Gearing Up for Erate Year 5

1
Gearing Up for E-rate Year 5

• Technology Coordinators Videoconference
• December 5, 2001

2
E-rate starts Kindergarten
3
Todays Lesson Plan

• Year 5 dates to remember
• Forthcoming MiCTA contracts
• New notification letters
• Things made easier (so they say)
• Not-so-easy Kindergarten Math
• Year 5 tidbits
• Pre-K tidbits
• Supply and Demand

4
Year 5 Dates

• July 1, 2002 - June 30, 2003 (Blue)
• Form 471 application window
• Noon, Monday, November 5, 2001 through 1159PM
  Thursday, January 17, 2002
• Forms 470 must be posted by Dec. 20, 2001
• CIPA compliance must be in place by July 1, 2002
  if you certified that you were attempting to
  comply with CIPA in Year 4

5
MiCTA Contracts

• Michigan collaborated with MiCTA once again to
  establish a statewide master contract for
  Internal Connections
• Will result in a statewide Form 470
• Contracts will be good for three years (USF
  funding years 5, 6 and 7)
• Contracts will be posted to MiCTA web site as
  soon as they become finalized

6
New Notification Letters

• Form 486 Notification Letter
• Currently under development at the SLD to confirm
  receipt of your Form 486
• Form 500 Notification Letter
• Currently under development at the SLD to confirm
  receipt of your Form 500

7
Things Made Easier(So they say)

• SPIN Changes
• Change is allowed under state local procurement
  laws
• Change is allowed under terms of contract
• Original Service Provider (SP) has been notified
  of the intent to make change

Thanks to the Copan ruling!
8
Things Made Easier

• Product and Service Substitutions
• 1-to-1 changes no longer required
• Does not have to be initiated by the SP
• Same functionality now more broadly interpreted

9
Things Made Easier

• E-certification
• Now operational for Form 470 and 471
• Applicant must apply for User ID and PIN
• PINs assigned only to those individuals who have
  hand-signed Forms 471 and 486 that have been data
  entered at SLD
• User ID and PIN will reside with the person,
  not an entity

10
Things Made Easier

• Forms to have E-cert capability
• 470 - Services Requested
• 471 - Services Ordered
• 486 - Services Confirmed
• 500 - Service Change
• 472 (BEAR) - Applicant Invoice
• Refer to SLDs E-certification Update
  presentation on MIN and Merit web sites

11
Things Made Easier

• FCC Deadline Extensions
• Deadline for delivery and installation of
  non-recurring services is the Sept. 30 that
  follows the June 30 close of the relevant funding
  year
• Non-recurring services may be delivered through
  Sept. 30 of the following calendar year if
  certain decisions (e.g., FCDL SP change
  approved ) are issued after March 1

12
Things Made Easier

• Item 21 Attachments
• May be sent to the SLD after the Jan. 17, 2002
  Year 5 Form 471 postmark deadline
• Must be received by the SLD within a reasonable
  timeframe
• Form 471 must still be filed electronically and
  certified by Jan. 17, 2002
• Your Form 471 application cannot be processed
  until Item 21 Attachments are received
• Label as Item 21 Attachment with Form 471 app

13
Things Made Easier

• Block 4 Worksheets
• You can now copy Block 4 Worksheets from
  application to application within the Funding
  Year
• You can now copy Block 4 Worksheets from Funding
  Year 4 to Funding Year 5
• Simplifies online filing!

14
Kindergarten Math

• One-time off-premise charges of 500,000 or
  more must be amortized over at least three (3)
  years
• On-premise equipment lease costs cannot exceed
  67 of funding amount requested to acquire
  services
• 500,000 eqpmt 60,000 recurring 560,000
• 500,000/560,000 89 which is gt 67

15
Kindergarten Math

• 30 percent rules still in effect
• If more than 30 of a funding request is for
  ineligible services, the entire request will be
  denied
• If more than 30 of a telecommunication or
  Internet access request is deemed as internal
  connections, the entire request will be turned
  into internal connections and most likely not
  funded

16
Year 5 Tidbits

• Original signature requirement eliminated
• Photocopied signature or signature stamp allowed
• New materials on Reference Area of SLD web
  site
• Administrative Offices and Buildings Fact
  Sheet
• Calculating Your Discount section
• Demonstrating Compliance with Program Rules
  section (new!)

17
Year 5 Tidbits

• Eligible Services List - revised Oct. 19, 2001
• Tiptoeing Through the E-rate Minefield
• Entertaining article (satire) on the E-rate
  program
• http//www.andmore.com/Tiptoeing20through20the2
  0e-rate20minefield.html

18
Pre-K Tidbits

• Technology Plans
• Required for anything beyond POTS
• Watch out for approval expiration dates
• Entire consortium will likely not be penalized
  due to lapse in approval or lack of a tech plan
  by one member (reference FCC LOA appeal and Form
  479 instructions)

19
Pre-K Tidbits

• BEAR Deadlines
• PY4
• Due 90 days after the vendors 486 notification
  letter
• PY3
• Consider deadline to be 3 months after submitting
  your PY3 Form 486 (since there are no 486
  notification letters to applicants for PY3)

20
Pre-K Tidbits

• Free Filtering Service
• We-Blocker
• Same capabilities as N2H2 genre (on a limited use
  basis)
• Is claimed to meet CIPA requirements
• Telecommunications Carriers List
• http//gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cib/form499/499a.cfm
• Not all telecom carriers are common carriers

21
Supply and Demand

• Number of applications has steadily increased
  over the life of the USF program

22
Supply and Demand

• Total discount dollars funded to applicants
  reached program cap in Years 2 and 3

23
Supply and Demand

• Michigan schools and libraries have benefited
  from the E-rate program to the tune of 260
  million over the past 4 years
• Not an easy way to earn a buck, but there are
  definitely to try and go after

24
Resources

• Resources to go to for assistance
• www.sl.universalservice.org
• www.state.mi.us/cio/min
• www.merit.edu
• www.micta.org
• http//www.dpi.state.wi.us/dlcl/pld/cipafaq.html
• Ask your E-rate Training Coordinator

25
Time for Recess!

• Laurie Taylor
• Michigan Information Network
• 517.241.1642
• taylorL4_at_michigan.gov