USAC’s Schools and Libraries Division hosts monthly service provider conference calls, providing information and guidance for vendors participating in the E-rate program. Highlights from the August 2012 service provider call include:
July 2012 Commitments
Since the July call, USAC has approved the following funding commitments:
Invoicing Update
Payments for the month of July totaled $200.3 million, against 260.8 million in requests. Invoices were submitted by 1,702 service providers, and 96% were processed within 30 days. Top reasons for invoice rejection include:
Billed date outside funding year
Total commitment already paid
Duplicate invoice
SPIN not registered with USAC
Service provider has not filed SPAC (FCC Form 473)
Other Discussion Topics
The FCC has approved final Priority 2 discount thresholds for Funding Years 2011 and 2012. The final threshold for FY2011 will be 88% (with denials at 87% and below), and the final threshold for FY2012 will be 90% (with denials at 89% and below.) USAC expects to begin issuing FY2012 Priority 2 commitments at the 90% level on the week of August 6.
USAC discussed potential enhancements to its Form 470 Download Information tool. Soon, service providers should be able to search for and obtain a spreadsheet or text file containing Form 470 data by using additional criteria, including address information, type of application, service category, and/or posting date.
USAC reminded service providers that October 29, 2012 is the invoicing deadline for recurring services delivered in Funding Year 2011, and that September 30, 2012 will be the service delivery deadline for FY2011 non-recurring services (which were funded before March 1, 2012.) Applicants can request an extension of the service delivery deadline for non-recurring services if allowed by the contract with their vendor. Extension requests should be filed before the September 30 deadline.
USAC noted that Form 473 (SPAC) processing should take approximately 3 to 5 days.
USAC reminded service providers that the comment deadline for the draft Eligible Services List for Funding Year 2013 is August 6, 2012, and that reply comments will be due August 21.
Note: The information above is not the official minutes from the call, but simply notes from Funds For Learning. The official minutes for this call, as well as call minutes from previous months, can be found here.
