We want to thank all of the Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) that were able to update their entity profile in the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC) to include the County-District-School (CDS) number prior to the close of the Administrative window. A total of 1,837 sites now have the added CDS number to help them through the Program Integrity Assurance (PIA) review process.
Important Funding Year 2018 Dates and Deadlines
The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) announced on December 14, 2017 the E-rate Funding Year 2018-19 application filing window dates.
· The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Form 471 window: opened January 11, 2018 at noon EST and closes March 22, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
· The last day to file the FCC Form 470 is February 22, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. EST.
As of January 9, 2018, a total of 826 FCC Forms 470 have been filed by 608 applicants.
Additional Guidance for the FCC Form 470
USAC has recently published a decision matrix to help applicants navigate the FCC Form 470 drop-down menu. This matrix became necessary when the definitions of each drop down option changed for the 2018 filing year. The decision matrix can be found on USAC's Web page at http://www.usac.org/_res/documents/sl/pdf/handouts/FCC-Form-470-C1-Dropdown-Table.pdf
E-rate applicants are encouraged to review this matrix prior to submitting the FCC Form 470 this year. Selections made on the Funding Year 2017 application will likely not have the same result on the Funding Year 2018 application due to the change in definitions. The matrix provides additional USAC guidance concerning which FCC Form 470 menu options must be used when requesting various combinations of transport and Internet services. Those seeking Internet service with bundled transport need to be particularly careful. If USAC strictly enforces these new menu options, applicants relying on last year's Form 470 selections may find themselves facing funding denials for FY 2018.
E-rate training
The K-12 High Speed Network continues to offer E-rate trainings to California Schools and Libraries. Below is a summary of the current training schedule, along with the link to register for the trainings.
Training name: E-rate - Successfully apply for funding
This six-hour, face-to-face workshop takes you from the planning phases through filing the FCC Form 471, including demonstrations of the E-rate Productivity Center.
There will be one training as follows:
Date: February 6, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Santa Clara County Office of Education, 1290 Ridder Park Drive,
San Jose, CA
View the registration Web page for the E-rate - Successfully apply for funding training at http://icoe.k12oms.org/1353-138490.
Training name: E-rate - Walk through of the FCC Form 470
This one-hour webinar will cover the technical navigation of the FCC Form 470. A brief discussion of procurement will be included.
There will be two trainings as follows:
Date: February 12, 2018 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
View the registration Web page for the E-rate - Walk through of the FCC Form 470 training at http://icoe.k12oms.org/1353-144968.
Date: February 13, 2018 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
View the registration Web page for the E-rate - Walk through of the FCC Form 470 training at http://icoe.k12oms.org/1353-144969.
Training name: E-rate - Walk through of the FCC Form 471
This webinar will be approximately one hour and will demonstrate how to complete the FCC Form 471 for various types of services.
There will be three trainings as follows:
Date: February 21, 2018 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
View the registration Web page for the E-rate - Walk through of the FCC Form 471 training at http://icoe.k12oms.org/1353-144971.
Date: February 22, 2018 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
View the registration Web page for the E-rate - Walk through of the FCC Form 471 training at http://icoe.k12oms.org/1353-144972.
Date: March 8, 2018 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
View the registration Web page for the E-rate - Walk through of the FCC Form 471 training at http://icoe.k12oms.org/1353-144973.
CALNET 3 Contract Extension
The California Department of Technology (CDT) has exercised its one (1) year option to extend all CALNET 3 contracts identified below. The new expiration date for all CALNET 3 contracts will be June 30, 2019.
This CALNET 3 extension will provide State, Local Government and E-Rate customers a sufficient amount of time to plan for fiscal year funding and file appropriate forms (e.g. E-RATE Form 471) for reimbursement.
With the new contract term of June 30, 2019, CALNET still has the option to extend all CALNET Categories/Subcategories with a single, one-year option to extend to 2020 remaining.
Schools and Libraries Program Weekly News Briefs on E-rate
The Schools and Libraries Program (SLP), commonly known as E-rate, provides timely information and insight through their Weekly News Brief. If you haven't already done so, we encourage you to sign up to receive these communications by visiting the SLP's Web page at http://www.usac.org/sl/tools/news-briefs/Default.aspx .