E-Rate deadlines are approaching! Check to be certain you have an approved Technology Plan that covers the services for which you will make discount application before you file a Form 470. The absolute last day to file a valid Form 470 for FY 2009 funding is NEXT THURSDAY January 15th.

Since a Form 470 must be posted for 28 days before vendors can be selected, contracts signed, and an application filed, waiting until this deadline means that all these activities must be completed on February 12th. To avoid last minute problems, please try to file all Form 470s as early as possible before January 15th.

Thursday, February 12th, at 11:59 p.m. EST, is the FY 2009 Form 471 application filing deadline. Applications must be submitted online or postmarked by this time and date. Applicants filing online may experience system problems if they wait until the deadline, so we encourage earlier submissions (except in cases of late-filed Form 470s when, by dint of the 28-day posting requirement, the Form 471s must be filed just before the deadline). For Form 470s or Form 471s filed online, without electronic PIN certifications, paper certifications should be printed out, signed, dated, and postmarked by the regular Form 471 deadline.

The SLD’s News Brief for January 2, 2009, provides a number of tips for applicants filing online.
(E-Rate Central News for the Week. January 5, 2009)