Boosting Your Business Opportunity
By Dan Burns, Fri Dec 9th
Boosting your Business Opportunity with eRate Services
ERate is a vital piece used by schools today to meet theirbudget demands for technology. ERate is a federally fundedprocess that must be requested by application annually.
Just like filing for your income tax each year, some do thesimple form, while others seek the services of professionalsthat can help them qualify for funding either they were notaware of or have not been successful in receiving.
By making eRate application services part of your repertoire,you can either open new doors or expand your opportunity ofmultiple services for existing clients.
To often this process is either done by an outside entity whoknows nothing about telephony or illegally by a vendor hoping tobind the sale of service.
NOTE: After we have covered the basics of eRate, Dr. Jim Earleour top eRate specialist will answer your questions.
Overview 1.1. General History of eRate? 2.2. Who Qualifies foreRate Funding? 3.3. eRate Funding Process 4.4. Who TraditionallyFiles eRate applications for Schools and Libraries? 5.5. TimeLine for eRate Filing 6.6. What Things Do I Need to Know about aSchool District? 7.7. Bidding Process for Services 8.8. WhatMust a Vendor/Service Provider do to be Eligible to bid and/orbe awarded an eRate funded project? 9.9. What Basic Step andForms are necessary for Processing an eRate Funding Application?10.10. Q&A
Presented by: Corporate Telecom Inc. Dan Burns PrincipleConsultant, CEO Contact info:
866-858-1100 danb@corptele.com Dr. James Earle eRate & GrantSpecialist Contact Info:
866-858-2202 jime@corptele.com 1. General History of eRateTelecommunications Act of 1996 Congress directed the FCC to“establish competitively neutral rules . . . to enhance, to theextent technically feasible and economically reasonable, accessto advance telecommunications and information services for allpublic and non-profit elementary and secondary school classrooms. . . and libraries.” Process established: .•Provides discountsto eligible schools and libraries for TelecommunicationsServices, Internet Access, and Internal Connections .•Applicantscan be schools, libraries, or consortia, but only eligiblerecipients of services can receive discounts .•Applicants mustapply for discounts each year .•Disbursements are capped at$2.25 billion annually
This responsibility is contracted by the Universal ServicesAdministrative Company who’s SLD (Schools and LibrariesDivision), oversees eRate distribution process. Website:http://sl.universalservice.org/
2. Who Qualifies for eRate Funding? .•K-12 Public Schools .•K-12Private Schools .•Libraries .•Preschool or Head start programs(consult each state)
Must meet the statutory definition of elementary or secondaryschool found in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 a.oMust bea non-profit institutional day or residential school, includinga public charter school, that provides elementary or secondaryeducation, as determined under state law b.oMust not beoperating as a for-profit business c.oMust not have an endowmentexceeding $50 million d.oPre-kindergarten, Adult Education,Juvenile Justice
Must meet state definition of elementary or secondaryeducation
3. eRate Funding Process Eligible Services a.oEligible Servicesare broken down into two different groups. Funding for allPriority 1 filings are considered and funded prior to fundingconsidered for Priority 2. b.oAfter funding is completed forPriority 2 applications the SLD begins with the highestpercentage level of Priority 2 (90%) applications. c.oPriority 1funded first, then Priority 2 funded beginning with neediestapplicants (90%, 89%, 88%, etc.)
Priority 1 a.oTelecommunications Services localand long distance (POTs, Trunks, T1) wire lineand wireless Pagers CellularPhones b.oData, Video and Internet Services WANLAN T1
Priority 2 a.oInternal Connections Dataswitches, hubs, routers, wiring Telephoneswitches Cabling
b.oServices which are conditionally eligible
Exceptions •ERate funding does not apply to end-user equipment.a.oTelephone handsets b.oComputers (desktop or notebook) c.oEtc.
4. Who Traditionally Files eRate applications for a School orLibrary? .• Internal Staff: IT or Finance Department.•Independent School Service Entities .•Telephone ServiceProviders/Vendors .•Consultants
5. Time Lines for eRate Filing .•The eRate fiscal year is July 1– June 30 .•Initial filing (Form 470) must be posted on the SLDwebsite for 28 days prior to the close of the funding window.•Second Stage (Form 471) must be completed generally by the 1stweek in February
6. What Things Do I Need to Know about a School District? A.Free & Reduced school lunch program percentages for thedistrict? Contact the State Board of Education and they shouldsupply you with information about; .• Total Students .• Freeenrollment .• Reduced enrollment .• Percentage of free andreduced lunches .• For both District Totals .• By Building
B. What is the Matrix level for this district?http://sl.universalservice.org/reference/dmatrix.asp INCOMEURBAN LOCATION RURAL LOCATION Measured by % of students eligiblefor the National School Discount Discount Lunch Program If the %of students in …and you are in an …and you are in a your schoolthat URBAN area, your RURAL area, your qualifies for thediscount will be… discount will be… National School LunchProgram is… Less than 1% 20% 25% 1% to 19% 40% 50% 20% to 34%50% 60% 35% to 49% 60% 70% 50% to 74% 80% 80% 75% to 100% 90%90%
*School District MUST show in their budget
