E-Rate News for the Week of 11/18/02 – 11/22/02
•
Form 470 Issues: Vendor Assistance and Tech Plans
•
Reminder: Form 471 Applications Due in less than Two Months
•
Supreme Court to Review CIPA
•
Upcoming E-rate Deadlines!!!!!!!!!!
The E-Rate News for the Week, prepared by E-Rate Central, is sponsored by the
Council of Chief State School Officers ("CCSSO") and made possible by a grant from
the AT&T Foundation. Official SLD news is in the "What’s New!" section of the SLD’s
Web site (http://www.sl.universalservice.org). Additional information is on the State
Education Telecommunications Alliance’s ("SETA") Web site (http://www.e-
ratecentral.com).
•
Form 470 Issues: Vendor Assistance and Tech Plans
Late Friday, the SLD posted a series of important Form 470 and Form 471
reminders for FY 2003 applicants. The Form 470 reminders deal primarily with
the required competitive bidding process. They define what the SLD means by
"fair and open" competition and the selection of the "most cost-effective bid."
These reminders can be found at
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/reminders-F470.asp#F470R1.
Two other issues are worth stressing.
Vendor Assistance in Form 470 Preparation:
For several years, following a major problem with one vendor, the SLD and
FCC have consistently ruled that a vendor, who will be bidding for an
applicant’s services, cannot be listed as a contact on a Form 470. To require
other vendors to submit bids or inquiries through a competitor is quite rightly
considered a serious violation of the program’s competitive bidding rules.
If a vendor simply helps an applicant prepare a Form 470, the issue is more
complex. Last April, the SLD revised the Form 470 specifically to add the
following statement: "Service provider involvement with preparation or
certification of a Form 470 can taint the competitive bidding process and result
in the denial of funding requests."
As written, this is a warning, not a prohibition. For additional information,
applicants and vendors are referred to "Service Provider Role in Assisting
Customers" at http://www.sl.universalservice.org/vendor/manual/chapter5.doc.
This document is in the Service Providers section of the SLD Web site, but is
equally applicable to applicants.
The essence of the SLD’s position is that any involvement by a vendor in the
pre-selection E-rate process must be such as to provide only neutral advice
and to foster competition. Specifically, the instructions read that "the applicant
should not have a relationship with the Service Provider prior to the competitive
bidding that would unfairly influence the outcome of a competition nor would
furnish the Service Provider with ‘inside’ information or allow them to unfairly
compete in any way."
Technology Plan and Form 470 Timing:
A number of applicants appear to be operating under the mistaken impression
that an approved technology plan is not needed until they are funded for a
particular year and they file their Form 486s. While it is true that the Form 486
is the first form to require the certification that a technology plan is actually
approved, the SLD’s rules state that a technology plan must be approved from
the time discounted services are received (normally July 1 of the funding year).
Since both a Form 470 and a Form 471 must be filed before each funding year
starts, the certifications on these forms do require approved status. Instead,
there is an option to check a box stating "technology plan(s) will be approved
by a state or other authorized body." The instructions for these forms, however,
are a bit more precise. They indicate that the "will be approved" box can be
checked "if you are currently seeking approval of your technology plan(s)." This
strongly implies that there is a plan, but that it has not yet been approved. The
rationale for this instruction is the belief that services requested on a Form 470
should be based on a pre-existing technology plan, however unofficial.
•
Reminder: Form 471 Applications Due in less than Two Months
The new SLD reminders on preparing and filing the Form 471 can be found at
http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/reminders-F471.asp#F471R1.
We would also remind applicants that they have less than two months to
complete their work before the filing window closes on January 16, 2003. Since
the remaining period includes the busy holiday season, as much planning and
work as possible should be done within the next month. The following questions
must be addressed:
1. What E-rate eligible services will be required next year?
2. Have all these services been proper listed on a Form 470? If your Form
470 has not yet been posted, do so immediately.
3. What are the Allowable Contract and Vendor Selection Dates for the
Form 470? Eligible contracts cannot be signed until the Form 470 has
been posted on the SLD Web site for at least 28 days.
4. What contracts and/or other documentation – particularly for brand new
services – will have to be in place or obtained for the Form 471.
We strongly suggest that you do not wait until the new year to begin work on for
your Form 471 application.
•
Supreme Court to Review CIPA
Last spring, a federal panel ruled that the filtering requirement – as it applied to
libraries, not schools – under the Children’s Internet Protection ACT ("CIPA")
was unconstitutional. On November 12
th
, the Supreme Court agreed to review
this decision. Arguments before the Court are expected this winter or next
spring. For additional information on this topic, see http://www.ala.org/cipa/.
•
Upcoming E-rate Deadlines
While most applicants are focusing on the January 16
th
deadline, the last day of
the Form 471 application window for FY 2003, there are actually several other
earlier deadlines that apply to FY 2001 and FY 2002 filings.
The first is the extended deadline for filing invoices (BEAR reimbursement or
supplier invoices) for recurring services received in FY 2001. Initially this
deadline had been October 28, 2002, i.e., 120 days after June 30, 2002, the
last day to receive recurring services in that funding year. Two weeks ago, the
SLD extended this deadline to December 8, 2002. Since December 8
th
is a
Sunday, however, the SLD has clarified that invoices postmarked by Monday,
December 9, will be considered to have been filed within the deadline.
Invoices postmarked after this deadline will not be processed and funding will
be lost. Remember that BEAR forms must be acknowledged by suppliers
before they can be submitted.
The other upcoming deadlines are for FY 2002 Form 486s which must be filed
within 120 days of the start of service (normally July 1, 2002) or the date of the
Funding Commitment Decision Letter ("FCDL"), whichever is later. Most
applicants funded in Waves 1-6, with FCDL dates on or before July 1, were
subject to the well publicized Form 486 deadline of October 29, 2002.
Applicants funded in subsequent waves, have later Form 486 deadlines. Here
are the next few:
FCDL
Date 486 Deadline
Wave 8
07/30/02
11/27/02
Wave 9
08/13/02
12/11/02
Wave 10
08/27/02
12/26/02
Wave 11
09/10/02
01/08/03
The penalty for missing a Form 486 deadline is a reduction in funding. If, for
example, an applicant funded in Wave 6 did not file the associated Form 486
until November 29
th
, the SLD will adjust the start date to 120 days prior to the
postmark date (i.e., to August 1, 2002) and reduce the funding accordingly (i.e.,
to 11/12
ths
of the originally approved amount).
Disclaimer: This newsletter may contain unofficial information on prospective E-
rate developments and/or may reflect E-Rate Central’s own interpretations of E-
rate practices and regulations. Such information is provided for planning and
guidance purposes only. It is not meant, in any way, to supplant official
announcements and instructions provided by either the SLD or the FCC.