Good afternoon,

 

Please see below for a snippet of some very helpful tips provided in the latest E-Rate News Brief, which you may access (in full)  here. 

 

• Wednesday, February 28, 2024 is the last date to submit and certify an FCC Form 470 and still wait the required minimum 28-day period before submitting and certifying your FY2024 FCC Form 471 by March 27, 2024, the last date of the FY2024 application filing window. Go to the  competitive bidding infographic to learn about the steps in the competitive bidding process.
• Unresponsive Bids, “SPAM” Bids and “Robobids.” All bids received should be retained during the competitive bidding process. Disqualification factors can be applied to bids received that do not meet minimum bid requirements, do not include site- or project-specific details, and/or are not responsive to the applicant’s requests. Applicants may include language in their FCC Form 470 narrative or request for proposal (RFP), such as, “SPAM and/or robotic responses will not be considered valid bid responses and will be disqualified from consideration.” By doing this, applicants can disqualify bids based on this factor. The decision to disqualify any non-responsive bids should also be memorialized and retained to demonstrate compliance with the E-Rate competitive bidding rules.
• Pre-Commitment E-Rate Q&A Session on Thursday, February 22, at 2 p.m. ET. E-Rate experts will answer your questions about the competitive bidding process, Category Two budgets, and the Eligible Services List. View webinar recordings of the pre-commitment and competitive bidding processes on the E-Rate Webinars page. Register for this webinar.
• Training Recordings Available on Demand. USAC offered a series of online training sessions for E-Rate program participants, including Tribal applicants, in Fall 2023 and January 2024, to help prepare for the FY2024 FCC Form 471 application filing window. You can watch a recording using the links available under Previous Trainings on the E-Rate Webinars page. View the Fall Training 2022 Questions and Answers from all the sessions on the E-Rate Resources page.

 

 

Please note that these tips are just a part of the total content available in the News Brief.  Please click on the link above to access the full document.

 

Happy filing!

Liz

 

 

Liz Thigpen Schreck | Director

Ocoee River Regional Library

State E-Rate Coordinator for Public Libraries

Office of Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

718 George Street, NW,  Athens, TN 37303

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

Regional Toll Free – (855) 692-8186

Fax (423) 649-1501

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