Now that your 28-day competitive bidding period is coming to a close, let’s look at some of the things you should do to prepare for filing FCC Form 471.
The next couple of posts will go through the information we suggest you review and/or collect before you start the FCC Form 471 filing, which, if you’re following along with the blog schedule, is next week.
Review and update your profile
Before starting your form, you’ll want to confirm all of your profile information is correct, as this info will auto-populate from your profile into the form. This includes connectivity questions.
If your profile isn’t correct, and wrong information goes into your form, you’ll have to save the form, exit, and go back into your profile to correct it. So, to save time, log in to EPC now select your entity’s name from the landing page.
Confirm all your information is accurate:
- Your organization’s relationships: hierarchy and type, join a consortium or add an annex, and your consultant info
- Your organization(s) profile. Check these fields, which will auto-populate into your form:
- Your school/library’s name and address,
- Building attributes such as non-instructional facility, new construction, bookmobile or kiosk (for libraries), and education type like Adult Education and Head Start (for schools),
- Your local school district’s National School Lunch Program participation (including the community eligibility provision if applicable),
- Libraries only: square footage, main branch, and public school district of the main branch,
- School districts, library systems, and consortia only: The recipients of service (individual schools, individual libraries, or consortium members),
- Codes such as the FSCS, NCES, state LEA, and locale (more details about codes coming in a post later this week), and
- Answers to connectivity questions (except consortia).
Click “manage organization” to edit your school or library’s profile
If you need to update an entity’s profile, select the name of the entity from your EPC landing page, then click the “manage organization” button.
A series of webinar recordings is available about how to update your organization’s profile in preparation for filing FCC Form 471:
- Schools and School Districts: How to Complete Basic and Entity Information to Prepare for Filing FCC Form 471
- Libraries and Library Systems: How to Complete Basic and Entity Information to Prepare for Filing FCC Form 471
- Consortium Leaders: How to Complete Basic and Entity Information to Prepare for Filing FCC Form 471
A User Guide about managing organization is available as well.
Next, we’ll show you some useful guides and resources that can expedite the filing process, and help make the process easier.
Editor’s note: If you submitted FCC Form 470 on the same day we wrote about it on the blog (March 3), then at this point you’ll be in the 28-day waiting period. During the 28-day period, we’re covering general information about program rules and topics that are important to know about. We’ll begin posting about FCC Form 471, the funding request form, starting the week of April 4.
