From Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org Thu Jan 10 10:47:35 2013 From: Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org (Carson, Sabrina) Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:47:35 +0000 Subject: [Erate] E-Rate Central News for the Week of December 24, 2012 Message-ID: Catching up from the holiday closure. :) See the attached newsletter for articles on: * Funding Status. The FY 2013 application window open and will close March 14. Funding waves for FY 2010, FY 2011, and FY 2012 are scheduled for this week. * Thanks to Maine during this Holiday Season. Many thanks go out to Senator Olympia Snowe, the mother of E-rate, who is retiring from the Senate January 3rd, and to a wonderful group from Maine who has been putting wreaths on the graves at Arlington cemetery for 20 years. * E-Rate Updates and Reminders. The FCC released three appeal decisions last week. The FCC also announced a pilot program to subsidize broadband services for low-income consumers. * SLD News Brief for December 21. The SLD's last News Brief discusses the requirements for filing a Form 470. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Week_12_24 - SECA.doc Type: application/msword Size: 475136 bytes Desc: Week_12_24 - SECA.doc URL: From Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org Thu Jan 10 10:52:34 2013 From: Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org (Carson, Sabrina) Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:52:34 +0000 Subject: [Erate] E-Rate Central News for the Week of December 31, 2012 Message-ID: Catching up from the holiday closure. :) See the attached newsletter for articles on: * Funding Status. The FY 2013 application window open and will close March 14. Funding Wave 24 for FY 2012 is scheduled for this week. * 2012 Review - 2013 Preview. Our annual review of this year's key E-rate developments and a discussion of the key events and issues expected to make headlines in 2013. * E-Rate Updates and Reminders. The FCC released three appeal decisions last week. The FCC also released major reforms of the Rural Health program which may have implications for changes to E-rate. No SLD News Brief was issued last week. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Week_12_31 - SECA.doc Type: application/msword Size: 130048 bytes Desc: Week_12_31 - SECA.doc URL: From Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org Thu Jan 10 10:53:14 2013 From: Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org (Carson, Sabrina) Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:53:14 +0000 Subject: [Erate] E-Rate Central News for the Week of January 7, 2013 Message-ID: Catching up from the holiday closure. :) See the attached newsletter for articles on: * Funding Status. The FY 2013 application window open and will close March 14. Funding waves for both FY 2011 and FY 2012 are scheduled for this week. * E-Rate Updates and Reminders. The FY 2011 recurring service invoice deadline and the FY 2012 Form 486 deadline for Waves 1-12, both extended after Hurricane Sandy last fall, are January 28th. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn has been confirmed by the Senate for a full second term. * SLD News Brief for January 4. The SLD's last News Brief is Part 2 of a discussion of the requirements for filing a Form 470. There are two significant changes for FY 2013. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Week 01-07 - SECA.doc Type: application/msword Size: 96256 bytes Desc: Week 01-07 - SECA.doc URL: From Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org Tue Jan 15 09:25:09 2013 From: Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org (Carson, Sabrina) Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:25:09 +0000 Subject: [Erate] E-Rate Central News for the Week of January 14, 2013 Message-ID: See the attached newsletter for articles on: * Funding Status. The FY 2013 application window open and will close March 14. Funding waves for both FY 2011 and FY 2012 are scheduled for this week. * ?Free? VoIP Phone Issue resolved? Maybe or Maybe Not. Notifications by Jive Communications, based on an e-mail from USAC, created confusion as to the FCC?s retrospective and prospective positions on the eligibility of bundled end-user equipment. * E-Rate Updates and Reminders. The FY 2011 recurring service invoice deadline and the FY 2012 Form 486 deadline for Waves 1-12 are both January 28th. The FCC issued two appeal orders last week, including one dealing with a contractual right-of-first-refusal. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a major E-rate supporter, will be retiring after 2014. USAC clarified how CEO schools should be identified in Block 4 worksheets. * SLD News Brief for January 11. The SLD?s last News Brief provides an excellent overview of an applicant?s responsibilities in responding to competitive bids. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Week 01-14 - SECA.doc Type: application/msword Size: 105472 bytes Desc: Week 01-14 - SECA.doc URL: From Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org Thu Jan 17 14:14:27 2013 From: Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org (Carson, Sabrina) Date: Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:14:27 +0000 Subject: [Erate] URGENT update regarding SOEN contract Message-ID: At this time, the State of Oregon Department of Administrative Services has not yet determined whether the SOEN contract will be extended for another three years. They've indicated that they may not reach a final decision on this for a couple of months. At this time I strongly urge any district who has been using the SOEN contract to file a form 470 for those services on their own. This way, if the state does not extend the contract with Qwest/CenturyLink, you'll still have an opportunity to purchase the services from another vendor and obtain E-rate discounts. There are no special instructions for this, you would simply file a form 470 as you normally do and add a description of the services that you are currently receiving on the SOEN contract to Block 2 so the other vendors have the opportunity to bid on them. I would recommend that you file for these services under both the Internet Access and Telecom categories, just to be safe. If It is also perfectly OK to add the services to a form 470 that you may already be working on; it does not need to be on its own 470 by itself. As always, feel free to contact me if you have questions or concerns and I would be happy to assist you. Sabrina Carson e-Rate Coordinator Willamette Education Service District 2611 Pringle Rd SE Salem, OR 97302 P: 503.540.4495 F: 503.540.2962 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org Tue Jan 29 11:47:33 2013 From: Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org (Carson, Sabrina) Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:47:33 +0000 Subject: [Erate] E-Rate Central News for the Week of January 28, 2013 Message-ID: See the attached newsletter for articles on: * Funding Status. The FY 2013 application window open and will close March 14. Funding waves for FY 2011 and FY 2012 are scheduled for this week. * Pending FCC/USAC Issues. Both applicants and service providers are awaiting FCC and/or USAC action and/or additional guidance on over a dozen E-rate issues. * E-Rate Updates and Reminders. The FY 2011 recurring service invoice deadline and the FY 2012 Form 486 deadline for Waves 1-12 are both January 28th. The last day to post a valid Form 470 for FY 2013 is February 14th - but don't wait until then. * SLD News Brief for January 25. The SLD's last News Brief discusses several preliminary steps that can be taken for preparing a Form 471 application. Sabrina Carson e-Rate Coordinator Willamette Education Service District 2611 Pringle Rd SE Salem, OR 97302 P: 503.540.4495 F: 503.540.2962 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Week 01-28 - SECA.doc Type: application/msword Size: 83968 bytes Desc: Week 01-28 - SECA.doc URL: From Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org Tue Jan 29 14:14:19 2013 From: Sabrina.Carson at wesd.org (Carson, Sabrina) Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:14:19 +0000 Subject: [Erate] Important e-Rate Rule Reminders! Message-ID: Below are some important rules of the e-Rate application process that will help us to avoid unexpected problems and loss of funding. 1. If you are applying for priority two services, you must have a draft of your technology plan created prior to filing the form 470. If you have a previous tech plan that covers the upcoming funding year, then you do not need to start a new one. 2. The form 470 must be filed for any service that is not currently being delivered under a binding contract that is good through the entire upcoming funding year. 3. Contracts that expire mid-year must either be rebid with a form 470, or extended. Extensions are only allowed if they are written into the existing contract. 4. You must use a bid evaluation matrix when evaluating service provider bids, and cost must be the most heavily weighted evaluation factor in that matrix. This matrix must be created prior to filing the form 470 5. You must choose the highest scoring bid in that matrix as your service provider for that service. 6. RFP's are only required for E-rate if they would normally be required for the purchase without E-rate. An RFP is not the same as the form 470. 470's are ALWAYS required for non-contracted services. 7. If your district requires a formal RFP for the services you are requesting, the RFP must be made available during the same 28 days that your form 470 is available. In other words, both the RFP and the form 470 must be concurrently available for 28 days. 8. You should always respond promptly to questions from service providers regarding your form 470 and the services you are requesting. Ensure that each service provider gets the exact same information. 9. You should not look at or evaluate bids prior to the allowable contract date listed on your form 470. 10. You should not make a purchase decision or sign any contracts or purchase orders prior to the allowable contract date listed on the form 470. 11. Once the allowable contract date passes, you are free to evaluate bids and make a purchase decision. 12. Any binding contracts must be signed prior to the filing of the form 471. 13. You must keep all vendor responses, bid matrices, or any other documents related to the vendor selection and contracts for a minimum of 5 years after the last date of service or the expiration of the contract. As always, when in doubt, give me a call or email me with questions. :) Sabrina Carson e-Rate Coordinator Willamette Education Service District 2611 Pringle Rd SE Salem, OR 97302 P: 503.540.4495 F: 503.540.2962 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: