E-rate News

Fifth Circuit Rules in Favor of FCC

On March 24, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion denying a petition challenging the constitutionality of Congress’ delegation of Universal Service Fund...

FY2023 Application Filing Window Closes Soon

Applicants and service providers are reminded that the Funding Year 2023 Form 471 filing window will close at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Last-minute filers are encouraged...

Proposed Second Quarter 2023 Universal Service Contribution Factor

On March 14, 2023, the FCC released proposed contribution factor for second quarter 2023 which will be 29.0 percent. The contribution factor requires telecommunications companies to pay a percentage of...

Additional $1.7 Million Committed in ECF Support

On March 15, 2023, the FCC announced it is committing over $1.7 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program. The funding commitments supports applications...

Seven Sentenced for E-rate Fraud

On February 28, 2023, the United States Department of Justice issued a press release announcing that seven defendants who pled guilty in 2020 to defrauding the E-rate program were issued...

Filing Window Extended Hours

On March 13, 2023, USAC announced that they have extended the Customer Service Center (CSC) hours to support applicants with any issues they may encounter. The FY2023 filing window closes...

FY2023 E-rate Funding Cap $4.77 Billion

On March 3, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission announced that the E-rate program funding cap for FY2023 will be $4.768 billion. This is a 7% inflation-adjusted increase from FY2022 cap...

Sohn Withdraws Commission Nomination

The New York Times reports that former FCC staffer and President Joe Biden’s nominee to the Federal Communications Commission has withdrawn her nomination. Quoted as having suffered “unrelenting, dishonest and...