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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  00-  2072 
 Before  the  Federal  Communications  Commission 
 Washington,  DC  20554 


 In  the  Matter  of  ) 
 ) 
 Request  for  Review  of  the  ) 
 Decision  of  the  ) 
 Universal  Service  Administrator  by  ) 
 ) 
 Anderson  Community  School  Corporation  )  File  No.  SLD-  119615 
 Anderson,  Indiana  ) 
 ) 
 Federal-  State  Joint  Board  on  )  CC  Docket  No.  96-  45 
 Universal  Service  ) 
 ) 
 Changes  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  )  CC  Docket  No.  97-  21 
 the  National  Exchange  Carriers  Association,  Inc.  ) 


 ORDER 
 Adopted:  September  8,  2000  Released:  September  11,  2000 
 By  the  Accounting  Policy  Division,  Common  Carrier  Bureau: 
 1.  The  Accounting  Policy  Division  (Division)  has  under  consideration  a  Letter  of 
 Appeal  filed  by  Anderson  Community  School  Corporation  (Anderson),  Anderson,  Indiana,  on 
 April  28,  2000,  seeking  review  of  a  decision  issued  by  the  Schools  and  Libraries  Division  (SLD) 
 of  the  Universal  Service  Administrative  Company  (USAC  or  Administrator).  1  Anderson  seeks 
 review  of  the  SLD's  denial  of  requests  for  discounted  services  under  the  schools  and  libraries 
 universal  service  support  mechanism  and  requests  a  waiver  of  the  Commission’s  competitive 
 bidding  requirements.  2  For  the  reasons  set  forth  below,  we  deny  the  Letter  of  Appeal  and  affirm 
 the  SLD's  denial  of  Anderson’s  requests. 


 2.  Upon  review  of  the  record,  the  Division  concludes  that  SLD  correctly  denied 
 Anderson’s  requests  for  support.  The  Commission's  rules  provide  that,  in  order  to  receive 
 support  for  discounted  services,  an  applicant  must  comply  with  the  Commission’s  competitive 
 bidding  requirements,  including  the  posting  of  a  request  for  services  (FCC  Form  470)  on  SLD’s 


 1  Request  for  Review  by  Anderson  Community  School  Corporation  of  the  Decision  of  the  Universal  Service 
 Administrator,  CC  Docket  Nos.  96-  45  and  97-  21,  Request  for  Review,  filed  April  28,  2000  (Request  for  Review). 
 2  Section  54.  719(  c)  of  the  Commission's  rules  provides  that  any  person  aggrieved  by  an  action  taken  by  a  division  of 
 the  Administrator  may  seek  review  from  the  Commission.  47  C.  F.  R.  §  54.  719(  c). 
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 Federal  Communications  Commission  DA  00-  2072 
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 website,  with  two  limited  exceptions  for  certain  existing,  binding  contracts.  3  Because  Anderson 
 indicated  in  its  Form  FCC  470  that  it  sought  support  only  for  services  provided  pursuant  to 
 existing,  binding  contracts,  SLD  did  not  post  Anderson’s  request  for  services  to  SLD’s  website. 
 The  contracts  for  which  Anderson  seeks  support,  however,  do  not  meet  either  of  the  limited 
 exceptions  for  existing,  binding  contracts  permitted  by  the  Commission’s  rules.  4  Accordingly, 
 SLD  correctly  denied  Anderson’s  requests  for  support. 


 3.  To  the  extent  that  Anderson  requests  a  waiver  of  the  28-  day  waiting  period 
 requirement  due  to  its  misunderstanding  of  the  FCC  Form  470  instructions,  it  has  not  shown 
 good  cause  for  waiver.  The  Common  Carrier  Bureau  previously  has  denied  requests  for  waiver 
 of  its  competitive  bidding  requirements  when  the  applicant  asserted  a  need  for  waiver  based  on 
 its  own  error  or  misunderstanding  of  the  schools  and  libraries  program’s  rules.  5  Because 
 Anderson  offers  no  further  basis  for  considering  its  request,  the  Division  denies  Anderson’s 
 waiver  request. 


 4.  ACCORDINGLY,  IT  IS  ORDERED,  pursuant  to  authority  delegated  under 
 sections  0.91,  0.291,  and  54.722(  a)  of  the  Commission’s  rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §§  0.91,  0.  291,  and 
 54.722(  a),  that  the  April  28,  2000,  Request  for  Review  filed  by  Anderson  Community  School 
 Corporation,  Anderson,  Indiana,  IS  DENIED. 


 FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION 


 Sharon  L.  Webber 
 Deputy  Chief,  Accounting  Policy  Division 
 Common  Carrier  Bureau 


 3  47  C.  F.  R.  §§  54.  504,  54.  511(  c)(  1)  (exempting  from  competitive  bidding  requirements  (1)  contracts  signed  before  July 
 10,  1997,  for  the  life  of  the  contract;  and  (2)  in  Year  1  only,  contracts  signed  between  July  10,  1997,  and  the  opening  of 
 the  Administrator’s  website  on  January  30,  1998);  Federal-  State  Joint  Board  on  Universal  Service,  CC  Docket  No. 
 96-  45,  Order,  DA  99-  1773,  1999  WL  680424  (Com.  Car.  Bur.  1999),  para.  10  (permitting  support  for  contracts 
 signed  in  a  prior  funding  year  pursuant  to  the  Commission’s  competitive  bidding  requirements). 


 4  See  Request  for  Review  of  the  Decision  of  the  Universal  Service  Administrative  Company  by  Cochrane-  Fountain 
 City  School  District,  CC  Docket  Nos.  96-  45  and  97-  21,  Order,  DA  00-  1045,  para.  4  (rel.  May  17,  2000)  (discussing 
 the  exceptions  to  the  Commission’s  competitive  bidding  requirements  for  certain  existing,  binding  contracts). 


 5  See,  e.  g.,  Request  for  Review  of  the  Decision  of  the  Universal  Service  Administrative  Company  by  Scranton  School 
 District,  CC  Docket  Nos.  96-  45  and  97-  21,  Order,  DA  00-  20,  para.  8  (rel.  January  7,  2000). 
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