The following is a summary of E-rate news for the week of December 7, 1998. Official SLC news, including a number of new items this week, appears in the "What's New!" section of the SLC's web site.

• On December 8, the SLC released the second wave of Funding Commitment Decisions ("FCD") Letters covering approximately 3,300 more applications. Summaries of FCD authorizations for both the first and second waves are now posted, by state, on the SLC web site (see our Bulletin 34 for a direct link to that page).

The third wave of FCD letters is expected to be released by early next week. As with the first two waves, the new commitments will not include any internal connection services below the 90% discount level. A complete schedule of subsequent waves is expected soon. It will probably include a total of at least 7 waves with release dates extending well into January.

• Application packages for the 1999-2000 funding year have been mailed to all schools and libraries, addressed to the most senior official. Postcards were sent to the contact people listed on Form 470s filed earlier this year to alert them to the broader mailing. The application packages include copies of Form 470 and Form 471, which are essentially the same as last year, and a revised set of instructions.

• The SLC, which last week posted instructions on its web site to guide applicants needing to correct or change information on their original Form 471s, removed the posting this week for revision. The procedures involved the use of Form 486 and three new change/correction forms. Hopefully, revised procedures will be posted next week.

Based on congestion we're seeing on the SLC help line, we believe that a number of applicant receiving early wave FCD letters are questioning specific funding data. A portion of the problems apparently reflect errors introduced in the SLC data entry and review process. Applicants are reminded, however, that questions on, or challenges to, funding decisions must be submitted to the SLC in writing, not by calling the help line!

As a general rule, we are recommending the following procedure to applicants finding apparent SLC mistakes in their FCD letters.

• Applicants should quickly summarize the problem in a letter and mail it the SLC in accordance with the FCD instructions. It is important that any question or appeal be submitted within 20 days of receiving a FCD letter. The letter should be addressed to:

Schools and Libraries Corporation
Box 125 - Correspondence Unit
100 South Jefferson Road
Whippany, NJ 07981

• Form 486(s) should be filed as close to schedule as possible using the data as it appears in the FCD letter. If the FCD information is correct for some FRNs, and questionable for others, we suggest that separate Form 486 filings be made. Attach a copy of the correction letter to the corresponding Form 486.

• The FCC has proposed Universal Service Fund collection levels for the first quarter of 1999 that, on the surface, appear to cut the quarterly funding for E-rate from the current $325 million to $282 million. A careful reading, however, indicates that the collection rate for the schools and libraries program would be cut by $43 million only because of the transfer of a like amount from the unutilized reserves of the companion rural health care program. Actual E-rate funding, therefore, would remain at $325 million for the quarter (equivalent to a $1.3 billion annual rate).

In an interesting footnote to the FCC Notice, the SLC estimates that it expects to receive 50,000 Form 471s during the current application window (compared with the 30,000 applications it received last time).