SLD Releases Yr 9 (2006-2007) Demand Level to FCC
Message Posted March 21, 2006
Yesterday the SLD released their demand estimates for Year 9, Funding Year 2006, and for the fourth straight year, demand has decreased, albeit slightly (by 2.7%). Demand for Yr 9 totals $3.55 billion, although this figure is likely to be reduced as applications are denied and duplicate requests are eliminated. This figure, although promising, is still well over the annual cap of $2.25 billion. Based on prior years' demand, this figure likely indicates that Year 9 internal connections funding will reach somewhere in the 80-85% range.
The basic breakdown by service category, showing a total drop in each compared with Yr 8 (2005), is provided below. A more detailed breakdown of the SLD’s demand estimates for Yr 9 is available at http://www.universalservice.org/_res/documents/sl/pdf/FY2006-demand-estimate-breakdown.pdf.
Yr 8 (2005) Yr 9 (2006)
Telecommunications $1,217,058,964 $1,336,958,967
Internet Access 347,534,893 348,342,133
Internal Connections 1,842,927,864 1,601,659,352
Basic Maint on Internal Conn 240,065,890 262,378,857
Total Initial Demand 3,647,587,611 3,549,339,309
A few observations:
1) The demand for Priority 1 services increased $119 million (7.7%), which is unusual. It's no doubt the result of the large numbers of high-bandwidth WANs that are being requested.
2) The demand for Priority 2 services declined by $219 million (10.5%) which is the result of fewer requests below 90% than in previous years. This number, however, is likely to increase, given that Katrina-affected entities have a special extension of the Year 9 filing window (through September 30) to file their applications.
3) A total of 39,416 Form 471s were received. 98% of applications were filed online (compared to 96.2% last year) and 75% of Form 471s were certified online as well. 25% of all FRNs filed also used the online Item 21 attachment feature.
4) This demand estimate was provided to the FCC a full month earlier than last year, which may mean that FCDLs start flowing earlier than last year. Another good sign is that the FCC has already approved the Year 9 PIA review procedures (several months ahead of last year).
Julie Tritt Schell
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org
(717) 730.7133 (voice)
(717) 730.9060 (fax)
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