July 3, 2018

We are issuing this week's SL News Brief early due to the Independence Day holiday. Also, the Client Service Bureau (CSB) will be closed on Wednesday, July 4.

Commitments for Funding Year 2018

Funding Year 2018. USAC is scheduled to release Funding Year (FY) 2018 Wave 13 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) on July 6. As of July 3, FY2018 commitments total over $1.28 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).

USAC Seeks IT Enhancement Feedback

The USAC web page – Share Your E-rate Technical System Ideas – continues to be available for program participants to submit their ideas and feedback for improving and/or enhancing Schools and Libraries information systems. Information submitted to USAC through the feedback form on this webpage should only pertain to proposed changes to the E-rate related information technology (IT) systems. It should not include feedback on E-rate program rules or policy issues, or inquiries about specific applications.

To share your thoughts and ideas, go to the web page, enter your name and email address, identify your role in the E-rate program, and describe your idea. You can type directly into the text box provided or copy and paste text from another document. When you are finished, click the SUBMIT button at the bottom of the page.

We will display a message on your computer screen confirming receipt of your submission. If we have questions or would like more information about your submission, we may send you a request to the email address you provided, which you may respond to if you choose. The information provided on this form will only be used for internal purposes and will not be shared. If you do not wish to be contacted by USAC, you may send an email to privacy@usac.org with your request not to be contacted.

Please note that we cannot respond to specific inquiries or requests for assistance through this form. For these issues, submit a customer service case in EPC or call CSB at 888-203-8100.

Submit a Question Will Retire on July 13, 2018

On July 13, we will take down access to Submit a Question. The Submit a Question link on the left-hand navigation of each USAC web page will be redirected to an information page that provides a high-level description of the process for submitting questions, requests, and attachments in EPC.

Below are some reminders to help you transition to EPC or our legacy system for your questions and requests:

General questions. Create a customer service case in EPC by going to the Actions tab or the quick links at the top of your organization's landing page and choosing Contact Us.

Requests. To submit an appeal, service substitution request, or Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) change request in EPC, click the appropriate quick link at the top of your organization's landing page.

Please note these particular instructions for post-commitment requests for FY2015 and earlier:

• For appeals that apply to FY2015 or an earlier funding year, open a customer service case in EPC as described above. Choose Appeals from the Topic menu.
• For service substitution requests or SPIN change requests that apply to FY2015 or an earlier funding year, open a customer service case in EPC, choose Post Commitment Changes from the Topic menu, then choose either Service Substitution Questions or SPIN Change Questions from the Subtopic menu.

Invoice deadline extension requests. For requests for all funding years, log in to the BEAR Form online and click the Deadline Extension link on the right-hand side of the blue bar. Note that this option only allows program participants to enter one Funding Request Number (FRN) at a time.

• Applicants log in to the online BEAR Form using their Billed Entity Number (BEN), Personal Identification Number (PIN), email address, and last name. If you don't have a PIN, follow the guidance on requesting a PIN on the USAC website.
• Service providers log in to the E-File System, choose their SPIN if they have more than one, and click the 472 Online BEAR link from the left-hand menu to go to the online BEAR Form.

To request invoice deadline extensions in bulk, create a customer service case in EPC. Include the text "Invoice Deadline Extension Request" in the Title field and provide a list of the FRNs that you want to extend in the Description field.

Attachments. Documents and files can be attached directly to your customer service case or request in EPC. Create or locate your attachment, click the UPLOAD link in your case or request, and upload your attachment. A second UPLOAD link will then appear to allow you to upload more than one attachment. To remove an attachment, hover over the document icon until it changes to an "X," then click the "X."

If you need assistance, you can create a customer service case in EPC or call CSB at 888-203-8100.

NOTE: Requests submitted through Submit a Question are automatically routed to the appropriate group at USAC. However, for general questions submitted on or after June 1, 2018, we are creating customer service cases in EPC, tagging them with the case number from Submit a Question, and attempting to link them to your organization based on the information you provided. If we are unable to link the case to your organization, CSB will contact you by phone, answer your question, and provide you with the EPC customer service case number.