The following is a summary of the E-rate News for the Week September 11, 2000, prepared by E-Rate Central. Official SLD news appears in the "What’s New!" section of the SLD’s Web site. Additional and archived information appears in the Archive Section on this Web site.

• PY4: Form 471 application window announced
• PY3: Funding winds down
• PY2: Unfiled Form 486s
• PY2: Additional grace period for late funded applicants
• NYS training sessions and training materials

PY4: Form 471 Application Window Announced

The Form 471 application window for PY4 funding will open Monday, November 6, and will close on Thursday, January 18, 2001 (at 11:59 p.m. EST). The rules for submitting applications in this year’s window include several small, but critical, differences from last year. Specifically:

1. Form 471 has been slightly redesigned. Applicants filing paper applications must make sure they use the new version, dated October 2000 (online electronic filers will automatically be using the new version). Submissions using the old Form 471 (dated September 1999) will not be accepted. The new PY4 Form 471 can be downloaded from the SLD Web site. An interactive version of the form will be available on the E-Rate Central Web site shortly.

2. The January 18 deadline is a POSTMARK date, not a SLD receipt date. All Form 471 information (including the Form itself, the required certifications, AND the required attachments) must be submitted electronically and/or postmarked no later than January 18. Last year, applicants filing electronically were given an extra week to submit their certifications and attachments.

3. Any Form 470 which is cited in a PY4 Form 471 must have been filed at least 28 days previously so that any new contracts, vendor selections, and the Form 471 itself can be dated on or after the Form 470’s Allowable Vendor Selection/Contract Date. Applicants who file their Form 470s electronically must make sure that the Block 6 certification is signed and mailed within the same deadline.

PY3 Funding Winds Down

The major funding waves for program year three ("PY3") appear to be complete. Wave Twenty-seven of Funding Commitment Decisions Letters ("FCDLs"), to be mailed on Friday, November 3, totals only $3.6 million (none for NYS applicants). Remaining funding for PY3 will likely entail similarly small waves or "ripples." The funding threshold for internal connection services remains at 82%.

Cumulatively, through Wave Twenty-seven, the SLD has awarded funding on over 26,100 applications totaling $2.079 billion in discounts. This includes $259 million for NYS applicants, roughly one-eighth of the national total.

PY2: Unfiled Form 486s

With the November 20 deadline for the submission of PY2 BEARs quickly approaching, the SLD released a list of PY2 funding awards ("FRNs") for which no Form 486s have yet been received. The list contains 1,080 FRNs for NYS applicants. Remember that BEAR forms cannot be processed until an associated Form 486 is filed. (Note: Because of SLD processing time, this list may not reflect Form 486s filed within the last few weeks.)

Applicants, who are just now filing BEARs for the reimbursement of PY2 discounts, may want to check this list to make sure that the SLD does not think their Form 486s have not been submitted. An Excel version of the New York State portion of the list, sorted by area code and applicant name, is included in our New York State E-Rate Resource Area.

PY2: Additional Grace Period for Late Funded Applicants

Normally, E-rate discounts can be used only for services received during the actual funding year for which the discounts were awarded. In both PY1 and PY2, however, the FCC provided applicants at least through September 30 to get new projects installed.

For PY2, the FCC has just extended the grace period a full additional year, through September 30, 2001, for: (a) applicants that did not receive FCDLs until very late in the year (on or after April 4, 2000); or (b) other applicants that were otherwise precluded from using their discounts (e.g., SPIN and service changes). The new FCC Order has several possible implications.

1. To take advantage of the 9/30/01 grace period, it may be necessary to extend expiration date on the installation contract. Applicants should use a Form 500 to advise the SLD that the contract has been extended.

2. Although the Order does not specifically mention pending out-of-the-window applications, the grace period deadline presumably will apply to any additional PY2 funding awarded over the next few months.

3. The BEAR (and SPIF) deadline of November 20, 2000, presumably does not apply to FRNs governed by the extended grace period.

4. To be consistent with the FCC’s new PY2 grace period, it is likely that the FCC will subsequently announce a PY3 grace period extending until at least the same date, September 30, 2001. (Note: All PY3 FCDLs were dated after April 4, 2000.)

For reference purposes, a copy of the new FCC Order (DA 00-2444) is posted at the FCC Web site.

NYS Training Sessions and Training Materials

In preparation for the PY4 application cycle, E-Rate Central has been conducting half-day E-rate training sessions throughout New York State. During October, workshops for schools and libraries, sponsored by the NYS Education Department, were held in New York City and across upper New York State from Albany to Buffalo. Two more sessions, one for applicants and one for vendors, will be held in New York City on November 10. Registration information for these last sessions can be found on our Web site.

For the benefit of applicants who were unable to attend any of these training sessions, copies of the slides used have been posted on the E-Rate Central Web site.