Join KanREN for a special member meeting for the presentation, discussion and approval of Rates and Budget for Fiscal Year 2018 (July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018) to be held on Thursday, January 12, 2017 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm CST.

Additional information, meeting options and online registration available here via Eventbrite.

Some things to note that will be coming with FY2018:

• You’ll see some odd annual numbers, like $504/year for membership instead of $500. This has been done to fix fraction and rounding problems that has, at times, caused big messes with USAC and our financial software.
• You’ll see connectivity separated between backbone colocating and standard members. The models are different, separating them made sense.
• You’ll see tiered rates, where the more you use, the less you pay. This is considered an incremental fix for a model that doesn’t scale well with modern, higher Internet bandwidths many standard members are requesting. It’s a good start, expect more improvement next year.
• Default billing next fiscal year will be *annual* unless otherwise specified (quarterly and monthly are still possible, but annual will be the default).
• Service and membership documents will be changed somewhat to reflect service locations/commitment terms more appropriately — no more guessing which services have which commitments.
• Rates will now lock with multi-year commitments unless there’s a service change. This is about not re-doing USAC-related paperwork because of marginal rate changes, which often far exceed the benefit of a slightly lower rate.

Please note: While only the authorized voting representative for each member institution will be able to vote, the meeting and discussion are open to all member representatives. The meeting will be held in person and via video/audio conference.