• AT&T Wireless No Longer Using ARF System
• SPIN Change Notifications

The following is a summary of the E-rate News for the Week of September 3, 2001, 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 elsewhere on our Web site .

AT&T Wireless No Longer Using ARF System

Early in 2001, AT&T developed a new and innovative E-rate process that allowed schools and libraries to file online for discount reimbursements for almost all AT&T services. We first discussed this system in our E-rate News for the Week of 3/19 – 3/23/01 .

Rather than requiring an applicant to submit a BEAR (Form 472) to the SLD, AT&T’s system allowed an applicant to complete an AT&T Reimbursement Form (“ARF”) on its Web site by entering the applicant’s account numbers, payment histories, and E-rate funding identifiers. AT&T promised to send a reimbursement check to the applicant within 7-10 days. By contrast, the SLD’s standard BEAR reimbursement process typically requires an applicant to wait two months or more for payment. In our experience, the ARF system works well.

Unfortunately, AT&T Wireless customers can no longer use the ARF system. As a result of a corporate reorganization earlier this year, AT&T Wireless is now a separate company. It is no longer a part of AT&T Corp. Effective September 1, the ARF system became unavailable for processing AT&T Wireless reimbursement claims. All PY4, and many PY3, AT&T Wireless reimbursements will have to be handled via the normal BEAR process.

If an AT&T Wireless customer previously used the ARF system for a portion of its PY3 billings, but still needs to claim discounts for the remainder of the year, the situation is more complex. AT&T Wireless will have to process these reimbursements manually (i.e., offline). AT&T Wireless customers in this situation are instructed to contact Tanya Toschi by telephone (425-580-8136) or e-mail (tonya.toschi@attws.com).

Background for E-rate aficionados: The reason that partial PY3 ARF usage is problematic is that the AT&T system uses the SLD’s Service Provider Invoice Form (“SPIF”) process for E-rate discounting. AT&T sends a reimbursement check to the applicant and almost simultaneously invoices the SLD. For any given funding request in the same funding year, the SLD does not permit an applicant to receive discounts via both SPIFs and BEARs. Since ARF used SPIFs, an applicant can no longer file BEARs on the same funding request. AT&T Wireless will have to file additional SPIFs to complete the discount process, manually replicating the ARF system.

SPIN Change Notifications

The SLD’s current target for approving a Change of Service Provider (or “SPIN Change”) is 2-4 weeks. Once a change is approved, the SLD notifies the new service provider by sending them a Funding Commitment Decision Letter. Currently, the old service provider and, more importantly, the applicant receive only telephone calls. Applicants need to stay alert for these calls and should informally document them. We understand that the SLD is considering a more formal SPIN Change notification process.