On June 23, the SLD released the first funding wave of Funding Year 2011 totaling nearly $400 million. The committed funds are for Priority One services only and the SLD should start issuing regular FY2011 waves in the coming weeks.
Here are the stats from the first FY 2011 Funding Wave:
Committed amount: $397,921,400.58
Number of Applicants: 13,232 Number of Service Providers: 2,356
Service Category Committed Amount: Telecommunications: $292,597,239.24 Internet Access: $105,324,161.34
Service Category Denied Amount: Telecommunications: $12,770,972.34 Internet Access: $7,262,730.98
Applicant Type Committed Amount: School District: $227, 531,730.37 Library: $28,199,632.99 School: $30,928,700.21 Consortium: $11,261,337.01
Applicants who received a commitment this week must send in their Form 486 within 120 days from when the funding year starts on July 1 (or the start of service, whichever is later), or their committed amounts could be at risk for reduction. The Form 486 alerts the SLD that service has started, that there is an approved technology plan (for Priority Two requests), and that the applicant is in compliance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The SLD will not issue any disbursements until the Form 486 is processed. If service providers whose customers received commitments this week have not submitted their annual certification (Form 473), they must do so before the SLD can disburse funding.
Four applicants had funding requests totaling $643,000 denied due to “noncompliance with the FCC’s Red Light Rule.” USAC will be holding two webinars in the coming weeks, detailing how a stakeholder may find themselves subject to this regulation and how to satisfy the requirements to be removed from Red Light status.
