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June 10, 2016

TIP OF THE WEEK: If you have a question about a program form in the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC), please include your form number and any other identifying information in the customer service case or provide it when you call us so that we can easily locate your form. Screenshots are particularly helpful if you encounter an error message or other situation where you cannot continue.

Filing the FY2016 FCC Form 486 in EPC 

USAC will start issuing funding commitments for Funding Year (FY) 2016 very soon. After the first wave runs, applicants with commitments in that wave can begin filing the FCC Form 486, Receipt of Service Confirmation and Children's Internet Protection Act and Technology Plan Certification Form.

For FY2016, the FCC Form 486 is filed to accomplish the following:

  • To notify USAC that services have started and USAC can process invoices.  Note that the service provider must also file FCC Form 473, Service Provider Annual Certification Form, for FY2016 before USAC can pay invoices for FY2016.
  • To certify the status of compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA).

Applicants can file an FCC Form 486 early – that is, before services have started. For the applicant to file early, all of the following must be true:

  • The applicant has received a Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) with a positive funding commitment.
  • The applicant has confirmed with the named service provider(s) that the services ordered will start in July.
  • The applicant can accurately make all of the relevant certifications as of the date that the FCC Form 486 is certified.

For members of a consortium or in other situations where the entity filing the FCC Form 486 is not the Administrative Authority for purposes of CIPA, recipients of service may need to file the FCC Form 479, Certification of Administrative Authority to Billed Entity of Compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act, with the entity that will file the FCC Form 486 on their behalf. In this situation, the FCC Form 479 provides the information necessary for the billed entity to complete the appropriate CIPA certification(s) and successfully submit the FCC Form 486.

For FY2016, applicants file the FCC Form 486 in EPC.

Starting the FCC Form 486

To start, a full- or partial-rights user on the organization's account logs in to EPC. You can then access the FCC Form 486 through any one of three ways:

  • From your landing page, click the "FCC Form 486" link at the top of the page.
  • From your organization's profile page, click "Related Actions" and then "Create FCC Form 486."
  • From your organization's profile page, click the "..." button in the upper right-hand corner, then click "Create FCC Form 486."

On the following page, create a nickname for the form, choose the funding year (2016), identify the contact person, and then click the "Continue" button. You will be taken to the Select FRNs page.

Selecting the FRNs for this form

You will see a list of the Funding Request Numbers (FRNs) for the chosen funding year (currently the only option is FY2016) for which commitments have been issued but for which an FCC Form 486 has not yet been certified.

Choose the FRNs that you want to include on this form by doing one of the following (note that "(x)" on each of the button descriptions below designates the number of FRNs selected or available for a particular action):

  • To add all of the FRNs to this form, click the button "Add all (x) FRNs" at the top of the list to add all of the FRNs on the list.
  • To add specific FRNs to this form, check the box to the left of each FRN and then click the "Add (x) FRNs" button at the bottom of the list.
  • If you have a large number of FRNs and you want to choose specific FRNs to add to the form, first use the filters (Application Number, Category of Service, FRN, and/or FRN Status) to limit the number of FRNs on the list, then proceed as above.

Verify that the FRNs you want to include appear in the Selected FRNs section at the bottom of the page. To remove one or more of the FRNs you already selected, check the box to the left of the FRN(s) you want to remove, then click the "Remove (x) FRNs" button.

When you are finished, click the "Continue" button.

Changing the service start date(s)

On the following page, you will see your list of chosen FRNs and the service start dates that you reported on the FCC Form 471 for those FRNs.

  • If the dates in the "Actual Service Start Date" column are correct, you can click "Continue."
  • If one or more of the dates in this column are not correct, check the box to the left of the FRN(s) with the incorrect dates and enter the correct date. You can change the service start dates on multiple FRNs if you are changing all of them to the same date; otherwise you will have to change the dates one FRN at a time. NOTE: You cannot enter an actual service start date that is earlier than the service start date reported on the FCC Form 471. When you are finished, click "Continue."

Providing additional information

On the following page, check the Early Filing box and/or the CIPA Waiver box if they are applicable. Otherwise, leave them blank.

Click "Continue" to proceed to certification or click "Send for Certification" to create a task for all full-rights users to certify the form.

Certifying the form

You can certify the form yourself if you were able to click "Continue" on the previous screen. Otherwise, any full-rights user can go to the Tasks tab or the Tasks section of the organization's landing page and click on the task "Certify FCC Form 486 - (nickname)."

Check the box next to each of the certifications in the Certifications section, then check the box next to the appropriate CIPA certification in the CIPA Certifications section of this page. Then click "Preview."

  • Note: Read the CIPA certifications carefully and make sure you choose the correct certification.

At the bottom of this page, you will see two buttons: "Print Preview" and "Certify." You can certify your form from here by clicking the "Certify" button, or you can click "Print Preview" and follow the instructions in the popup window to review and print a copy of your form. After you have reviewed and printed a copy of your form, you can then click the "Certify" button on the bottom of the "Print Preview" page.

Once you certify your form, you will see a Certifier Information page which verifies that your form was certified and provides certain certification details. You can also print a copy of your form from this page.

Last Week in "File Along with Me":

  • The second filing window for libraries and consortia. Read More
  • Other details about the second window. Read More

"File Along with Me" is a blog that covers the E-rate Program application process step-by-step, and serves as a schedule you can follow to manage your application. Ready to join us? Read the Blog

Commitments for Funding Year 2015

Funding Year 2015. USAC will release FY2015 Wave 54 on June 15. This wave includes commitments for approved requests for all service types and at all discount levels. As of June 10, FY2015 commitments total over $3.29 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.

 

To subscribe, click here: Subscribe.

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