Hi folks,

As we begin this new year, I wanted to send out some important E-Rate reminders.

FCC Form 470 (FY2021):

As we get further into this current fiscal year (2020-2021), I want to remind you that the FCC Form 470 for the next fiscal year (2021-2022) is available to file in your EPC portal. USAC recently released the deadline for this form and it is February 25, 2021. However, there’s no time like the present and the early bird catches the worm! So, now is the time to be considering the types of services you’ll want in the coming year and go ahead and file your form, if you’re ready. Remember the Form 470 is the first form in the E-Rate cycle and kickstarts the process. *Just remember - there is a mandatory 28-day waiting period to allow for the competitive bidding process between filing your FCC Form 470 and FCC Form 471.

Category 2 (C2) New Budget Cycle:

As many of you know, this year begins a new 5-year cycle! Detailed information on some of the most significant changes to the C2 budget calculations for this new cycle can be found in the August 14^th News Brief here. In a nutshell, going forward, the C2 budgets will be provided over a fixed 5-year cycle (beginning with FY2021). This means, once your requested products/services are approved, you have 5 years to expend your C2 funds for those approved projects. USAC developed a new budget tool to help you calculate your potential budget for projects.

EPC Administrative Window:

I sent a reminder about updating your organization’s information in the EPC back in November, but here is another reminder just in case it’s helpful. Now is the time when applicants can update their profiles and organizational information in the E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC). This window opened in mid-October and will close on January 13^th, 2021. As you know, each of your organizations has an Account Administrator. These folks can create new users, modify the rights of existing users, modify organization information and modify (change) the Account Administrator, etc.

If a new user needs to be added to your organization, you can create a new user account by clicking on “Manage User” from your landing page in the EPC portal. *Remember that only the Account Administrator can modify which rights are assigned to each user.

As I stated in a previous email, if you are considering applying for Category Two services in the upcoming fiscal year, you need to make sure that your library has the correct square footage listed for your organization.

FCC Form 471 (FY2021):

Since we now have a deadline for the form 470, that means we also now have a filing window for the form 471 as well. The filing window will open on January 15^th and the deadline is March 25^th.

Happy filing!

Best to you,

Liz

Liz Thigpen Schreck, Director

Ocoee River Regional Library

Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

718 George St., NW, Athens, TN 37303

Phone (423) 745-5194 – office; (423) 649-1583 - direct

Regional Toll Free - (855) 692-8186

Fax (423) 649-1501

[log in to unmask]

This electronic mail may be subject to the Tennessee Public Records Act, Tenn. Code Ann. §10-7-503 et seq. Any reply to this email may also be subject to this act.

The mission of the Office of the Secretary of State is to exceed the expectations of our customers, the taxpayers, by operating at the highest levels of accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and accountability in a customer-centered environment.

Secretary of State Social Media Links: