The Schools and Libraries Corporation announced Feb. 27 the procedure that vendors should follow to get Service Provider Identification Numbers (SPINs).
The announcement came as the SLC prepared to begin accepting the first Form 471s requesting specific funding under the E-rate program. Although the Form 471 permits schools to use the “full legal name” of the service provider whose contract it has signed, the SLC said in its announcement that schools were “strongly encouraged” to use the SPIN numbers, and vendors were urged to get them as quickly as possible.
The SLC said service providers who are telecommunications companies who pay into the Universal Service Fund should receive notification of their SPINs by March 4. Non-telco service providers and vendors have been asked to phone the Universal Service Administrative Company at 973-560-4440 to request a number. A telephone operator will ask the vendor questions about its legal name, address, contact person and phone number, and issue a number. Later, after the SLC completes a Service Provider Information Request Form that is currently under development, the form will be mailed to vendors who have already received numbers.
In the future, vendors will be expected to phone for their numbers and then complete the form, which will also be available for downloading from the Web sites of the National Exchange Carrier Association(http://www.neca.org) and the SLC.
The SLC said that as of noon on Feb. 27, it had received 21,000 applications for E-rate support, and that more than 70 percent of them were for support for new services.
