E-rate Training Workshop
What’s New for FY 2015
& Form 471 Demonstration
Presented by Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Department of Education
February 2015
PETE&C Pre-Conference Workshop
1

What’s New for 2015?
2

What’s New for 2015?
• Broadband and Internet goals
• Discount calculations
• Urban/rural status
• Elimination or phase-out of certain Priority 1 services (now called Category 1)
• Elimination and addition of certain Priority 2 equipment and services (now called Category 2)
• Category 2 funding caps
• Invoice deadlines
• New forms
• Presentation divided into 2 main parts:
– Discount Calculations, Category 1, Category 2, Form
Changes/Other
– Demonstration of New Online 471
3

5-year Internet/Broadband Goals
• Internet Goals
– School entities: 1 Gbps Internet access per 1,000 users
– Measurement will be at the district level for school districts and school level for schools that are not part of a district
• WAN/Broadband Goals
– Schools: Dedicated data service scalable to 10 Gbps per 1,000 students
– What does this mean?
FIBER
• New Form 471 will ask if you have met these goals and if not, what are the barriers
4

District-Wide Discount Calculations
• All discounts for both Category 1 and Category 2 will be calculated on a district-wide simple average basis
Formula: Total district NSLP eligible students
/ total district enrollment
• The district-wide NSLP% is then applied directly to the Discount Matrix (along with the urban/rural status) to determine the District’s discount that will be used for all buildings
• All districts will now have a straight, district-wide discount taken directly from the discount matrix
(i.e., 20, 40, 50, 60%, etc.)
5

District-Wide Discount Calculations
Example:
School
Plainfield Elementary
Jacksonville Middle School
Newville High School
Total
Rural/
Urban
R
U
R
R
Enrollment NSLP Eligibility
50
105
275
430
45
43
116
204
204/430 = 47.4% NSLP eligibility
Discount Matrix for Rural 35% - 49% NSLP Eligible = 70%
District-Wide Discount for All Schools = 70%
6

New Urban/Rural Definition
• 2010 U.S. Census classifications will be used instead of counties
• Urban applicants are those with addresses in an “urbanized area” or “urban cluster”
– Urbanized areas have populations of 50,000 or more
– Urban clusters have populations between 25,000 – 49,999
• All areas that are not considered “urban” are classified as rural
• Rural/urban status of majority of buildings (physical addresses) will be used for entire district
• USAC has a tool on their website to help you determine status and the new Form 471 will automatically populate this field
7

District-Wide Discount Calculations
INCOME
Measured by % of students eligible for
NSLP
If the % of students in your school that qualifies for the NSLP...
Less than 1%
1% to 19%
20% to 34%
35% to 49%
50% to 74%
75% to 100%
URBAN LOCATION
Discount
...and you are in an
URBAN area, your discount will be...
20%
40%
50%
60%
80%
90%
RURAL LOCATION
Discount
...and you are in a
RURAL area, your discount will be...
25%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
• 204/430 = 47.4%
NSLP eligibility
• 35% - 49% Rural
District-Wide Discount for All Schools, C1 & C2
Services/Equipment = 70%
8

Community Eligibility Provision
• CEP is a new program that derives NSLP data from existing income-based programs
― Schools that have an Identified Student Percentage of 40% or more can qualify
(similar to Direct Certification)
— Income NSLP eligibility applications are not collected and CEP schools must offer both free breakfast and free lunch daily to all students
• Schools opting into CEP will benefit from the 1.6 multiplier as is currently permitted by USDA and other federal programs
• For 2014, 630 PA schools have opted into CEP
• New Form 471, Block 4 will ask if school is a CEP school
– If yes, form will then ask for enrollment and percentage of directly certified students and perform the 1.6 multiplier calculation
• PDE NSLP File contains CEP column with CEP% for each school, if applicable
9

Expanded Document Retention Rules
• The document retention requirement has been expanded from 5 years to 10 years from the last date to receive service or service delivery deadline, whichever is later
• Example: For FY 2015, the last date to receive service is
June 30, 2016. All documents related to FY 2015 must be kept through June 30, 2026
• For multi-year contracts , contract documentation and bids must be kept 10 years from the last date of service under the contract
– Example: A 5 year contract started July 1, 2015 expires
June 30, 2020. All documents related to this contract must be kept through June 30, 2030
10

New Strict Invoicing Deadlines
• One 120 day invoice deadline extension will be granted if the request is made on or before the original invoice deadline (which is typically October 28 following the funding year)
– Reason will not be required
• Late invoice deadline extension requests will not be granted by USAC
• Requests for extensions made after invoice deadline must be requested via a waiver request to the FCC
– FCC will only grant requests where applicants can prove truly extraordinary circumstances to justify a waiver
• Purpose of New Procedure: Unused funds will be able to be de-obligated more quickly to be used to make other funding commitments
11

Direct Invoicing
• Beginning in FY 2016, applicants can submit
BEARs directly to USAC without requiring service provider approval
• USAC will send funds directly to applicants using electronic funds transfer (EFT)
• Applicants will need to provide bank account information to USAC in order set up EFT arrangements
• Payments will be made only to schools and libraries and not to consultants
• Not effective for FY 2013, 2014 and 2015 invoices
12

Appeals
• All appeals, except for requests of waiver of FCC rules, must first be filed with USAC
• Requests for rule waivers should continue to be filed directly with the FCC because USAC does not have authority to waive FCC rules
• Considered a streamlining measure because there will be fewer appeals submitted to the FCC and shorter wait time to receive appeal decision
– USAC metric is to process 90% of appeals within 90 days
13

QUESTIONS ABOUT
DISCOUNT CALCULATIONS OR
BROADBAND GOALS?
14

Category 1 Overview
• Traditional Priority 1 will be called Category 1
• Category 1 will fund broadband connectivity and Internet access to buildings
• Category 1 services will be funded first before
Category 2 equipment and services are funded in order to ensure there is enough funding available to cover all Category 1 funding requests
15

Category 1: No Longer Eligible
• Beginning in FY 2015, webhosting, paging, hosted e-mail and certain telephone service components will no longer be eligible
– Directory assistance charges
– Text messaging
– Custom calling services
– Direct inward dialing (DIDs)
– 900/976 call blocking
– Inside wire maintenance plans
• Cellular data and mobile broadband plans (such as data to ipads) are presumed to be ineligible
– Exception would be a bookmobile or building where a wireless LAN cannot be installed (prison?) or where it is too costly to install
16

Category 1: No Longer Eligible
• All such charges must be deducted from both the pre-discount cost included on the Form
471 and all associated vendor or applicant reimbursement invoices (SPIs and BEARs) for
2015 invoices
– Use 50% data – 50% voice for Form 471 estimates
• Certain plans have higher eligibility depending on voice minutes
• Such charges do NOT have to be deducted for
FY 2013 or 2014 BEARs or SPIs
17

Category 1: Being Phased Out
• Beginning in FY 2015, all voice services will begin to be phased out by 20 discount percentage points/year
– Cellular voice
– POTS and long distance
– PRI service
– Hosted VOIP service
– PRIs
– SIP trunks
– Centrex
18

Voice Phase Out Schedule
If Your
District’s
Discount is
(in a given year):
20%
25%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Voice Discount Will Be:
FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017
No Funding No Funding No Funding
5%
20%
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
No Funding
No Funding
10%
20%
30%
FY 2018
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
10%
FY 2019
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
No Funding
19

Bidding Exemption for Bundled
Internet
• “Commercially available” bundled Broadband/Internet packages that cost less than $300 per month per building
(prediscount) can be purchased without first posting a Form
470
– Minimum speed must be 100 mbps downstream and 10 mbps upstream
– Cost/speed must be per building and cannot be averaged across multiple buildings
– Annual cost of $3600 must include all equipment and installation charges and monthly recurring charges
• Presumably applies to small schools and libraries that wish to purchase cable modem or similar bundles
• Applicants still must submit an annual Form 471 to request funding
• Cannot be used for backup or redundant Internet
20

Category 1 Bundled Equipment
Limitations
• Beginning in FY 2015, equipment is prohibited from being bundled at no cost with an eligible service
• This includes free cellular phones, iPads/tablets, and VOIP equipment
• Applicants will be required to perform a cost allocation to remove the value of the ineligible equipment from the pre-discount price claimed for the annual service costs
• Previously signed contracts are not grandfathered
21

One-time Construction Charges
• From FY 2015 through FY 2018, applicants may seek E-rate funding on the total one-time special construction costs in a single year rather than having to follow the current policy of spreading these costs, when they are
$500,000 or more, over three or more years.
– In other words, if your non-recurring costs are
$600,000, you can request discounts on the full cost in a single year instead of having to amortize over three years.
22

Changes to Eligibility of Leased
Dark Fiber – FY 2016
• Currently, special construction charges for dark fiber — covering the cost of installing fiber from an applicant’s property line to the carrier’s existing distribution network — are not eligible.
• As of FY 2016, such special construction charges will become eligible. Additionally, to further equalize the two services, Category 1 support will be provided to cover the modulating electronics necessary to light leased dark fiber.
• To ensure that an applicant fairly compares dark fiber with other options, applicants will be required to bid lit fiber solutions as well.
23

Building and Owning Fiber – FY 2016
• In probably the biggest change for FY 2016, the FCC is going to permit, under “limited circumstances,” applicants to “selfconstruct” (i.e., build and own) their own fiber systems (or portions thereof).
• In order to ensure that such solutions are cost effective, the selfconstruction provision includes several “safeguards” including requirements for (a) including both requests for a services-based solution and a self-construction solution on the same Form 470 or posting a separate Form 470 for self-construction only after receiving no bids on a services-only posting, (b) building and use within the same funding year, and (c) securing “all of the resources necessary to make effective use of the services.”
• More information likely will be coming on this issue in the coming months.
24

QUESTIONS ABOUT
CATEGORY 1 SERVICE
ELIGIBILITY?
25

Category 2 Overview
• Category 2 will fund Wi-Fi and related infrastructure and equipment inside the building
• Technology plan requirement has been repealed
• Maximum Category 2 discount will change from 90% to 85%
• All buildings in a District will receive the District-Wide discount
NSLP Eligibility Urban Rural
Less than 1%
1 – 19%
20 – 34%
35 – 49%
50 – 74%
75 – 100%
20%
40%
50%
60%
80%
85%
25%
50%
60%
70%
80%
85%
26

Big, Big, Big News
• In December, the FCC permanently increased the E-rate cap by an additional $1.5 billion
• FY 2015 cap will be $3.913 billion + additional
$1.575 billion (rollover amount) = $5.49 billion
• All C1 and C2 requests likely to be funded
• Should not enough funding be available to cover an entire discount band, pro-ration will be applied using the school’s NSLP percentage
27

Category 2 Funding Budgets
• Each school will be permitted to apply for a pre-discount cap of $150 per student, or a minimum building cap of $9200, over a five year basis
• Library cap of $2.30 per square foot
– Urban Library cap of $5.00 per square foot (defined as libraries serving cities with a population of 250,000 or more)
– Includes areas off limits to public
• Money is allocated per school (not on a district-wide basis), and applicants cannot move funding from one school to another
• Form 471 application is required to be submitted each year and funding approval is subject to available funds each year
– There is no provision to allow applicants to spend funds and be reimbursed in a later year
• Money must be spent during funding year (cannot apply for full budget and spend down over multiple years)
28

Category 2 Funding Budgets (Cont’d)
• If an applicant receives funding that is less than the maximum budget available for a school or library, the applicant may request the remaining balance in subsequent funding years of a 5-year cycle
• All competitive bidding requirements will continue to apply and applicants can only apply for what they need
29

Category 2 – Enrollment Anomalies
• New schools may estimate the number of students who will be attending the new school and seek funding based on that estimate
– However, if an applicant overestimates the number of students who enroll in that school, it must return to USAC by the end of the next funding year any excess funding based on the actual number of enrolled students
• Students who attend multiple schools, such as those that attend CTCs or Intermediate Units part-time, may be counted by both schools in order to ensure appropriate LAN/WLAN deployment for both buildings
30

Category 2 Funding Budget Example
School
Plainfield Elementary
Enrollment
50
Budget
Multiplier
$150
5-Year
Budget Cap
$9,200*
Jacksonville Middle
School
Newville High School
105
325
$150
$150
$15,750
$48,750
E-rate
Discount
70%
70%
70%
E-rate 5-Year
Funding Cap
$6,440
$11,025
$34,125
• The Budget Cap is the pre-discount price . E-rate discounts will then apply to the budget cap to derive the amount of E-rate funding per building
* Although 50 x $150 = $7,500, the minimum floor of $9,200 is invoked because school has less than 62 students
31

Category 2 Funding Request Example –
Newville High School
Qty Manufacturer Description Unit Cost
Extended
Cost
20
1
Ruckus or equivalent
Ruckus or equivalent
ZoneFlex R500 dual-band
802.11abgn/ac Wireless Access Point
ZoneDirector 3000
1 Tripplite
92 hours
INSTALLATION
3
Cisco or equivalent
SmartPro 1500RMXL2UA - UPS
Installation of WAPs, Wireless Controller &
Switch
Cisco 48 Port PoE (10G) Switch
1 E4DRS19FM45U Open four post 7ft rack
$375.00 $7,500.00
$8,000.00 $8,000.00
$650.00 $650.00
$200.00 $18,400.00
$4,650.00 $13,950.00
$250.00
Pre-Discount
$250.00
$48,750.00
District Discount 70%
E-rate Request $34,125.00
32

Category 2 Budgets
• Any funding commitments that include a school or library as a recipient of service in that funding year will count against your pre-discount budget for that entity
– Entities entering into consortium C2 applications should keep this in mind
• If you are committed funding, but then don’t spend it all, you can file a Form 500 to return the remaining unused commitment to USAC that will then become available in your
C2 budget in future years
• If entities are sharing the funding, USAC will need specific information so that they know how to credit the returned funds to specific buildings
33

Category 2 - Non-Instructional
Facilities
• Non-Instructional Facilities are not eligible for equipment unless the NIF houses the WAN/WLAN central equipment
(such as the network operations center)
• For central equipment, applicants must allocate a portion of the $150 budget of the schools sharing or using the equipment
– Central equipment also could be located in any school
– Allocation from benefiting schools must be used (not just the school building in which the equipment is located)
• Your allocation can be:
– Straight-line (all entities share the cost equally)
– Proportional (based on student count/square footage of each entity)
– Specific (you specify each entity’s share) - must use tangible criteria that reaches a realistic result
• If a NIF uses equipment, you must deduct associated costs from your E-rate funding requests
34

C2 Cost Allocation for Shared
Equipment or Services
• Example: A school district has three schools – School A with
50 students, School B with 80 students, and School C with 100 students. How do I correctly allocate a shared piece of equipment with a pre-discount cost of $3,000?
Straight line
A = $1,000
B = $1,000
C = $1,000
$3,000
Proportional by students
A = 50/230 x $3,000 = $652.17
B = 80/230 x $3,000 = $1,043.47
C = 100/230 x $3,000 = $1,304.35
$3,000
Specific (e.g., usage)
A uses 30% = $900
B uses 15% = $450
C uses 55% = $1650
$3,000
35

Questions on Category 2 Budgets?
36

Category 2 Eligibility Changes
• Beginning in FY 2015, Category 2 eligible services and equipment will be limited to LAN/WLAN (local area networks/wireless local area networks)-focused components
• Beginning in FY 2015, no voice or video equipment will be eligible
• Final Eligible Services List at: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-
14-1556A1.pdf
37

Category 2 Eligible Items
“Internal Broadband Equipment” such as:
• Wireless Access Points
• Wireless Controllers
• Routers
• Switches
• Antennas
• Firewall Equipment
• Internal Cabling
• Caching Servers - New
• Racks
• UPS to support eligible equipment
Also :
• Cloud-based functionality of eligible equipment - New
• Software that supports eligible equipment
• Limited basic maintenance services for eligible equipment
• Managed Internal Broadband Services (MIBS) - New
38

Category 2 Eligible Items - Other
• Miscellaneous eligible charges:
– Taxes, surcharges and other similar reasonable charges
– Lease fees to rent or lease eligible components
– Shipping charges
– Training on how to use eligible equipment
– Installation and configuration
• Doesn’t have to be provided by the same vendor
39

Managed Internal Broadband
Services (MIBS)
Services which cover the 3 rd party operation, management, or monitoring of a LAN or WLAN
– Could include managed Wi-Fi, installation, activation, maintenance, initial configuration and on-site training of eligible equipment
• Could have a contract where the vendor owns, manages, operates and maintains network equipment; or,
• School could own the equipment, but have a vendor manage it for them
– Definitely do an RFP if requesting these services
• Applicants are allowed to apply for up to $30 per year/per student for these ‘managed’ services
• Must submit annual 471 for multi-year contracts
40

Basic Maintenance of Internal
Connections (BMIC)
• E-rate support is available for basic maintenance and technical support appropriate to maintain reliable operation when provided for an eligible broadband internal connections component
• Eligible :
– Bundled manufacturer warranties up to 3 years
• Cannot have a separate price
– Software, patches, online tech support
– Actual labor and break-fix cost
• Ineligible :
– Unbundled warranties
– insurance-type warranties, including full Smartnet
(CiscoBase is eligible)
41

Multi-Year Licenses & C2 Service
Contracts
• Multi-year service contracts and licenses are eligible
• Can pay for these contracts upfront
• But can only request pro-rated amount from E-rate for the funding year in which the services were rendered
Example: 3-year Wireless License for $3,000
FY 2015 - $1,000
FY 2016 - $1,000
FY 2017 - $1,000
• Don’t have to competitively bid on a Form 470 each year, but do need to file it on a Form 471, Block 5 each year
• Then after funding is committed (FCDL), can submit a
BEAR to seek reimbursement for the portion of services provided in that funding year
42

Category 2 Early Installation
• Eligible equipment may now be purchased and/or installed on or after April 1 prior to the beginning of the funding year
– This provides maximum amount of time during the summer to complete the necessary work
• Disbursements will not be made until on or after July 1
• General rule still applies that applicants cannot apply for retroactive funding for equipment purchased and installed in years prior to the funding year
• When signing C2 contracts, have them begin April 1 and expire September 30, 2017
43

Questions on Eligible Category 2
Services/Eligible Equipment?
44

Category 2 Bidding: 3 Options
1) Post Form 470 and RFP (public school entities)
– RFP required for public school entities if cost of equipment exceeds
$19,400 (state law)
• RFP not required for nonpublic schools or libraries
– Form 470 and RFP bidding must be done concurrently and bidding window required to be open for at least 28 days before bids are due
(E-rate rule)
– RFP must be published in at least 2 local newspapers of general circulation once/week for 3 consecutive weeks (state law)
2) Post Form 470 only (nonpublic schools and libraries)
– No RFP required. Be sure to list “or equivalent” if listing manufacturer’s name or model # on Form 470
3) Use IU 16 PEPPM Contract
– Can be used by public and nonpublic schools only (E-rate rule)
• Before PEPPM Form 470/RFP was released in August 2015, each IU signed a
“letter of agency” permitting IU 16 to competitively bid on behalf of the public and nonpublic schools within its IU in order to meet the new pre-470 LOA requirement
45

Bidding: Form 470 and RFP
• Equipment list MUST allow for equivalent manufacturer’s products to be bid (E-rate rule)
– “Cisco 48-port PoE Switch or equipment that is equivalent in functionality and quality”
• Bid MAY state that equipment must be compatible and interoperable with existing “XYZ” equipment (E-rate rule)
• RFP can set disqualification and minimum qualification factors (must be binary), such as:
– Failed to provide SPIN number
– Has not been in business for X number of years
– Did not sign non-collusion affidavit
– Failed to provide the information required in this RFP
– Failed to provide all items listed in RFP
– Submitted products that are not compatible with the District’s existing equipment
46

Bidding: Form 470 and RFP
• When using an RFP, state law mandates acceptance of “lowest responsible bidder”
– Assuming all RFP requirements have been met, schools must accept the lowest-price bid
– PEPPM allows applicants to consider other factors during bid evaluation
• In addition to equipment and installation, also likely to be used for structured cabling
• Sample RFP being developed that can be modified for specific district needs
– Can be posted to district website, or given to vendors upon request – indicate which on Form 470
47

Bidding: Form 470
• Best practice is to post in both Internal Connections and Basic Maintenance Categories
48

Bidding: Form 470 with an RFP
• Must check RFP box and either list URL where vendors can download your RFP, or check the box saying they should contact the person listed in Item # 6 to obtain a copy of the
RFP
OR
49

Bidding: Form 470 with an RFP
• In addition, you also must give a general description of equipment or services in the text boxes below
50

Bidding: PEPPM
• No Form 470 required
– PEPPM filed Form 470 when contracts were being competitively bid
• Form 470 number will be sent to PA E-rate listserve after Erate window opens for applicants to list on their Form 471,
Block 5
– No separate signed contract required as PEPPM is the contract
• PEPPM contract signing and expiration dates will be sent to the PA E-rate listserve after E-rate window opens for applicants to list on their Form 471, Block 5
• Cannot just go to PEPPM list and select vendor and equipment you want/need
• Must conduct bid evaluation among all product lines that offer the ‘category’ of service
51

Bidding: PEPPM
Step 1:
a) If you know what equipment is equivalent to the products you’re seeking, you can search the PEPPM price list to obtain prices and not seek individual vendor proposals
OR
b) If you don’t know what the equivalent equipment is, or if you prefer, you should contact the vendors in that ‘category’ to seek proposals
– Can give X number of days for vendors to respond
(5 business days?)
52

PEPPM Mini-Bid Category List
Manufacturer
PEPPM
Vendor
Name
Aerohive
Networks
Aerohive
Networks
Alcatel-
Lucent
Alcatel-
Lucent USA,
Inc.
Allied Telesis,
Inc.
En-Net
Services, LLC
Wireless
Equip.
Cabling/
Connect ors
Caching
Servers
Firewall
Equip.
Switches Routers UPS Racks
Manag ed Wi-
Fi
Service x x x
Checkpoint
Cisco ePlus
Technology,
Inc.
ePlus
Technology,
Inc.
x x x x
53

Bidding: PEPPM
Step 2: Create a bid evaluation of all products or responses received and select vendor
– Price of eligible equipment/services must be the most heavily weighted factor
– Can consider other factors such as:
• Previous experience with the District
• Cost to train or certify staff on new equipment
• References
• etc.
– Cannot consider “free” equipment or services
54

Bidding: PEPPM Bid Evaluation
Example
Evaluation Criteria
Price of Eligible Equipment/Services
Maximum #
Points Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Vendor 3
40 40 30 30
Ability to Integrate Equipment into
Existing Network 25 25 25 25
Previous Experience with the
District/Knowledge of District's
Infrastructure
Quality of References
25
10
25
10
100
5
10
70
10
10
75
55

PEPPM: Resellers
• Each PEPPM product line has been awarded to a single vendor
• Where the awarded vendor is the manufacturer, vendors are permitted to identify resellers that are bound by the PEPPM contract terms and conditions
• Where resellers are listed or required to be used by the manufacturer, applicants must have a valid reason why they selected a particular reseller and document that reason in your bid evaluation file
– Proximity to the district
– Previous experience with the district
– Possesses an E-rate SPIN number
– Has filed the Form 473 with USAC for the previous X years
– Etc.
56

Bidding: Co-Stars
• Co-Stars contract is not E-rate eligible because it is not bid with price being the most heavily weighted factor
57

PEPPM vs RFP
PEPPM
• Don’t have to post Form 470/Issue RFP
• Don’t have to advertise in newspaper
• DO have to conduct mini-bid of every vendor that sells equipment in that category
• Don’t have to wait full 28 days during mini-bid process
• Can consider non-cost factors as long as costs of E-rate eligible equipment/services are most heavily weighted factor
• Can require compatibility and interoperability with existing equipment
• More appropriate for equipment/installation, rather than cabling project
RFP
• Must post 470
• More appropriate for cabling projects, in addition to equipment/installation
• Can provide greater specificity about requirements
• Can require compatibility and interoperability with existing equipment
• Can list disqualification factors
• Don’t have to solicit bids from any vendor
• Cannot consider non-cost factors during bid evaluation.
If all RFP criteria have been met, must select lowest bid
58

C2 Consortia Considerations
• IUs and other entities that wish to form C2 consortia may do so
• Entities wishing to join consortia must supply a
Letter of Agency (LOA) to the consortia lead indicating their consent to be included in the procurement
• Consortia will file 470/RFP and either:
– Establish a master contract from which entities can sign their own contracts/file own 471s
– Sign a contract and file the 471 on behalf of the consortia members (similar to RWAN applications)
59

Category 2 Contracts
• If using the Form 470 or 470/RFP process, signed contracts are required before submitting the Form 471
• Contracts can be contingent upon E-rate funding approval
• Should specify discounted bills or BEAR reimbursements
• Require FRNs to be listed on invoices
• For equipment/installation/cabling, make contract dates:
4/1/2015 – 9/30/2017
– This way you can take advantage of early installation and the option to extend funding for additional year should you need it, without having to amend your contract and file a Form 500
• For recurring services, make contract dates 7/1/2015 –
6/30/201X
60

Implementation Timeline –
Contingent on E-rate
• FCDLs issued by Sept/Oct 2015
• Recurring services begin after FCDL issued
– End June 30, 2016
OR
• Equipment ordered/installed after FCDL issued
– Must be installed by Sept 30, 2016
– May request 1-year extension if absolutely necessary
• Extension MUST be requested on or before Sept 30, 2016
61

Implementation Timeline – Not
Contingent on E-rate
• April 1, 2015 – earliest date that equipment
/wiring can be purchased/installed
– Cannot be invoiced until July 1, 2015 or FCDL date, whichever is later
– Must be installed by Sept 30, 2016
– May request 1-year extension if done so by Sept
30, 2016
Or
• Recurring services begin July 1, 2015
– End June 30, 2016
62

Questions on Bidding Category 2?
63

New Form 471 – Lots of Changes
• New Online 471 Format
– Longer time-out periods (warning after 25 min of NO activity)
– Modern interface
• Form navigation arrows at the top of the screen to show progress and pages completed
– Cannot be paper-filed
• Block 4 and Block 5 Templates available that can be created offline and uploaded into Form 471
– Block 4 template is easy and recommended for all
– Block 5 template is recommended just for C2 applications with multiple rows
64

Form 471, Block 4 for Category 2
• Must list all buildings in the District in order to calculate district-wide discount
– Do not list ONLY the buildings that will be receiving the equipment/service
• You can copy from previously-submitted FY 2015
Form 471 (not drafted)
– Cannot copy from 2014 Block 4
65

Form 471, Block 5
• Standardized format for data collection
– Identify exactly what services and equipment go to which building
• Item 21 data will be embedded in actual Form 471
– No longer a separate process
– Cannot be submitted post-window
• All data will be publicly available and downloadable
• New online 471 available for practice
• It will take much longer to complete this year so please, please do not wait until the last minute to file
66

Form 471, Block 5 - Preparing
• Make a list of each component with make/model number and building served by that equipment
• Create your own internal worksheet per building to track building’s C2 budget
• Do not apply for more than building’s C2 budget
– Will require USAC to contact you to determine what equipment should be removed from your application
67

Reminders:
• Form 471 Window is OPEN NOW
• Form 471 Filing Window closes at 11:59pm on
Thursday March 26, 2015
• Last possible day to post Form 470 for 2015/2016 is February 26, 2015
 DO NOT miss these deadlines!
 DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE!
 Or even the last week!
68

Questions?
69

Let’s Look at the Form 471 Discount
Calculation Templates!
70

Import Templates
• Templates can be found at
• http://www.usac.org/sl/tools/forms/471-templates.aspx
• There is a template (and instructions) available for
• Discount Calculation details
• Item 21 funding request line items
• Category One (Item 21a)
• Internet Access, Telecommunications Services, Voice Services
• Category Two
– Internal Connections (Item 21b)
– Managed Internal Broadband Services (‘MIBS’) (Item 21c)
– Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections (Item 21d)
71

Import Templates
72

Discount Calculation Template
• All of the templates include macros and you must be careful not to disable or otherwise interfere with the macros or your import will not work
• You must use the provided templates, without modification, to import information
– The provided templates have built-in tools to ensure consistency with the online FCC Form 471 and are designed to properly upload your entities’ information and calculate the appropriate discount rate
73

Discount Calculation Template
• To successfully complete this template, you must:
• U se Excel 2007 or higher
• Use the paste special/text command when pasting data from an external source, i.e., the Internet
• Use the paste/values command when pasting from within the template or from another spreadsheet
• Templates are really only valuable if you have multiple line items/components of service being provided by the same provider in the same category of service.
• You can use “Step-By-Step” or “All on one page” option when creating funding request(s)
74

Discount Calculation Template
If site is a
NIF, select
YES. If not, leave blank
75

Discount Calculation Template
Choose the appropriate school attribute(s) from the dropdown list .
The attributes are: Pre-K, Head
Start, Adult Education, Juvenile
Justice, ESA, Dormitory, Charter, and Tribal. If no attribute applies, leave this field blank.
If using CEP, select
“CEP” from dropdown list in column N
If using CEP, enter
% of direct certified students here and column P calculates automatically using the
1.6 multiplier
76

Let’s Demonstrate the New Form 471!
77

USAC Training Site https://sltoolstraining.universalservice.org/portalapplicant/form471/new/#/
78

Getting Started (Live Site)
Start by
Clicking
“Apply
Online”
Click on
FCC Form 471
79

Getting Started
Click on
“Start”
80

Getting Started
Enter YOUR Billed Entity information
Enter FCC
Registration Number, if not auto populated and click on “Next”
81

Getting Started
Select Application type and one or more types of
Recipients
82

Getting Started
The email address may be different than the contact person’s email address
Once complete, click NEXT
83

Assign a NICKNAME
VERY IMPORTANT
INFORMATION
Make your nickname
MEANINGFUL to you – no character limits
NOTE
84

Email you receive – NICE add
WOW!!!!
85

Contact Information
YES or NO?
YES or NO?
86

Contact Information
87

Contact Information
Select where you want your correspondence sent to, then click
NEXT
88

Category of Service – Category 1
Once you make a selection and click NEXT, you cannot change this selection
89

Discount Calculation Details
Use this option to upload a Block 4
Discount
Calculation
Template
90

Import Data (from template)
91

Import Data
Be patient…
92

Moving On…
When your import is complete, this is the screen you will see
You can click on the BEN to verify the information you’ve imported
93

Verify Discount Data
Note that this applicant has 3
RURAL sites and 2
URBAN sites so the applicant is
RURAL. No U/R for NIF because
NIFs do not count in U/R determination.
94

Verify Matrix (E-Rate) Discount
You can verify your Urban/Rural designation as well as your C1 discount rate
Click NEXT
95

Connectivity Questions (required)
Click
“Connectivity
Questions” to move on
96

Connectivity Questions
You must answer these questions for every different Form
471 application you file
Must be a number in every box
97

Connectivity Questions
Unless ALL of your sites are
COMPLETELY sufficient (above), you will get this set of questions.
You can select as many as are applicable
98

Let’s Look at the Form 471, Block 5 for Category 1 Funding Requests!
99

Begin Funding Request(s)
We recommend using this method because it most closely resembles the ‘old’ Form
471, Block 5
100

Key Information
• You will need very specific information to complete this section
– NICKNAME
– Service Type
• Telecommunications
• Voice
• Internet Access
– Form 470 #
– Service Provider Identification Number (“SPIN”)
101

Key Information
– Billing Acct #
– Purchase Type
• Tariff
• MTM
• Contract
– Service Dates
• Contract Award Date
• Contract Expiration Date
– Service Start Date
– Voluntary Extensions?
• Yes or No
• # of extensions
• # of MONTHS available by extension
102

Key Information
– Is this a Master Contract?
• Yes or No
– Is this a continuing FRN?
• Yes or No
• If yes, you need previous funding request number
– Descriptive narrative of the service
– Pricing Confidentiality
• Yes or No
• If yes, must cite statute
103

Key Information
104

Key Information
You must click
“Enter” if you populate any of these fields or you will get an error at the end of the page
105

Key Information
Only click ‘Add” if you have more than one Billing
Account Number to enter
You can enter
N/A if no contract #
106

Key Information
ACD is established by the Form 470 # you entered above
Use calendar function or manual input – use 4 digit year with manual
Service Start Date Should
Always Be 7/1/2015
107

Key Information
Remember to click “Enter” if you use this field
108

Key Information
109

Funding Request Number Assigned
Congratulations!
You’ve created a
Funding Request!
Be sure to record this number in your records for tracking purposes.
110

Item 21 Details
This information comes from your
Nickname!
Click the
“Item 21” button
Now it’s time to enter all of the pertinent details for your Funding
Request
111

Item 21 – C1
Must provide a value for upload and download speeds. Enter 1 mbps for each.
NEW: Enter
ELIGIBLE monthly cost and INELIGIBLE monthly cost.
112

Item 21 – C1 Manage Recipients
113

Item 21 – C1 Manage Recipients
If you select yes, you’re done with this field.
114

Item 21 – C1 Manage Recipients
If you select NO, then you must select the specific entities receiving the service for this line item..
115

Time to Review and Submit
If no more funding requests or line items, click “Certify and
Submit Your
Application”
116

Certifications and Authorized Signer
Check all of the appropriate certifications and fill in your budget amount allocated to resources NOT eligible for E-Rate support.
117

Certifications and Authorized Signer
Be careful of this certification…don’t
‘just check it’
Remember, it’s 10 years now….
118

Certifications and Authorized Signer
Select YES or NO
119

Certifications and Authorized Signer
If you click NO, complete the information below
120

Certifications and Authorized Signer
Once all of the information is complete, the
“Review
Application” button is available. If errors, it will not be available. The other button are NOT available until you have Reviewed.
121

Submit Application
122

Submit Application
123

Certify Application
IF you have a
PIN
IF you DO NOT have a PIN
To CERTIFY LATER
124

IMPORTANT: In order to be able to print out your application, you must click on each of the buttons of each section to expand your form and then print it.

Let’s Look at the
Form 471 Item 21 Templates!
126

Item 21 Import/Data Entry
You can either upload a template or manually add a line item
127

Block 5, Item 21 Templates – Category 1
• Templates are really only valuable if you have multiple line items/components of service being provided by the same provider in the same category of service.
• You can use “Step-By-Step” or “All on one page” option when creating funding request(s)
• The templates can be useful as planning/prep documents
128

C1 FRN Item 21a Template - Voice
NOTE: There is no option for PRI or other voice related circuit line item so our recommendation is that you select ‘local phone service only’ and include total MRC in the appropriate column
129

C1 FRN Item 21a Template –
Internet Access
For Internet Access, you should start with “IA Only
No Circuit” then indicate more specifics in column
C as to whether the service is
• Transport Only
• Internet (only)
• Transport and Internet
130

C1 FRN Item 21a Template –
Internet Access
Enter total number of lines/circuits of this type
Enter UPLOAD speed in whole number(s)
Use the dropdown list to indicate what increment of speed is used
131

C1 FRN Item 21a Template –
Internet Access
You should collect ALL of this data prior to either completing the template or using the data input available in the funding request section of Form 471.
132

C1 FRN Item 21a Template – Last
MILE?
• A last mile connection is defined as the connection to an individual school or library building, such as a Wide Area
Network connection or a direct Internet connection not on a Wide Area Network.
• Last mile should NOT include the Internet circuit to a district hub
133

C1 FRN Item 21a Template – WAN
Connections
134

C1 FRN Item 21a Template – WAN
Connections
NOTE: Two line items for a single FRN, one considered ‘Miscellaneous”
135

Item 21 Import Details
This is what happens with an imported template
136

Item 21- Enter Details Manually
To begin adding details manually, click “Add line item”
137

Item 21 – Enter Details Manually
Select items from the dropdown lists. The system will prompt you if you’ve left any pertinent information off when you click
‘Close’ at the bottom of the box
138

Item 21 – Next Step – Manage
Recipients
Now you must tell the system which entities are receiving the service(s) on the line item you just created
139

Manage Recipients
You can select
YES or NO. If you select NO then you must click on each entity from the list that IS receiving the service(s) on the line item
140

Manage Recipients
If you select YES, the system automatically adds all of the entities for you
141

Manage Recipients Complete (C1 –
Voice)
You should only add a Line Item if there is another component to the same service.
If it is a different service, you should ADD a funding request by clicking
“NEXT”
If you wish to add another line item for THIS funding request, you do so by clicking here.
Since this is a
VOICE services funding request, there is no need to include specific quantities of service per entity
142

Adding a Line Item to a Funding
Request
You should only add a Line Item if that line item is another component of the same service.
If it is a different service, you should ADD a funding request.
If adding a line item, select from the appropriate dropdown lists and complete as before 143

Add a NEW Funding Request
Start a new FRN by entering KEY
INFORMATION for the NEW funding request.
Let’s make this one INTERNET
ACCESS
144

Add Funding Request Key
Information
Just as before, the system will take you through the information it needs to create your new funding request.
145

Add Funding Request Key
Information
ONLY select this option if you are purchasing
Internet Access that is exempt from competitive bidding because it is commercially available, is at least 100Mbps
AND costs less than $3,600 per year.
146

New FRN Added – Item 21 Needed
147

New FRN – Manage Recipients
Each funding request and each line item of that funding request require you to
“Manage
Recipients”
148

New FRN – Manage Recipients
Again, you select
YES or NO – for
MOST C1 requests, the answer will almost always be
YES.
149

Add a Funding Request
Again, you will add a line item
OR to add a new funding request
(or simply move on), you click
“NEXT”
150

Entered Key Information (for NEW
FRN) – Need Item 21 - WAN
NOTE: This is a
WAN FRN
151

New FRN – 2 line items – Manage
Recipients for BOTH
NOTE: This FRN has 2 different line items, one for Monthly service and one for
Miscellaneous,
Installation
152

New FRN – 2 line items – Manage
Recipients for BOTH
Since this is a
CIRCUIT based
FRN, we must not only Manage
Recipients, but we must account for the total number of circuits indicated in the line item.
When you see the yellow box populated, you must account for all of the items in the box.
153

New FRN – 2 line items – Manage
Recipients for BOTH
Click on the little pencil box and the following pop-up will appear. Populate the # of lines for that entity, then click SAVE. You must do this manually for each recipient of service
154

New FRN – 2 line items – Manage
Recipients for BOTH
Remember, we had 2 line items on this FRN so, we must also
Manage
Recipients for this line item. We should account for 2 installations
155

New FRN – 2 line items – Manage
Recipients for BOTH
Since only 2 sites are receiving installation, we select NO, then select the two sites that are actually receiving the installation services.
156

New FRN – 2 line items – Manage
Recipients for BOTH
NOTE: There is no need to indicate the quantity per site because this line item is NOT for circuits.
157

Review Application
This is the screen you will see to
Review – expand all sections using the + sign, then you can click PRINT above
Click NEXT at the bottom of the expanded pages
158

Let’s Look at the Form 471, Block 5 for Category 2 Funding Requests and Templates!
159

Category 2
• As with Category One applications, it’s really all about the up-front prep and planning you do.
• There are Item 21 detail templates available for Category 2 funding requests
– Item 21b (Internal Connections)
– Item 21c (Managed Internal Broadband Services)
– Item 21d (Basic Maintenance of Internal Connections)
• Today, we will only discuss Item 21b
160

Item 21b (Internal Connections)
Details Template
161

Item 21b (Internal Connections)
Details Template
162

Item 21b (Internal Connections)
Details Template
163

C2 Form 471 Application
• You start a Category 2 application just the same way you start a Category 1 application using the steps outlined in slides 27-
35
• When you get to the page that looks like this, you select
Category 2
164

Import Discount Calculations
• This is done just the same way you imported the C1 discount calculations (using the template), but the application will now show you the amount of C2 budget that is available per school site based on the enrollment, U/R status and calculated Category 2 discount rate.
165

Import Discount Calculations
This column and information is not present on a C1 application. Note that the amount per site is a POST
DISCOUNT amount
(maximum amount available)
166

Import Discount Calculations
167

Connectivity Questions
Since this is a NEW
Form 471, the connectivity questions must be answered again.
168

Create a C2 Funding Request
We recommend using this method because it most closely resembles the ‘old’ Form
471, Block 5
169

Enter Key Information
170

Manage Recipients
Upload completed Item
21b Template
Yes, you must
Manage
Recipients again
You have a
‘yellow box’ with data – note that it matches the total
PRE-Discount cost you put on the line item 171

Manage Recipients (Site Based Line
Item)
172

Manage Recipients (Site Based Line
Item)
173

Manage Recipients (Site Based Line
Item)
174

Manage Recipients (Site Based Line
Item)
All DONE! Yellow box is now GREEN because you have accounted for all of the requested funding!
175

Check Budget Status
To check how much budget is left, click here.
176

Check Budget Status
Note the disclaimer!
177

Add C2 FRN Line Item or NEW FRN
Click ADD Line
Item or NEXT (for a NEW FRN)
178

Add C2 FRN Line Item
Just like for line
#1- use your Prep worksheet
179

Add C2 FRN Line Item – Managed
Recipients
Using the same method described in slides 107-110, allocate budget per site
180

C2 FRN Complete
If you’re all ready, click Certify and
Submit and follow the same instructions as in slides 84-93
181

C2 Centrally Located Equipment FRN
182

C2 Centrally Located Equipment FRN
Since you cannot select the NIF from a list of entities (because it has no budget), you must describe that this is a central piece of equipment here, in the narrative
183

Manage Recipients (Central Based
Line Item)
Fill the Item 21b details in here, just like a site based FRN
184

Manage Recipients (Central Based
Line Item)
Now, let’s
Manage our recipients and cost allocate our budget
185

Manage Recipients (Central Based
Line Item)
You can allocate necessary budget from your school sites via two options. This is a site based allocation
186

Manage Recipients (Central Based
Line Item)
As you can see, a site based allocation automatically allocates the Prediscount cost on the line item equally for you.
187

Manage Recipients (Central Based
Line Item)
Let’s look at a student based allocation
188

Manage Recipients (Central Based
Line Item)
As you can see, a student based allocation automatically allocates the Prediscount cost on the line item BY
STUDENT, for you
189