•  Set the final funding threshold for approved FY2012 Priority 2 (P2) funding requests at 90 percent. P2 funding requests at 89 percent and below will be denied for lack of funds. 
• Set the final funding threshold for approved FY2011 P2 funding requests at 88 percent. P2 funding requests at 87 percent and below will be denied for lack of funds.

• If you do not submit an Item 21 attachment on or before May 9, the Block 5 Funding Request Number (FRN) associated with that Item 21 attachment will be considered out-of-window. You can submit an Item 21 attachment online, by email, or by fax on or before May 9; you can also postmark a paper Item 21 attachment on or before May 9. The Item 21 attachments web page contains detailed information on preparing and submitting Item 21 attachments.
• If you do not certify your FCC Form 471 on or before May 9, your form will be considered out-of-window. You can certify an FCC Form 471 online on or before May 9 if you have a PIN; you can also postmark a paper certification on or before May 9.

• If the contact person email address appeared in Item 6e of the form, the email was sent to the contact person.

• If the contact person email address was blank but the authorized person email address appeared in Item 27f of the form, the email was sent to the authorized person.

• NOTE: If both email address fields were blank, USAC issued a letter – one per form – and sent the letters to the contact person street address (Item 6b of the form).

Of the almost 27,500 forms that fit the above criteria, all but about 700 were included in email notifications.

Please note: Applicants must still wait at least 28 days after the posting of the FCC Form 470 – or the public availability of a Request for Proposals (RFP), if one was issued – before closing the competitive bidding process, choosing a service provider, signing a contract (if applicable), and signing and submitting the FCC Form 471 by 11:59 PM ET on Tuesday, March 20.

The Client Service Bureau (CSB) will be open extended hours before the close of the window to assist last-minute filers with program questions. You can call (888) 203-8100, Submit a Question, or fax your question or request to (888) 276-8736.

CSB is open weekdays from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM ET. In addition, CSB will be open the following hours:

Each year, USAC sends a notification to applicants that have timely posted an FCC Form 470 to the USAC website but not yet filed an FCC Form 471 funding request citing that FCC Form 470. In the past, USAC has issued this notification by letter – one letter per form – shortly after the last day to post an FCC Form 470 and still complete all of the program activities necessary to file an FCC Form 471 by the close of the filing window.

On March 2, USAC prepared an email to each FCC Form 470 contact person or authorized person with a timely posted FCC Form 470 not cited on any FCC Form 471 Block 5 funding request (Item 11 on the form) as of February 28. For each unique email address, this email contained all affected FCC Form 470 application numbers and all Billed Entity Numbers. We expect this improved format to prove more helpful and less confusing to applicants.

• If the contact person email address appeared in Item 6e of the form, the email was sent to the contact person.
• If the contact person email address was blank but the authorized person email address appeared in Item 27f of the form, the email was sent to the authorized person.
• NOTE: If both email address fields were blank, USAC issued a letter – one per form – and sent the letters to the contact person street address (Item 6b of the form).

Of the almost 27,500 forms that fit the above criteria, all but about 700 were included in email notifications.

Please note: Applicants must still wait at least 28 days after the posting of the FCC Form 470 – or the public availability of a Request for Proposals (RFP), if one was issued – before closing the competitive bidding process, choosing a service provider, signing a contract (if applicable), and signing and submitting the FCC Form 471 by 11:59 pm EDT on Tuesday, March 20.

• First individual school: PIMERIA ALTA ACADEMY, Nogales, Arizona
• First school district: WEST POINT PUBLIC SCHOOLS, West Point, Virginia
• First library: MONITEAU COUNTY/PRICE JAMES LIBRARY, Tipton, Missouri
• First consortium: CLARE-GLADWIN RESD, Clare, Michigan

Remember that the Item 21 attachment is a window filing requirement for FY2012 and must be submitted by March 20, 2012.

Access to the online BEAR system and the service provider E-file System will be unavailable from 9:00 pm EST on Friday, January 6 through 8:00 am EST on Monday, January 9 due to system upgrade work.

During this time:

• Applicants will not be able to submit BEAR Forms online.
• Service providers will not be able to approve BEAR Forms online.
• Service providers will not be able to view Item 21 attachments for FY2011 and previous funding years that applicants filed online.
• Service providers will not be able to log in to the E-file System to perform other activities such as assigning permissions or updating Form 498 information.