December 1, 2017

Commitments for Funding Year 2017

Funding Year 2017. USAC released Funding Year (FY) 2017 Wave 27 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) earlier today and is scheduled to release Wave 28 FCDLs December 7. As of December 1, FY2017 commitments total over $1.92 billion.

On the date that FCDLs are issued, you can access your FCDL notification from the Notifications section of your landing page in the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC).

Webinar on Highlights from Fall Training

USAC will hold a live webinar on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, at 3:00 PM EST to review highlights of the four live training sessions held earlier this year in Washington, DC; Charlotte, NC; Minneapolis, MN; and Portland, OR. USAC staff will provide a brief overview of the fall training sessions, and cover basic information about each of the training presentations. Attendees will be able to post questions during the webinar, and USAC staff will answer as many questions as time allows at the end of the webinar. We expect this opportunity will be of particular interest for those who were unable to attend the earlier training sessions.

We suggest that you register for the webinar in advance, although you can register and join the webinar at any point after it has started. The agenda and complete versions of the training presentations from the training sessions are available on the archived event page. We recommend reviewing the presentations to help you prepare questions for the webinar.

USAC will post a recording of the webinar in the Webinar Recordings section of the Online Learning Library shortly after the conclusion of the webinar.

Reminder on Deadlines Featured in the FRN Extension Table

The FRN Extension Table on the Tools page of the USAC website is a list of certain Funding Request Numbers (FRNs) for each funding year that have received extensions of service delivery deadlines and/or invoice deadlines.

For FY2016 and FY2017 FRNs, we are now adding to this table all FRNs that have deadlines extended for any reason, so that program participants have a single source of information for these extensions.

Specifically, FRNs that fit one or more of the categories below will appear in the FRN Extension Table together with their current service delivery deadline and invoice deadline. Because the table can now include recurring service FRNs, the column headers at the top of the table will be modified to reflect this change.

Automatic service delivery deadline extensions (non-recurring services)

The deadline for delivery and installation of non-recurring services other than special construction (e.g., installations, equipment purchases) is generally September 30 following the close of the funding year.

For FY2016, this deadline is extended for one year – to September 30, 2018 – if USAC issues an FCDL on or after March 1, 2017. This deadline is also extended to September 30, 2018 if USAC issues a Revised FCDL (RFCDL) on or after March 1, 2017 for one of the following:

• approval of an appeal for a funding request that was originally denied funding,
• approval of a Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) change, or
• approval of a service substitution.

We are running weekly queries to update these deadlines and adding the affected FRNs to the FRN Extension Table.

If a service delivery deadline is extended, the invoice deadline is recalculated and will also appear in the FRN Extension Table. Applicants and service providers may still request a one-time, 120-day extension of this invoice deadline if they need additional time to complete the invoicing process.

Invoice deadlines for FCC Form 486 Notification Letters issued after service end dates

The invoice deadline for an FRN is 120 days after the last day to receive service or 120 days after the date of the FCC Form 486 Notification Letter, whichever is later. (In general, the last day to receive service is June 30 of the funding year for recurring services and September 30 after the close of the funding year for non-recurring services other than special construction.)

For a number of FY2016 applicants, their FCC Form 486 Notification Letter was (or will be) dated after the last day to receive service. This means that their invoice deadline will be calculated from the date of the FCC Form 486 Notification Letter rather than from the last day to receive service.

If the invoice deadline is calculated from the date of the FCC Form 486 Notification Letter, the invoice deadline is not readily available to external users, so we are adding the affected FRNs to the FRN Extension Table. Note that this deadline is the actual calculation – not an extension – of the invoice deadline. Applicants and service providers may still request a one-time, 120-day extension of this deadline if they need additional time to complete the invoicing process.

Invoice deadline extensions requested by applicants or service providers

Applicants and service providers can request a one-time, 120-day extension of the deadline to file an invoice. If a timely filed request is approved, the extended invoice deadline will appear in the FRN Extension Table.

Deadline extensions due to Hurricane relief

In the November 17 SL News Brief, we described the relief from program deadlines provided in the FCC's order DA 17-984 for program participants impacted by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria (Hurricanes).

Service delivery deadlines for non-recurring services other than special construction and invoice deadlines that have been extended due to this relief have been added to the FRN Extension Table. Applicants and service providers may still request a one-time, 120-day extension of the invoice deadline if they need additional time to complete the invoicing process.

Update to Hurricane Relief Entities Report in EPC

The November 17 SL News Brief also included information about the Export 2017 Hurricane Relief Entities Report in EPC. This report lists the individual schools, libraries, and non-instructional facilities (NIFs) located in areas of Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands that have been designated as Major Disaster Areas eligible for Individual Assistance for the purposes of federal disaster relief by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Last night, USAC deployed an update to this report. The report is now named Entities Within Counties Eligible for FEMA Individual Disaster Assistance Report (DA 17-984).

• To view this report, go to the Actions tab in your EPC profile and click Export 'Entities Within Counties Eligible for FEMA Individual Disaster Assistance' Report, Wireline Competition Bureau Hurricane Relief Order, DA 17-984 (WCB Hurricane Relief Order).
• EPC will then create a task for you in your Tasks menu labeled 'Entities Within Counties Eligible for FEMA Individual Disaster Assistance' Report (DA 17-984). Click the task to access the report, which will appear in a spreadsheet format titled 2017_Entities_Individual_Disaster_Assistance. When you open the task, you will now see some additional helpful information.