On October 1, 2019, the FCC Wireline Competition Bureau sent a letter to USAC CEO Radha Sekar explaining “how USAC should treat E-rate applications for which the applicant mistakenly selected a drop-down menu option on its FCC Form 470 that did not fully reflect the services for which it intended to seek bids.” The letter was sent in conjunction with a Public Notice seeking public comment on how the Form 470 drop-down options may be improved for FY2021 and forward.
Citing feedback provided by Funds For Learning and the State E-rate Coordinators Association (SECA), the FCC noted that some applicants may have been confused by the Form 470 drop-down options, choosing “Internet Access: ISP Service Only (No Transport Circuit Included)” when it actually intended to procure Internet service which includes a circuit to deliver the bandwidth to its premise. Therefore, the FCC stated:
“We direct USC not to deny any remaining pending applications or issue a commitment adjustment for any application solely because the applicant selected the ‘Internet Access: ISP Service Only (No Transport Circuit Included)’ drop-down menu option and subsequently selected on its FCC Form 471 a service that delivers Internet access to its premises. For those applications, USAC should not find a competitive bidding violation so long as the applicant has otherwise complied with all of the Commission’s competitive bidding rules.”
The FCC’s letter may be accessed here.
