c. Other Applicant Budget Issues 115 4. Setting an Annual Funding Target for Internal Connections 118 5. Focusing Support on Broadband 119 a. Core Components of Broadband Internal Connections 119 b. Basic Maintenance, Managed Wi-Fi, and Caching 122 6. Other Issues 132 C. Phasing Down and Ending Support for Legacy and Other Non-Broadband Services 134 1. Phasing Down Support for Voice Services 135 2. Eliminating Support for Telephone Features, Outdated Services, and Non-Broadband Services That Do Not Facilitate High- Speed Broadband 144 a. Telephone Features and Outdated Telephone Services 146 b. E-mail, Web Hosting, Voicemail 150 c. Data Plans and Air Cards for Mobile Devices 151 3. Impact on Multiyear Contracts 154 V. 155 A. Increasing Pricing Transparency 158 B. Encouraging Consortia and Bulk Purchasing 168 1. Speeding Review of Consortium Applications 169 2. Preferred Master Contracts 170 a. FCC Form 470 Exception 174 b. Bid Evaluation Requirement 176 3. Authority to Seek Consortium Bids 177 4. Correcting Misconceptions 178 5. Other Rules Changes 182 C. Offering the Lowest Corresponding Price 183 VI. 187 A. Simplifying the Application Process 190 1. Simplifying the Application Process for Multi-Year Contracts 191 2. Eliminating the Technology Plan Requirements 197 3. Exempting Low-Dollar Purchases of Commercially Available Business-Class Internet Access from Competitive Bidding Rules 199 4. Easing the Signed Contract Requirement 203 5. Requiring Electronic Filing of Documents 205 6. Enabling Direct Connections Between Schools and Libraries 207 B. Simplifying Discount Rate Calculations 209 1. Adopting District-Wide Discount Rates 210 2. Updating the Definition of “Rural” 222 3. Addressing the NSLP Community Eligibility Provision 225 4. Modifying the Requirements for Using School-Wide Income Surveys 230 C. Simplifying the Invoicing and Disbursement Processes 232 1. Allowing Direct Invoicing 233 2. Adopting Invoicing Deadlines 238 D. Creating a Tribal Consultation, Training, and Outreach Program 243 E. Requiring Filing of Appeals with USAC 250 F. Directing USAC to Adopt Additional Measures to Improve the Administration of the Program 253 1. Speeding Review of Applications, Commitment Decisions and Funding Disbursements 254 2. Modernizing USAC’s E-rate Information Technology Systems 256 3. Requiring Open and Accessible E-rate Data 258 4. Adopting Plain Language Review 260 rate
APPENDIX C Internal Connection Models Annual Pre-discount Cost/Classroom Cisco Model ESH/CoSN Model High Low Notes Wireless Access Points (WAPs) $200 $177 $200 $141 High: Cisco per-WAP cost and WAP life-cycle assumptions; Low: ESH/CoSN WAP cost assumption, but 5 year service life instead of 4 WAP Management/ Controllers $15 $30 $30 $15 High: ESH/CoSN assumptions Low: Cisco assumptions Drop Cables $120 $108 $120 $40 High: Cisco assumptions Low: Cisco assumptions, but 15 year service life instead of five Access Switches $93 $73 $93 $49 High: Cisco assumptions Low: ESH/CoSN assumptions, but four drops per classroom instead of six Core Switches/Routers $313 $96 $313 $64 High: Cisco assumptions Low: ESH/CoSN assumptions, but four drops per classroom instead of six Fiber Backbone NA $63 $63 $50 High: ESH assumptions Low: ESH/CoSN assumptions, but 20 year service life instead of 16 Gateways/Routers $38 $2 $38 $2 High: Cisco assumptions Low: ESH/CoSN assumptions UPS/PDU NA $22 $22 $12 High: ESH/CoSN assumptions Low: ESH/CoSN assumptions but seven year service life instead of four Switch Racks/Accessories NA $34 $34 $27 High: ESH/CoSN assumptions Low: ESH/CoSN assumptions but 15 year service life instead of 12 Firewall $11 $18 $18 $11 High: ESH/CoSN assumptions Low: Cisco assumptions Content Filter NA $18 NA NA Not supported Wireless Site Survey NA $32 $32 $0 High: ESH/CoSN assumptions Low: Performed in house or by equipment vendor VPN Equipment $4 NA NA NA Not supported Installation/ Configuration $117 Included in equipment cost $117 Included in equipment cost High: Cisco assumptions Low: Included in equipment cost per ESH/CoSN