instructions. The revised forms and instructions – dated December 2013 – are available on the Forms page.

Starting December 30, paper filers must use the revised versions of these forms. The online version of the revised FCC Form 486 is also available for filing.

NOTE: Applicants will now use the revised FCC Form 500 to submit service delivery extension requests and equipment transfer notifications.

• Applicants can request an extension of the deadline for delivery and installation of non-recurring services (generally September 30 following the close of the funding year) by completing Item 8 on the revised form.
• Applicants transferring equipment purchased with E-rate funding from a closed facility to another eligible entity within three years of the date of purchase can notify USAC of the transfer by completing Item 11 on the revised form.

Applicants can no longer submit these requests and notifications by email, fax, or on paper. These two options have been removed from the Submit a Question topic inquiry menu, and the website guidance documents FCC Form 500 Filing, Service Delivery, and Transfer of Equipment have been modified accordingly.

Winter Contact Period Ends Today

USAC may request additional information to complete the data entry of a paper form or the review of a certified form. In general, USAC asks for responses to its requests within 15 days. However, during a summer period and a winter period each year, the response requirements change to allow for extended holiday and break schedules.

The winter contact period is defined as the Friday before Christmas Day through the Friday after New Year's Day (i.e., December 20, 2013 through January 3, 2014). If our first attempt to reach you was on or after December 20, and we were not able to confirm by telephone that you were available to respond to our questions, we will not try again to contact you until after January 3. However, if we made a successful contact with you before December 20, your 15-day response clock has started and we will act on the information we have on hand if we have not heard from you by the response deadline.

We define a successful contact as:

• A sent email message with no return notification of non-delivery or out-of-office response
• A sent fax with a confirmation of successful transmission
• A voicemail left at the contact person's telephone number if the recorded greeting does not state that the contact person is out of the office
• A live person answering our call at the contact telephone number or a return call responding to our message.

If you have received questions from Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) about the review of your FCC Form 471, be sure to either respond to the questions or request additional time on or before the response deadline.

Start Preparing for the FY2014 Application Filing Window

The FCC Form 471 application filing window for Funding Year 2014 will open at noon EST on Thursday, January 9, 2014 and will close at 11:59 PM EDT on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. The filing window will be open for 77 days.

Be sure to review the FY2014 Eligible Services List for details on products and services that are eligible for E-rate discounts in FY2014, and continue to check the USAC website for additional details.

Remember:

• You can file an FCC Form 470 now if you are ready to do so; you don't need to wait for the window to open. To file an FCC Form 470 online, go to the Apply Online page and click on the "Create Form 470" button.
• You must wait 28 days after the FCC Form 470 is POSTED to the USAC website before you can close your competitive bidding process, select a service provider, sign a contract (if applicable), and submit an FCC Form 471. If you issue an RFP after the FCC Form 470 is posted, you must wait 28 days from the release of the RFP to select a service provider.
  • Wednesday, February 26, 2014 is the last day to post an FCC Form 470 to the USAC website or issue an RFP and still complete all of these actions before the window closes.
  • If you file your FCC Form 470 on paper, we need to RECEIVE it by Wednesday, February 19, 2014 to give us time to complete data entry before February 26, 2014.
• Item 21 attachments to the FCC Form 471 must be submitted by the close of the filing window. If you file your Item 21 attachment online, you must click on the "Submit" button at the bottom of the last page before the window closes. OTHERWISE YOUR ONLINE ITEM 21 ATTACHMENT WILL NOT BE SENT TO US.

You can find additional program guidance documents in the Reference Area of the USAC website.

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