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September 18, 2015
TIP OF THE WEEK: If you have been contacted by USAC as part of our data cleanup effort, please respond as soon as possible. You can refer to the July 21 Special Edition News Brief to learn more about our data cleanup and why your response is important.
Commitments for Funding Years 2015 and 2014
Funding Year 2015. USAC will release Funding Year (FY) 2015 Wave 18 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) on September 25. This wave includes commitments for approved requests for all service types and at all discount levels. As of September 18, FY2015 commitments total over $1.80 billion.
Funding Year 2014. USAC will release Wave 66 FCDLs on September 23. This wave includes commitments for approved Priority 1 (Telecommunications Services and Internet Access) requests at all discount levels. As of September 18, FY2014 commitments total over $2.27 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.
Updating a Certified FCC Form 470
Over the last few weeks, we have provided detailed information in our SL News Briefs about filing an FCC Form 470 for FY2016 using the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC). You can find a list of the SL News Brief specific topics and other helpful information about EPC on our website in last week's SL News Brief.
Even after you have filed and certified an FCC Form 470, certain updates are allowable. These updates include correcting ministerial and clerical errors in certain fields and uploading additional RFP documents. Note that applicants are prevented from editing the descriptions of services on the form and any additional RFP information must not affect the scope of the services being sought.
Ministerial and clerical errors
Ministerial and clerical (M&C) errors are data entry errors or mistakes applicants have made on an FCC Form 470 or 471 that can be corrected.
RFP documents
Starting with FY2016, applicants filing FCC Forms 470 who indicate that they have an RFP must upload the appropriate RFP documents to their forms before they can be certified and posted. USAC uses the term "RFP document" generically to refer to any bidding document that describes your project and requested services in more detail than in the fields provided on the FCC Form 470 to help potential bidders understand the scope, location, and any other requirements of your project.
Because certain information related to RFP documents may be added or changed after you have uploaded and certified your FCC Form 470, you can also upload additional documents to your form to include that later information. Note, however, that you cannot remove an RFP document after an FCC Form 470 has been certified.
How to update a certified FCC Form 470
First, access your certified FCC Form 470 in EPC. After you log in to EPC, you can do either of the following:
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From the landing page. From My Landing Page, scroll down to the header "FCC Forms 470." In the Status area, click the radio button to the left of the caption "Certified." Your certified forms will appear below. Click the nickname of the form you want to update.
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From the Records tab. Click the "Records" tab at the top of any EPC page. Click on "FCC Forms 470." Under "Filed by my Organization" choose "Yes," and under "Status" choose "Certified." Then choose the form you want to update.
After you have opened your form, choose "Related Actions." The available actions include the following:
We cover each of these actions in turn below.
Edit Application Nickname
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From the FCC Form 470 page you are on, select "Edit Application Nickname."
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Enter the new application nickname.
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Click "Submit."
The update is effective immediately, and no USAC review or approval is required.
Add an RFP Document
In order to add an RFP document, you must have indicated on your form that you intended to issue an RFP – and uploaded at least one RFP document – before your form was certified.
Note also that if you intend to make a fundamental or cardinal change to the scope of the services you are seeking, you will need to create and certify a new FCC Form 470 and begin a new 28-day waiting period. While you can upload a new RFP document, you cannot edit the descriptions of services you have already created on the form, so the new RFP document should support those existing descriptions.
To upload a new RFP document:
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From the FCC Form 470 page you are on, select "Add an RFP Document."
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On the list of RFP documents already uploaded to your form, click "Choose File" below the caption "Please add an RFP here*."
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Search on your hard drive or other storage device for the correct file and choose it for upload.
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When you created your form, you identified which services were related to each RFP document (or that your RFP document related to all of the services). You must now choose which service or services relate to the new RFP document.
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After you have identified the appropriate services by checking the box to the left of those services, click "Submit."
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You will receive a confirmation message reminding you that you need to file a new form if you are making a cardinal change to your requests. To indicate your agreement, click "Yes."
The RFP document is immediately associated with the appropriate services and available to potential bidders, and no USAC review or approval is required.
Change Main Contact Person
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From the FCC Form 470 page you are on, select "Change Main Contact Person."
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Under the caption "New Main Contact," start to type the name or email address of the new contact person. Remember that you can only choose someone who is already an authorized user in your organization's account. Otherwise, you must first create and assign rights to that user in your organization's account profile.
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Choose the correct entry and click "Submit."
If this change is made by a partial-rights user, the change is first sent to all of the full-rights users on your organization account for approval. After a full-rights user approves the change, it is sent to USAC for review and approval. You will receive a notification in your News feed when USAC has approved the change.
Edit Technical Contact
In addition to the contact person, you can identify a technical contact on your FCC Form 470 if you wish to do so. This person is someone who can provide additional technical details or answer specific questions from service providers about the services you are seeking.
The technical contact person does not need to be an authorized user in your organization's account. Keep in mind, however, that if you enter information for someone who is not already an authorized user, you are not creating a new user in your organization's account and that person's name and contact information only appear on this FCC Form 470.
To edit the technical contact:
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From the FCC Form 470 page you are on, select "Edit Technical Contact."
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Select the method you would like to use to enter the technical contact details.
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If you select "Search EPC System," start to type the name or email of the person who is already an authorized user on your organization's account. Choose the correct entry and click "Submit."
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If you select "Enter Details Manually," enter the necessary information in the appropriate fields. Fields that are required are marked with an asterisk ("*"). After you review your entries, click "Submit."
If this change is made by a partial-rights user, the change is first sent to all of the full-rights users on your organization account for approval. After a full-rights user approves the change, it is sent to USAC for review and approval. You will receive a notification in your News feed when USAC has approved the change.
For more information on this update process, you can refer to the guide posted on our website titled "Editing a Certified FCC Form 470: M&C Corrections" or click the link "M&C Corrections" under the heading "Applicant User Guides" on the E-rate Productivity Center web page.
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