• PY4 Funding Status
• PY3 and PY2 Appeal Status
• SLD Posts FAQ on CIPA
• Updated Instructions for Revised Form 486

PY4 Funding Status

The next wave of Funding Commitment Decision Letters (“FCDLs”) for program year four (2001-2002) is scheduled to be mailed next Friday, August 3. We anticipate that Wave 2 will follow the same pattern as in Wave 1 by focusing on the smaller applications and funding only Priority One (telecommunications and Internet access) services.

The SLD noted this week that the funding decision language on some of the FCDLs sent in Wave 1 was currently incorrect. Wave 1 applicants receiving funding awards for telecommunications and/or Internet services, but who had also applied for internal connection services, were told that funding for internal connections will not be provided at discount levels below 90%. Although this statement is in line with the SLD’s most recent projection, it is technically not correct. Currently, the SLD is unable to precisely calculate the cutoff point for internal connection funding other than to indicate that discounts below 85% -- not 90% -- definitely will not be funded.

There is still a high likelihood that only 90% applicants will receive internal connection funding in PY4 and that full discounts, even at that level, may not be available. If not, the SLD will have to prorate the available internal connection funds to 90% applicants.

PY3 and PY2 Appeal Status

Last Monday, the SLD issued 211 decisions on PY3 appeals that provided for new commitments of $4.3 million. The SLD is now close to completing its work on PY3 appeals. Less than 100 PY3 appeals remain to be resolved at the SLD, most requiring FCC policy decisions or detailed applicant reviews. Additional PY3 appeals are still pending at the FCC.

Work on PY2 out-of-the-window funding appeals will begin shortly.

SLD Posts FAQ on CIPA

The SLD Web site now has a list of 21 Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) concerning E-rate and the Children’s Internet Protection Act (“CIPA”). The FAQ can be found at CIPA FAQ.

The questions and answers deal only with E-rate application and certification issues. Most specifically, the FAQ does not address the actual CIPA implementation requirements such as Internet Safety Policies and filtering. Instead, the FAQ simply refers applicants to the law itself or the subsequent FCC Order. This information can be found in the Archives section of the E-rate Central Web site at:

fcc_01-120.pdf and

fcc_filtering.pdf.

A number of the FAQ questions deal with the establishment of the “First Funding Year” that governs the deadlines for CIPA compliance (only requiring that an applicant be undertaking action to comply in the first year). For most applicants making ongoing use of E-rate funding, the First Funding Year is PY4.

Updated Instructions for Revised Form 486

The SLD announced a small correction to the instructions for the newly revised and released Form 486. The correction deals with the Form 486 submission deadline if the associated FCDL is dated after the service start date and after October 28, 2001. This is a future issue that does not affect applicants already funded in Wave 1 or likely to be funded in waves later this summer.

For completeness, applicants who downloaded copies of the Form 486 instructions after the initial release should either make the small change to their existing copies by hand or download new copies using the following SLD Web site references.

Change

New Instructions