The following is a summary of E-rate news , formal or informal , for the week of November 30, 1998. Official SLC news, including a number of new items this week, appears in the "What' New!" section of the SLC's web site.

• The SLC has begun accepting E-rate applications for the 1999-2000 funding year. The window opened on schedule on December 1 and will remain open for at least 80 days.

  • Complete application packages are about to be mailed to all schools and libraries, but copies of all necessary forms and instructions can be downloaded from the SLC web site. Form 470 can be filed online (or by mail) now; it is expected that Form 471 will be available for online filing in January.
  • The SLC Client Service help line (888-203-8100) is operational weekdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, but has been somewhat congested this week. Questions can also be e-mailed to the SLC (question@slcfund.org) and certain documents are available through the SLC's fax-on-demand service (800-959-0733).
  • Expectations continue that the SLC will decide to extend the window by 2-4 weeks beyond the current closing date of February 19, 1999. Assuming the SLC has a better handle on the ongoing funding commitment processing schedule, we expect that a decision on an extension would be made at the SLC Board meeting on December 15^th.
    
    

• An SLC web site announcement earlier this week indicated that a second wave of Funding Commitment Decisions Letters would be mailed later this week. By Thursday, however, the SLC advised that technical difficulties had arisen and that the wave would be delayed, hopefully for only a short period. Wave No. 2 , which we believe might better have been designated No. 1b , is expected to include another 3,300 letters, completing the 90% internal connection filings.

• One other FCD problem that came to light this week was that not all vendors (including some of the larger telephone companies) received companion letters indicating their customers awards in the first wave.
  
  

• The SLC posted instructions on its web site to guide applicants needing to correct or change information on their original Form 471s concerning contact information, SPINs, service requests, and funding amounts. The procedures involve use of Form 486 and three new change/correction forms. Applicants are reminded that questions on, or challenges to, funding decisions must be submitted to the SLC in writing. Congestion of the SLC help line may reflect a misunderstanding of this process.

• A number of the larger vendors are establishing dedicated service groups to assist applicants in obtaining the necessary information to complete their reimbursement BEAR Forms and the required supplier acknowledgement signatures. Contact information for two of the largest suppliers in New York is provided below. As other contact information is received, E -Rate Central will post it to this web site.

• FCC Form 471, Form 472 (BEAR), Form 486, and the optional Pre-Discount Cost Calculation Grid are now available at Techplex.com. Data can be entered online and completed forms can be printed. Completed forms can also be saved, but only in a PDF format that cannot be modified.

• Coincident to the opening of the new application window, telephone companies SBC and GTE were arguing in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, attempting to overturn the way E-rate subsidies have been implemented. An Appeals Court decision on this ongoing legal challenge is unlikely to come earlier than next spring.