April 2005 Announcements

Please click on the topic below to view the most recent announcements:

The denial threshold for commitments on Internal Connections funding requests for FY 2004 has now been set at 80%. This means that the SLD will continue to fund approved requests at discount percentages of 81% and above, and will now deny funding requests with discount percentages of 80% and below.

Applicants who have received Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) with Priority 2 requests marked “As yet unfunded” at discount percentages below 81% will now receive FCDLs with denials for those requests. These denials will begin with Wave 18, which will be issued in the near future.

On April 15, 2005, the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) reported to the Federal Communications Commission that $3.65 billion in requested funding has been estimated for schools and libraries seeking E-rate discounts for Funding Year 2005. This estimate is based on the dollars requested in 38,799 applications received or postmarked by February 18, 2005, the close of the Form 471 application filing window.

There are several factors that will reduce ultimately the funds requested from the estimated level. First, while efforts have been made to eliminate duplicate requests, inevitably we will discover more duplication as we process these applications. Second, the SLD's efforts to assure that applications are substantially complete and that funds are committed only for eligible services, for use by eligible entities with the appropriate discount rate, and are otherwise consistent with program rules, will further reduce the demand.

For detailed information, please refer to the FY2005 Demand Estimate Letter to FCC [PDF, 31kb] and the FY2005 Demand Estimate Breakdown [PDF, 13kb].