Unresolved changes to the eRate program in the middle of the application period have left many applicants frustrated and unsure of how to file their applications for 2004 funding, education leaders have told eSchool News.

With millions of dollars in funding at stake, school district personnel are under enormous pressure to make sure they follow the tangle of rules correctly. This pressure has always existed, but applicants say the problem is worse this year than it's ever been, thanks to numerous reinterpretations of program rules.

Making matters worse, the agency that administers the program has been slow to issue guidance on these changes--and many issues have yet to be resolved, even as the next application deadline looms.

"The biggest frustration is the filing window being open and this still being the biggest period of transition for the program," said Gary Rawson, infrastructure planning and eRate coordinator for Mississippi's Information Technology Services and chairman of the State eRate Coordinator Alliance, which is sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers.

It's not uncommon for school technology leaders whose institutions miss out on millions of dollars in funding because of mistakes in their applications to lose their jobs, according to several state eRate coordinators. But often these mistakes are the result of poor communication on the part of eRate officials, or last-minute rule changes that trip up applicants.

To secure 2004 discounts on telecommunications services, internet access, and internal wiring costs, schools and libraries have until Jan. 7 to file their Form 470 applications and until Feb. 4 to file their Form 471 applications.

Applicants are urged to apply well before the deadline by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Co., which administers the $2.25 billion-a-year program.

But as of early December, the following items still needed resolution or further clarification before applicants could safely apply:

• Dark fiber: This year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made dark fiber--unlit fiber-optic cable--ineligible as a telecommunications service, but it is still eligible as an internal connection. At press time, applicants were still waiting for clarification on what do if they're already locked in a multiyear contract for dark fiber service and what equipment needs to be at the end of the fiber for it to be considered lit or dark.

• Personal Identification Numbers: The SLD on Nov. 19 deactivated all PINs used to certify forms electronically after it experienced a security problem. The agency has asked applicants to reapply for new PINs, but applicants report that the automated system that issues them has not been working consistently.

• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service: The FCC has made VoIP ineligible as a service until it decides whether VoIP is a telecommunications service or an application provided over an unregulated information service. But again, applicants were still waiting for clarification on what do if they're already locked in a multiyear contract for VoIP service that was signed before this change went into effect.