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September 4, 2015
TIP OF THE WEEK: When creating a nickname for an FCC Form 470, make sure the nickname is distinctive enough to help you identify that particular form. However, keep in mind that including a specific service provider's name as part of the nickname might appear to indicate a predisposition to that service provider – something you should avoid.
Commitments for Funding Year 2015
Funding Year 2015. USAC will release Funding Year (FY) 2015 Wave 16 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) on September 14. This wave includes commitments for approved requests for all service types and at all discount levels. As of September 4, FY2015 commitments total over $1.51 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.
Completing FCC Form 470, Part 5 - Review and Certify
In the July 10 SL News Brief, we included some general information about the FCC Form 470 for FY2016. We have also covered the following sections of the form:
In this issue we will cover the "FCC Form 470 Review" and "Certifications & Signature" sections. You can also watch the Review and Certify video on the FCC Form 470 Video Series page to see how to complete these sections of the online form.
1. Log in to your account in EPC and access your partially completed form.
For purposes of this issue, we are assuming for example's sake that you have already completed the "Basic Information;" either or both of the "Category One Service Requests" or "Category Two Service Requests;" the "Technical Contact Information;" and the "Procurement Information" sections of your FCC Form 470.
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In order to review and make changes to your FCC Form 470, you must be a full-rights or partial-rights user for the organization you represent. In other words, you must be able to create and certify forms (full-rights user), or just create forms (partial-rights user).
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In order to certify your form, you must be a full-rights user.
First, log in to EPC using your email address and password. Then, from your landing page, open the "Tasks" menu by clicking the "Tasks" tab in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. On the following screen, you will see a list of the FCC Form(s) 470 that are currently in process. Click the form you want to continue.
2. Request a PDF file of your form.
The progress bar at the top of this page shows that you have completed the "Basic Information," "Service Requests," "Technical Contact Information," and "Procurement Information" sections of the form. There is also a time and date stamp to indicate when the form was last saved.
Your next step is to review your form before it is certified. To do this, click the "Review FCC Form 470" button in the lower right-hand corner of the "State or Local Procurement Requirements" page.
The system will then generate a PDF version of your FCC Form 470 in a separate window or tab, depending on your browser settings. Wait about one minute for the PDF version to generate, then click "Refresh." Note that you must click "Refresh" to view the PDF document. (If nothing happens when you click "Refresh," wait a few more seconds and then try again.)
On the "FCC Form 470 Review" page, you will see the filename for your form directly under the "Download Document Link" text. The filename includes your form number and the word "DRAFT." To review your form, click the filename.
3. Review the information you provided in your form.
You should now see a PDF version of your form. At the top, you see the word "DRAFT" together with your form number and nickname.
As you scroll down, you can see the information that you entered in your form. You can also see information that was stored in your portal and uploaded into your form by the system – for example, the billed entity information and the contact person information at the top of the first page of the form and the recipients of service information at the end of the last page of the form.
Carefully review this draft PDF version of your form. You can print it or save it to your hard drive if you wish. If you find that you have corrections, additions, or deletions, we suggest that you print a copy and mark it up to use as a guide.
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To correct information that you entered manually, close the PDF version of the form and click the "Back" button on the "State or Local Procurement Requirements" page. Continue clicking the "Back" button at the bottom of each page until you find the page containing the information you want to correct. You can then make your changes.
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To correct information that the system uploaded from your profile, you must first correct that information in your profile in order to change it on this form. Click "Save Changes" in the upper left-hand corner of the "State or Local Procurement Requirements" page and wait for the message that your form has been saved. Then click the "Reports" tab, choose "My Landing Page," and make your changes.
After you have made your changes, return to the "State or Local Procurement Requirements" page and generate a new PDF version of your form as described above to verify that your changes have been made. In some cases – for example, if you change your billed entity information – you will have to wait for the Client Service Bureau (CSB) to review and approve your changes. You can always call CSB at (888) 203-8100 to request a status on your change.
After you have reviewed the form and verified that all of your information is correct, check the box on the FCC Form Review page to certify that the information in the PDF document is correct.
4. Certify your form.
A full-rights user must certify your form.
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If you are a partial-rights user, click the "Send for Certification" button.
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If you are a full-rights user, you can click the "Continue to Certification" button to certify the form yourself or the "Send for Certification" button if you want another full-rights user to certify the form.
Send for certification. When you click this button, you receive a message that this action will send the form to all full-rights users in the organization. Click "Yes" to create and send a task to all full-rights users to certify this form, or click "No" if you are not yet ready to do that.
If you click "Yes," any full-rights user in your organization can click the task you have created and follow the guidance below to certify the form.
Continue to certification. To proceed to the certification screen, click "Yes" if you are ready to certify or "No" if you are not. (You can always certify later.)
The progress bar at the top of the screen shows that you have moved to the "Certifications & Signature" section of the form. Read each certification carefully, and check the box to the left of the certification if you can accurately make that certification.
If you can make all of the certifications, you can then click the "Certify" button at the bottom of the page. This action is equivalent to providing a handwritten signature. After you click the button, you must also acknowledge that you understand the statements above, that you represent the entity featured on the form, and that you have the authority to make the certifications by clicking "Yes."
Certifying the form posts it on the USAC website and starts your 28-day waiting period for the competitive bidding process.
REMINDERS:
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You must wait at least 28 days from the date your form is certified before you choose your service provider, sign a contract (if applicable), and sign and submit an FCC Form 471.
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You can make certain changes to your form after it is certified. However, if your changes would significantly affect the scope, locations, or other aspects of the project (changes that in general are considered "cardinal" changes), you should post a new FCC Form 470.
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After you certify an FCC Form 470, you can still upload RFP documents to your form. However, you cannot remove any RFP documents that were attached to your form at the time it was certified.
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