*Pages 1--3 from Microsoft Word - 7062.doc* Federal Communications Commission DA 01- 433 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, DC 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Request for Review of the ) Decision of the ) Universal Service Administrator by ) ) Livingston Parish School District ) File No. SLD- 144581 Livingston, Louisiana ) ) Federal- State Joint Board on ) CC Docket No. 96- 45 Universal Service ) ) Changes to the Board of Directors of the ) CC Docket No. 97- 21 National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. ) ORDER Adopted: February 16, 2001 Released: February 20, 2001 By the Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau: 1. The Accounting Policy Division (Division) has under consideration a Request for Review filed by Livingston Parish School District (Livingston Parish), Livingston, Louisiana, on May 26, 2000. 1 Livingston Parish requests review of a decision by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company to deny Livingston Parish’s application for discounted services under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism. 2 For the reasons set forth below, we deny the Request for Review and affirm SLD’s denial of Livingston Parish’s application. 2. Under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism, eligible schools, libraries, and consortia that include eligible schools and libraries, may apply for discounts for eligible telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections. 3 The Commission’s rules provide that, with one limited exception for existing, binding contracts, an eligible school, library or consortium that includes eligible schools or libraries must seek 1 Letter from J. Rogers Pope, Livingston Parish School District, to the Federal Communications Commission, filed May 26, 2000 (Request for Review). 2 Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service Administrative Company, to J. Rogers Pope, Livingston Parish School District, dated March 8, 1999 (Funding Commitment Decision Letter); Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service Administrative Company, to J. Rogers Pope, Livingston Parish School District, dated May 2, 2000 (Administrator’s Decision on Appeal). 3 47 C. F. R. §§ 54. 502, 54. 503. 1 Federal Communications Commission DA 01- 433 2 competitive bids for all services eligible for support. 4 In accordance with the Commission’s rules, an applicant must file with SLD, for posting to its website, a FCC Form 470 requesting services. 5 The applicant must wait 28 days before entering into an agreement with a service provider for the requested services and submitting an FCC Form 471 requesting support for the services ordered by the applicant. 6 3. Upon review of the record, the Division concludes that SLD correctly denied Livingston Parish’s request for support. A signature date on an FCC Form 471 or on a service provider agreement that predates the expiration of the 28- day posting period indicates that the applicant failed to wait 28 days before entering into an agreement with a service provider and therefore violated the Commission’s competitive bidding rules. 7 We find that a contract award date on FCC Form 471 that predates the expiration of the 28- day posting period similarly violates the Commission’s competitive bidding rules. 4. In the case of this Applicant the allowable contact date was April 2, 1999. 8 On its FCC Form 471, Livingston Parish lists March 25, 1999 as the contract award date to vendor Com- Net. 9 This contract award date is seven days before the expiration of the 28- day waiting period. The Common Carrier Bureau has consistently denied requests for review by applicants that had similarly violated the Commission’s competitive bidding rules. 10 The Division, therefore, denies Livingston Parish’s Request for Review. 5. Applicant argues that the April 2, 2000 letter from vendor Com- Net demonstrates that the March 25, 1999 date on FCC Form 471 was a typographical error and that no violation of the 28- day waiting period occurred. 11 We disagree. The April 2, 1999 letter referenced by 4 47 C. F. R. §§ 54. 504, 54. 511( c). 5 See Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Description of Services Requested and Certification Form, OMB 3060- 0806 (FCC Form 470). 6 47 C. F. R. § 54. 504( c); see Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Services Ordered and Certification Form, OMB 3060- 0806 (FCC Form 471). 7 See Request for Review by Minor High School, Federal- State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc., CC Docket Nos. 96- 45 and 97- 21, Order, 15 FCC Rcd 13790, 13792, para. 5. (Com. Car. Bur. 2000). 8 FCC Form 470, Livingston Parish School District, filed March 5, 1999; see SLD web site,