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September 4, 2020
TIP OF THE WEEK: Service providers filing an FCC Form 473 (the Service Provider Annual Certification or SPAC Form) will no longer encounter an error when entering their state information on the form. We have modified each of the two state fields on the form from a freeform text field to a drop-down list of two-letter state abbreviations to reduce data entry errors.
Commitments for Funding Year (FY) 2020 and FY2019
FY2020. USAC released FY2020 Wave 18 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) on September 1. As of September 4, FY2020 commitments total over $1.54 billion.
FY2019. USAC released FY2019 Wave 72 FCDLs on September 3. As of September 4, FY2019 commitments total just under $2.41 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).
FCC Form 470 Drop-down Menu Update
On November 26, 2019, the FCC issued a Report and Order, Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Order (FCC 19-121) initially designating two companies, Huawei and ZTE, as companies posing a national security threat. The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) has issued final designations of these entities, thereby prohibiting the use of USF funds to maintain, improve, modify, operate, manage, or otherwise support equipment or services produced or provided by Huawei and ZTE effective June 30, 2020.
Consequently, USAC has removed the options "Huawei or equivalent" and "Huawei" from all drop-down menus where they appeared on the FY2021 FCC Form 470. Applicants will no longer be able to choose these entries when they file these forms. (Note that the FCC Form 470 did not include drop-down menu options for ZTE equipment or maintenance on ZTE equipment.)
Reminders for New EPC Users and BEAR Form Filers
If you are accessing EPC or getting ready to file a Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form for the first time, you must first set up your login credentials for One Portal. One Portal is our multifactor authentication (MFA) system that we put in place to increase the security of Universal Service Fund (USF) IT applications. MFA is a method of authenticating a computer user during the login process by requiring the user to enter two or more separate pieces of information, such as a password known to the user and a code we generate and send to the user to enter in order to gain access.
MFA helps safeguard access to data and applications, and provides additional security by requiring a second form of user authentication. This complies with both Federal and FCC information security guidelines.
First-time EPC users
Shortly after your EPC account administrator or our Client Service Bureau (CSB) creates an EPC account for you, our system sends your information to One Portal. We then create an account for you using your EPC email address (username) as your One Portal username.
First-time BEAR filers
To file a BEAR Form, you need a Personal Identification Number (PIN). To request a PIN, fill out the PIN request template and attach it to a customer service case in EPC. If you don't have EPC access, call CSB at (888) 203-8100 for assistance.
Within two days of receiving your PIN by email, we will create an account in One Portal using your BEAR Form email address as your One Portal username.
Logging in to One Portal for the first time
To verify that you have a One Portal account:
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Click the blue Sign In button at the top of any page on USAC's website.
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Click the blue Continue button at the bottom of the instructions page.
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Click the Forgot password? text below the Password field.
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Enter your email address in the Username field.
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Click the blue Reset via Email button.
The system will send an email to you with a link to finish the login process. However, if you see a red error message "User cannot be found!" you do not have a One Portal account. For this and other issues with One Portal, you can contact CSB at (888) 203-8100.
After you click the blue Reset via Email button, you should receive our email to log in to One Portal within a few minutes. The link in this email is good for one hour. If you do not receive it, you can try again. First, though, we recommend that you do the following:
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Look carefully at the email address you have entered. If you drop a letter or transpose two letters, the system will not recognize your entry.
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Check the time set on your computer to be sure it is accurate. If it is off by more than two minutes, that can affect your ability to receive our email.
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Use a different browser to request your password reset. We recommend that you use the latest version of Chrome or Firefox. However, you should avoid using an incognito window in Chrome versions higher than 80.0. (To find your version number in Chrome, go to Settings and then About Chrome.)
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Check your computer's security settings that block incoming emails, or ask your system administrator if our emails are being blocked.
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Clear the cookies and cache on your browser, then close the browser and start a new session.
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Check your browser settings for any privacy plug-ins. These may stop you from getting to the Create Password page.
When you click the link in our first email to set your password, keep the basic password requirements in mind. Your password must contain a minimum of eight characters and include at least one lowercase letter, one uppercase letter, one number, and one special character (e.g., !, @, #, $, %, &, or =).
After you set your password, we will send you a second email with your verification code. This code is only good for 10 minutes, so be ready to enter your code as soon as you receive it.
When your login is successful, you will be taken to a popup if you have only one entitlement (EPC or BEAR Form) or a dashboard if you have both.
Your popup or your dashboard includes a link to Manage Account Settings. You can decide to continue to receive your verification code through your login email address, or you can provide a cell phone number to receive your code by text message.
Accepting terms and conditions of use
New EPC users. The first time you complete the One Portal login process and are taken to EPC, you will see a task under the Tasks menu (in the blue bar at the top of your landing page) to accept the terms and conditions of EPC use. For your account to become active, you must click on the task, review the terms and conditions, and click the Accept button at the bottom of the page.
New BEAR Form filers. The first time you complete the One Portal login process and are taken to the online BEAR Form, you will enter your Billed Entity Number (BEN), your new PIN, your email address, and your last name to log in to the BEAR Form. You will then be taken to the terms and conditions page, and you must accept the terms and conditions before gaining access to the BEAR Form.
Asking for assistance
If you are having trouble logging in to One Portal, please call CSB at (888) 203-8100 between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. EDT on weekdays. If they cannot resolve your problem, they will escalate your request to USAC and we will reach out to you.
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