Academic Sales

E-Rate Information

E-rate is one of the hottest topics for educators in the United States. These funds are from money collected by telecommunications companies (your phone bill) to be used for education technology. The e-rate funds have significant restrictions and regulations associated with their distribution. E-rate funds are managed by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC). This not-for-profit corporation was appointed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to extend funding for telecommunications services to students and communities. The SLD has been funding purchases for NetWare and GroupWise and both products have been funded as 100% eligible for e-rate funding.

Starting 2004, the SLD has also allowed funding for firewall products which includes Novell BorderManager. These purchases may be made through VLA, CLA, MLA or SLA Novell purchasing programs. The SLD does not currently fund ALA subscription purchases. The SLD will partially fund some School License Agreement (SLA) annual subscription license purchases. The table below outlines Novell's understanding of what the SLD will fund on an SLA purchase. This information is provided as a service to our customers, but Novell does not control what the SLD will determine is fundable for your particular e-rate application. The chart below outlines Novell's understanding of what the SLD will fund. This is provided as a guide for our customers. Questions about what the SLD will fund for your school should be directed to the SLD as Novell has no control or influence on the funding policies of the SLD.

The customer must pay the portion of the price that is not e-rate fundable in addition to their percentage of the purchase price that is e-rate fundable. For example: Let us assume the school qualifies for 90% funding from the SLD and they wanted to purchase the SLA bundle that includes NetWare, GroupWise and BorderManager. The e-rate fund able portion of the SLA annual fee for that bundle is $1.90 per student. Therefore at 90% funding, the SLD would fund $1.71 of the $1.90. The school would have to pay $.19 representing the remaining 10% of the $1.90 price. In addition the school would need to pay the portion of the SLA annual fee that is not e-rate eligible, in this case 5.10. Therefore the school would send a purchase order to Novell for 8.29 per student in addition to the Funding Commitment letter from the SLD for the remaining $1.71 per student. Novell would invoice the SLD for the e-rate funds committed in the Funding Commitment Letter and would invoice the school for the remainder.

To use E-rate funds to purchase Novell products, your school must do the following:

1. Have a technology plan that has been approved by your state education agency.
2. Submit an FCC Form 470 (Description of Services Requested) to the SLD. It is our understanding that this request must be posted on the SLD Internet site for at least 28 days for competitive bids prior to the SLD accepting FCC Form 471. If the purchase is being made through an SLA, Novell is the sole source of fulfillment. Novell does not respond to these bids as the bid price is the price listed on the SLA Annual Fee worksheet. For non-SLA bids, any Novell reseller may respond to the bid and the reseller's SPIN number should be used on the SLD forms. If your bid is to include work by Novell Consulting Services to install and the software, please contact Novell directly as Novell does not monitor the SLD bid Web site.
3. Submit an FCC Form 471 to the SLD. This form will list the products and services being requested for the E-rate funds. You may purchase Novell products through your local reseller using the reseller's SPIN number. To request any Novell SLA purchases under Form 471, please include the Service Provider Information Number (SPIN) for Novell, Inc. (143004863).
4. When the SLD approves your FCC Form 471, you will receive a Notification of Fund Commitment.
5. Fax or mail a copy of your Notification of Fund Commitment along with a purchase order for your percentage of the purchase funds to:
        Novell Direct Education Orders
        PRV-C-231
        1800 South Novell Place
        Provo, UT 84606
        (800) 716-1800
        FAX: (801) 861-5627
6. Novell will ship you the products ordered. When you receive the shipment, you need to submit FCC Form 486 to the SLD.

For more information visit the SLD Web Site at http://www.sl.universalservice.org/. (The FCC forms and more detailed instructions are available from this site.)

If you are processing a Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form for past purchases where you have already paid Novell, you need to fax block 4 of the BEAR form to Novell at 801-861-2654. We will execute our portion and fax back to you the completed block 4. Please remember to include your fax number so we can return the completed form to you.

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