September 28, 2018

Commitments for Funding Year 2018

Funding Year 2018. USAC is scheduled to release Funding Year (FY) 2018 Wave 25 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) on September 30. As of September 28, FY2018 commitments total over $1.78 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).

Administrative Window Opens October 1

Each year, USAC updates applicant profiles in EPC using the reviewed and approved profile information from their current year FCC Forms 471. We do this so that applicants can start the application process for the upcoming funding year with information in their profiles that is accurate as of the date of their FCDL.

USAC will complete this process for most applicants this weekend. Starting Monday, October 1, applicants will be able review their profiles in EPC and make any additional updates for changes that occurred after USAC's review of their FY2018 FCC Forms 471. This administrative window will remain open until early January 2019.

Some entities in EPC have undergone entity type changes during the FY2018 application cycle. An entity has undergone an entity type change if it kept the same Billed Entity Number (BEN) but changed from one entity type to another.

For now, we are asking entities that have had entity type changes in FY2018 to wait for further guidance before updating their profiles.

Here are some examples of entity type changes:

• A school that is part of a school district was changed to an independent school.
• A library system was changed to a library that is part of a library system.
• A non-instructional facility (NIF) was changed to a school.
• A library was changed to a NIF.

For everyone else, here are a few reminders of fields that you should check for accuracy:

All Billed Entities

• Verify that your FCC Registration Number (FCC RN) is correct. If your application includes child entities (individual schools in a school district or library branches in a library system), you do not need FCC RNs for those child entities.
• Review your address and contact information and make any necessary updates. If you have child entities, review and update their information as well.
• You do not need to update your connectivity questions at this time. Answers to connectivity questions that you provided in previous funding years will still be viewable in the EPC form records.

School districts

• Update the student counts for the students attending each of your schools.
  • Use the most recent student information available, which may mean entering or keeping last year's numbers if you do not yet have this year's numbers.
  • Be sure to review your entries for the "peak part-time student counts" for each school. This is the greatest number of part-time students at a single point during the school day, NOT the total number of part-time students that attend the school during the course of the entire school day.

Independent schools

• Update your student counts.
  • Use the most recent student information available, which may mean entering or keeping last year's numbers if you do not yet have this year's numbers.
  • Be sure to review your entry for the "peak part-time student counts." This is the greatest number of part-time students at a single point during the school day, NOT the total number of part-time students that attend the school during the course of the entire school day.

Library systems

• Review the entries for the square footage of each of your library branches to make sure they are correct.
• Verify that you have identified the library branch that serves as the main branch for your library system.
• Review the entries for the IMLS locale codes for each of your library branches, and provide entries for those that are blank.

Independent libraries

• Review the entry for the square footage of your library to make sure it is correct.
• Identify yourself as the library that serves as the main branch.
• Review the entry for the IMLS locale code for your library, and provide an entry if it is blank.

Consortia

• Review your list of consortium members to make sure it is accurate. You can add or remove consortium members through the Manage Organization Relationships function in your profile.
• Remind your members to update their profiles so that the discount calculations and other program information will be accurate.

Sunday Is the Deadline to File Service Delivery Extensions for FY2017 Non-recurring Services

This Sunday, September 30, is the deadline for delivery and installation of FY2017 non-recurring services (other than special construction) for funding requests that have not been automatically extended.

If the service provider needs more time to deliver and install these non-recurring services, the applicant – not the service provider – certifies an FCC Form 500 and must include the reason that they are requesting an extension.

Update on New Invoice Deadline Extension Tool in EPC

The new EPC invoice extension deadline tool will be available October 1. Applicants, consultants, and service providers will be able to request invoice deadline extensions for their Funding Request Numbers (FRNs) for FY2016 and forward by using the new tool.

As a reminder, program participants will use the existing legacy tool (the tool that applicants and service providers can access through the online BEAR Form) to request invoice deadline extensions for FRNs from FY2015 and previous funding years.

• The legacy tool will feature an error message if you enter an FRN that does not exist in our system.
• If you enter an FRN for a funding year after FY2015, the legacy tool will provide information on how to ask for an extension for that FRN in EPC.
• If you enter an FRN for FY2015 or a previous funding year, the legacy tool will display a table of information on that FRN as it has in the past, and allow you to proceed with your request.

For information on how to file an invoice deadline extension request in the new EPC tool, you can refer to last week's SL News Brief.