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November 8, 2019
TIP OF THE WEEK: We still have space available for Tribal training sessions in Tahlequah, OK on November 19 and Farmington, NM on November 21. These training sessions are designed for schools and libraries on Tribal lands. If you are interested in attending a session or need more information, you can refer to the 2019 Training page. Click the blue Register Here button to register.
Commitments for Funding Years 2019 and 2018
Funding Year 2019. USAC released FY2019 Wave 32 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) on November 7. As of November 8, FY2019 commitments total over $1.96 billion.
Funding Year 2018. USAC released FY2018 Wave 68 FCDLs on November 4. As of November 8, FY2018 commitments total over $2.24 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).
Updated USAC Website Launches on November 11
On Monday, November 11, USAC will launch an updated version of the USAC website. The updated site features design and functionality changes to help users find the information they need, when they need it. For further information, please see the November 1 SL News Brief. On November 11, USAC will post a brief video highlighting some of the site's new features.
As a reminder, the site's navigation will be new but the content mostly hasn't changed. In addition, with the migration of to the updated website, not all USAC URLs will be maintained. This means that any hyperlinks or bookmarks to USAC web content, including PDFs and CSV templates, will redirect users to USAC's updated landing page, USAC.org, where they can use the improved search functionality to navigate to the content they seek.
We will continue to provide updates about the website in the SL News Brief including tips about site navigation and links to timely program information.
Legacy System Link Updates
Due to the changes to the USAC.org website, some of the links in certain legacy forms and tools must be updated so that they can continue to function properly. This work is scheduled to be completed early next week.
Following is a list of the legacy forms and tools that will have some limits on their functionality and/or the data they display for a few days after the launch of the updated USAC.org website.
Forms
Tools
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Search Commitments
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Deadlines
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SPIN Search Tool
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Search Urban/Rural Status
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Download FCC Form 470 Information (FY2015 and prior)
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Download FCC Form 471 (FY2015)
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Category Two Budget Tool
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View FRNs with Extended Deadlines.
EPC Deployment News
USAC has deployed the following recent updates and changes to the EPC system:
Pending inquiries grid
On each applicant landing page(but not the consultant or state coordinator landing page), you can now see a new section labeled Pending Inquiries Grid. This grid will contain a line in the grid for each inquiry from USAC's various review processes that is awaiting an applicant response. Please note the following:
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Invoice reviews are still done in our legacy system, so inquiries from invoice reviewers will not show up in this grid.
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Commitment Adjustment (COMAD) inquiries will not appear in this grid.
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Because most of the Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) reviews have been completed for FY2019 FCC Forms 471, many of these grids will not yet have any entries.
We recognize the value of this information for consultants (for their clients) and state coordinators (for public schools and/or libraries in their state, as appropriate). Consequently, we are working on extending this functionality to a separate version that will be able to feature pending inquiries for multiple entities. We will provide an update when that work has been completed and deployed to consultant and state coordinator landing pages.
Outreach templates that do not require a response
During the review of an FCC Form 471, a PIA reviewer may send an applicant a question template in EPC that provides information but does not require a response. In the past, such templates did not allow applicants to upload documents and/or provide additional text.
Now, all PIA question templates will allow applicants to upload one or more documents and/or provide a narrative if they wish to do so.
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