News

The conference in LA was incredibly well attended.  ESPA was excited to see so many service providers with a renewed interest in the success of the E-rate program. 

The United States has some of the best schools and research universities in the world and produces top professionals in every industry. The public education system has effectively developed a workforce for the industrial age, and its graduates have helped the United States become the most prosperous nation in the world.

Long-Term Strategic Vision Would Help Ensure Targeting of E-rate Funds to Highest-Priority Uses

The FCC has released its plan for conducting rulemaking proceedings related to implementing the National Broadband Plan. Included in the "Action Agenda" are items related to both Notices of Proposed Rulemaking and Orders which will impact the E-rate program.

The Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has released its 2009 Annual Report. Among the goals of the Annual Report is to provide the Federal Communications Commission and Congress details about the non-profit company's activities, expenses, and performance measures regarding it's management of the Universal Service Fund programs.  

On March 31st USAC submitted their Semi-Annual Audit Report to the FCC for their review.   Based on the FCC's Schools and Libraries Fifth Order, the report must summarize the status of all outstanding audit reports.  

Following the release of the Funding Year 2010 demand estimate, the USAC Schools and Libraries Committee is seeking FCC for approval to start issuing funding commitments for Funding Year 2010 Priority One requests. USAC typically obtains authority from the FCC within a few weeks of its request.

An RFP posted to USAC's website reveals plans to conduct more audits checking for compliance to the requirements of Improper Payments Information Act (IPIA) . USAC is looking to hire a firm to assess how much of their disbursements are susceptible to improper payments.