The funding year 2019 filing window closes on March 27, 2019. Now that the FCC has set the funding cap for FY2019, there is no better time than the present to submit an E-rate funding request.
As of March 7, there have been 9,645 applicants who have submitted at least one Form 471 application. This represents 42% of the total number of applicants who certified funding requests in 2018.
It is not unusual for most of the applications to be submitted in the final weeks of the E-rate filing window. However, just because an applicant can wait does not mean that they should. Given the documented challenges of using EPC, it is recommended that every applicant who can apply do so as soon as possible. Remember: multiple Form 471 applications are allowed. Applicants with existing contracts are encouraged to submit those immediately, even as they may be waiting for the competitive bidding process to conclude for other contracts.
Submit the Form 471 applications as soon as you can.