Federal Communications Commission DA 14-1732
qBefore the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
Requests for Wavier by
Puerto Rico Department of Education
San Juan, PR
Schools and Libraries Universal Service 
Support Mechanism
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File Nos. SLD-918308, et al.
CC Docket No. 02-6
ORDER
Adopted:  December 2, 2014 Released: December 2, 2014
By the Chief, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau:
1. Consistent with precedent,
1
with respect to its funding requests seeking E-rate
2
support 
for priority one services in funding year 2013,
3
we grant the request of the Puerto Rico Department of 
Education (PRDE) seeking a waiver of the Commission’s then-existing rules requiring E-rate applicants 
to have a signed contract in place prior to filing an application for E-rate support.
4
  Also consistent with 
precedent,
5
we dismiss as moot PRDE’s request for a waiver of the same rule with respect to its request 
                                                     
1
See Requests for Waiver of the Decision of the Universal Service Administrator by Adams County School District 
14, Commerce City, CO et al., CC Docket No. 02-6, Order, 22 FCC Rcd 6019, 6022-23, para. 9 (2007) (Adams 
County Order) (granting waiver of signed contract requirement where applicants had agreements with vendors, but 
applicants did not have signed contracts in place at the deadline because agreements with service providers had not 
been approved by district governing boards in accordance with state and local procurement laws); see also Request 
for Waiver of the West Virginia Department of Education, Charleston, WV, CC Docket No. 02-6, Order, 20 FCC 
Rcd 12890, 12892-93, para. 9 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2005) (West Virginia Order); Request for Waiver of the 
Kentucky Department of Education, Frankfort, KY, CC Docket No. 02-6, Order, 22 FCC Rcd 4742, 4744-45, para. 9 
(Wireline Comp. Bur. 2007) (both orders granting waiver of signed contract requirement because a state law 
prohibited extending state master contracts until 30 days before expiration of the contract).  
2
The E-rate program is more formally known as the schools and libraries universal service support program.
3
The funding requests with respect to which we grant the waiver are identified in Appendix A.
4
See Letter from Maribel Picó, Chief Information Officer, Puerto Rico Department of Education, to Marlene H. 
Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, CC Docket No. 02-6 (filed Aug. 15, 2014) (Request for 
Waiver).  Section 54.719(c) of the Commission’s rules provides that any person aggrieved by an action taken by a 
division of USAC may seek review from the Commission.  47 C.F.R. § 54.719(c).
5
See Request for Review of a Decision of the Universal Service Administrator by Loving Municipal Schools, CC 
Docket No. 02-6, Order, 26 FCC Rcd 10428, 10430-31, para. 6 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2011); Request for Waiver 
and Review of Decisions of the Universal Service Administrator by Montgomery County School District, CC Docket 
No. 02-6, Order, 29 FCC Rcd 320, 321, para. 2 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2014) (both affirming USAC’s denial of 
funding requests that fell below the priority two funding threshold for the relevant funding years).
Federal Communications Commission DA 14-1732
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for support for priority two services for funding year 2013 in light of USAC’s proper denial of those 
funding requests, because no priority two funding is available for funding year 2013.
6
  
2. Background.  Under the E-rate program, eligible schools, libraries, and consortia that 
include eligible schools and libraries may apply for discounts for eligible services.
7
  The Commission’s 
rules provide that an eligible school, library, or consortium that includes eligible schools and libraries 
must seek competitive bids for all services eligible for support.
8
  In addition to following the 
Commission’s competitive bidding requirements, applicants are required to follow state and local 
procurement procedures.
9
  
3. Once an applicant has selected a provider in accordance with the Commission’s 
competitive bidding rules and entered into a service contract, the applicant must file an FCC Form 471 
requesting support for eligible services.
10
  Under the rules in existence for funding year 2013, applicants
were required to have a signed contract with their selected providers before filing their FCC Forms 471.
11
  
4. The Commission’s rules for funding year 2013 require USAC to first provide available 
funds for priority one funding requests for telecommunications and Internet access services.
12
  The rules 
permit USAC to fund priority two requests for internal connections and basic maintenance of internal 
connections only after all priority one requests had been committed.
13
  USAC has sufficient funds 
available to provide support for all eligible priority one services for funding year 2013.
14
  It does not have 
sufficient funds to commit funding for any eligible priority two services for funding year 2013.
15
5. In 2012, PRDE conducted a competitive bidding process for E-rate supported services, 
and awarded a one-year contract with two one-year renewal options to Puerto Rico Telephone Company 
d/b/a Claro (Claro) for FY 2012.
16
  For funding year 2013, PRDE chose to exercise the renewal option 
with Claro.
17
  However, PRDE’s ability to exercise the renewal option was complicated by an executive 
order signed by Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García Padilla on January 3, 2013, only 60 days before 
the close of the E-rate funding window for funding year 2013, prohibiting any department within the 
Puerto Rico executive branch, including the PRDE, from awarding contracts without the written 
authorization of the Puerto Rico Secretariat of Governance.
18
  
                                                     
6
The funding requests being denied are identified in Appendix B.  
7
See generally 47 C.F.R. §§ 54.501-54.503.
8
See 47 C.F.R. § 54.503. 
9
See 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(a)(1)(vi).
10
See Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Services Ordered and Certification Form, OMB 3060-0806 (Oct. 
2010) (FCC Form 471); Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Services Ordered and Certification Form, OMB 
3060-0806 (December 2013) (current FCC Form 471).  
11
See 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(a) (2013).  
12
See 47 C.F.R. § 54.507(g)(1)(i) (2013).  
13
See 47 C.F.R. § 54.507(g)(1)(ii) (2013).
14
See USAC website, Schools and Libraries Program, Update on Priority 2 Commitments 2013 (Feb. 27, 2014), 
http://www.usac.org/sl/tools/news/news-archive.aspx.
15
See id.
16
See Request for Waiver at 2-3.  
17
See id. at 3.
18
See id. at 4-5, Attach. (Puerto Rico Executive Order No. OE-2013-002 (dated Jan. 3, 2013)).
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6. Pursuant to the Executive Order, on February 25, 2013, before the FCC Form 471 filing 
deadline, PRDE presented a Request for Approval of Renewal Agreements to the Secretariat of 
Governance for approval to renew the contract with Claro for funding year 2013.
19
  Although the 
Secretariat of Governance had not yet approved PRDE’s renewal of its contract with Claro, PRDE filed 
its FCC Forms 471 for funding year 2013 on March 12, 2013, two days before the close of the filing 
window.
20
  The Secretariat of Governance finally approved and signed the Renewal Agreement on June 
28, 2013, after the close of the funding window.
21
PRDE filed this Request for Waiver on August 15, 
2014.
22
7. In addition to filing applications for E-rate support for the services to be provided by 
Claro, PRDE filed an application for priority two funding for funding year 2013.
23
  USAC denied this 
request because it did not have sufficient funds to commit funding for any eligible priority two services 
for funding year 2013.
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8. Discussion.  After reviewing the record before us, we find that good cause exists to 
justify a limited waiver of the requirement in section 54.504(a) that an applicant have a signed contract in 
place before filing an FCC Form 471 and to direct USAC to review PRDE’s application for support for 
priority one services provided by Claro for funding year 2013.  The Commission’s rules may be waived 
for good cause shown.
25
  Waiver of the Commission’s rules is appropriate only if special circumstances 
warrant a deviation from the general rule, and such deviation will serve the public interest.
26
9. The Commission has previously found that good cause exists to grant a waiver of section 
54.504(a) where a state or local procurement law or process requirement has prevented an applicant from 
entering into a signed contract with a properly selected vendor before it files an FCC Form 471 
application for E-rate support.  For example, in the Adams County Order, the Commission found a waiver 
was appropriate when a local procurement law required that a district governing board approve the 
contract and approval was not granted until after the deadline.
27
  In the West Virginia Order, the Wireline 
Competition Bureau granted a waiver of section 54.504(a) when a state law that prohibited the extension 
of state contracts until 30 days before expiration of the contract made it impossible for applicants to have 
signed contracts when they filed their FCC Forms 471.
28
  Here, PRDE had an agreement in place by the
deadline, but was prohibited by executive order from entering into a formal contract until the Secretariat 
of Governance approved the contract, the timing of which was outside PRDE’s control.
29
  Under these 
circumstances, we find that special circumstances exist that warrant a deviation from the signed contract 
                                                     
19
See Request for Waiver at 5.
20
Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Services Ordered and Certification Form, OMB 3060-0806, FCC Form 
471 No. 918308 (Oct. 2010) (filed Mar. 12, 2013); Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Services Ordered and 
Certification Form, OMB 3060-0806, FCC Form 471 No. 919592 (Oct. 2010) (filed Mar. 12, 2013). 
21
See Request for Waiver at 5, Attachs. (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Department of Education, Contract 
Amendment for Internet Services (signed June 28, 2013); Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Department of Education, 
Contract Amendment for Telecommunications Services (signed June 28, 2013)).
22
See Request for Waiver at 1.  
23
Id. at 2.
24
See id.
25
47 C.F.R. § 1.3.
26
See Northeast Cellular Telephone Co. v. FCC, 897 F.2d 1164, 1166 (D.C. Cir. 1990). 
27
See Adams County Order, 22 FCC Rcd at 6022-23, para. 9. 
28
See West Virginia Order, 20 FCC Rcd at 12892-93, para. 9.
29
See Request for Waiver at 5.
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requirement and that it is in the public interest to do so.  Therefore, with respect to the funding requests 
listed in Appendix A, we find that good cause exists to grant a limited waiver of section 54.504(a) of our 
rules and remand those funding requests to USAC for further processing consistent with our decision.
10. On our own motion, we also waive sections 54.507(d) and 54.514(a) of the 
Commission’s rules and any USAC procedural deadlines that might be necessary to effectuate our 
ruling.
30
  We find good cause to waive sections 54.507(d) and 54.514(a) because filing an appeal of a 
denial of funding is likely to cause petitioners to miss the program’s subsequent procedural deadlines for
that funding year.
11. We remand the underlying applications listed in Appendix A to USAC for further action 
consistent with this order.  To ensure that the underlying applications are resolved expeditiously, we 
direct USAC to complete its review of each application listed in Appendix A and issue an award or a 
denial based on a complete review and analysis no later than 90 calendar days from the release date of 
this order.  In remanding these applications to USAC, we make no finding as to the ultimate eligibility of 
the services or the petitioners’ applications.    
12. We deny the Request for Waiver for the priority two funding requests listed in Appendix 
B because no funding is available for priority two requests for any applicants for funding year 2013.
31
  
Therefore, USAC has already appropriately denied PRDE’s requests for priority two funding for funding 
year 2013 and a waiver is not appropriate.
32
13. ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to the authority contained in sections 1-4 
and 254 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151-154 and 254, and sections 
0.91, 0.291, 1.3 and 54.722(a) of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.91, 0.291, 1.3 and 54.722(a), the 
requests for waiver listed in Appendix A ARE GRANTED and their underlying applications ARE 
REMANDED to USAC for further consideration in accordance with the terms of this order.
14. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to the authority contained in sections 1-4 and 254 
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151-154 and 254, and sections 0.91, 
0.291, 1.3 and 54.722(a) of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.91, 0.291, 1.3 and 54.722(a), that 
54.500 et seq. of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. § 54.500 et seq., ARE WAIVED for the petitioner
with respect to the requests for waiver listed in Appendix A to the limited extent provided herein.
                                                     
30
47 C.F.R. § 54.507(d) (requiring non-recurring services to be implemented by September 30 following the close 
of the funding year). 
31
See USAC website, Schools and Libraries Program, Update on Priority 2 Commitments 2013 (Feb. 27, 2014), 
http://www.usac.org/sl/tools/news/news-archive.aspx.
32
See Letter from USAC, Schools and Libraries Division, to Maribel Picó Piereschi, Puerto Rico Department of 
Education (dated June 19, 2014). 
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15. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to the authority contained in sections 1-4 and 254 
of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151-154 and 254, and sections 0.91, 
0.291, 1.3 and 54.722(a) of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.91, 0.291, 1.3 and 54.722(a), the 
requests for waiver listed in Appendix B are DENIED.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Ryan B. Palmer
Chief
Telecommunications Access Policy Division
Wireline Competition Bureau
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APPENDIX A
Waiver of Signed Contract Requirement 
in 47 C.F.R. 54.504(a) Granted
Petitioner Application 
Number
Funding 
Request 
Number
Funding 
Year
Date Request 
for Waiver 
Filed
Puerto Rico Department of Education
San Juan, PR
918308 2513542 2013 Aug. 15, 2014
Puerto Rico Department of Education
San Juan, PR
919592 2514232 2013 Aug. 15, 2014
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APPENDIX B
Waiver Denied Because No Priority Two Funding Available
Petitioner Application 
Number
Funding 
Request 
Number
Funding 
Year
Date Request 
for Waiver 
Filed
Puerto Rico Department of Education
San Juan, PR
919475 2516471 2013 Aug. 15, 2014
Puerto Rico Department of Education
San Juan, PR
919475 2516519 2013 Aug. 15, 2014