§ 54.500   Terms and definitions.

   Basic  maintenance.  A  service  is  eligible  for support as a “basic
   maintenance” service if, but for the maintenance at issue, the internal
   connection would not function and serve its intended purpose with the degree
   of reliability ordinarily provided in the marketplace to entities receiving
   such services. Basic maintenance services do not include services that
   maintain equipment that is not supported by E-rate or that enhance the
   utility of equipment beyond the transport of information, or diagnostic
   services in excess of those necessary to maintain the equipment's ability to
   transport information.

   Billed  entity. A “billed entity” is the entity that remits payment to
   service providers for services rendered to eligible schools and libraries.

   Consortium. A “consortium” is any local, statewide, regional, or interstate
   cooperative association of schools and/or libraries eligible for E-rate
   support that seeks competitive bids for eligible services or funding for
   eligible services on behalf of some or all of its members. A consortium may
   also include health care providers eligible under subpart G of this part,
   and public sector (governmental) entities, including, but not limited to,
   state colleges and state universities, state educational broadcasters,
   counties, and municipalities, although such entities are not eligible for
   support.  Eligible  schools  and libraries may not join consortia with
   ineligible private sector members unless the pre-discount prices of any
   services that such consortium receives are generally tariffed rates.

   Educational purposes. For purposes of this subpart, activities that are
   integral, immediate, and proximate to the education of students, or in the
   case of libraries, integral, immediate and proximate to the provision of
   library services to library patrons, qualify as “educational purposes.”
   Activities that occur on library or school property are presumed to be
   integral, immediate, and proximate to the education of students or the
   provision of library services to library patrons.

   Elementary school. An “elementary school” means an elementary school as
   defined in 20 U.S.C. 7801(18), a non-profit institutional day or residential
   school,  including  a  public elementary charter school, that provides
   elementary education, as determined under state law.

   Internal connections. A service is eligible for support as a component of an
   institution's  “internal  connections” if such service is necessary to
   transport or distribute broadband within one or more instructional buildings
   of a single school campus or within one or more non-administrative buildings
   that comprise a single library branch.

   Library. A “library” includes:

   (1) A public library;

   (2) A public elementary school or secondary school library;

   (3) An academic library;

   (4)  A research library, which for the purpose of this section means a
   library that:

   (i) Makes publicly available library services and materials suitable for
   scholarly research and not otherwise available to the public; and

   (ii) Is not an integral part of an institution of higher education; and

   (5) A private library, but only if the state in which such private library
   is located determines that the library should be considered a library for
   the purposes of this definition.

   Library  consortium.  A  “library consortium” is any local, statewide,
   regional, or interstate cooperative association of libraries that provides
   for the systematic and effective coordination of the resources of schools,
   public,  academic,  and special libraries and information centers, for
   improving services to the clientele of such libraries. For the purposes of
   these rules, references to library will also refer to library consortium.

   Lowest corresponding price. “Lowest corresponding price” is the lowest price
   that  a  service provider charges to non-residential customers who are
   similarly situated to a particular school, library, or library consortium
   for similar services.

   Managed internal broadband services. A service is eligible for support as
   “managed internal broadband services” if provided by a third party for the
   operation, management, and monitoring of the eligible components of a school
   or library local area network (LAN) and/or wireless LAN.

   Master contract. A “master contract” is a contract negotiated with a service
   provider by a third party, the terms and conditions of which are then made
   available to an eligible school, library, rural health care provider, or
   consortium that purchases directly from the service provider.

   Minor contract modification. A “minor contract modification” is a change to
   a  universal service contract that is within the scope of the original
   contract and has no effect or merely a negligible effect on price, quantity,
   quality, or delivery under the original contract.

   National school lunch program. The “national school lunch program” is a
   program  administered  by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state
   agencies  that  provides free or reduced price lunches to economically
   disadvantaged children. A child whose family income is between 130 percent
   and 185 percent of applicable family size income levels contained in the
   nonfarm poverty guidelines prescribed by the Office of Management and Budget
   is eligible for a reduced price lunch. A child whose family income is 130
   percent or less of applicable family size income levels contained in the
   nonfarm income poverty guidelines prescribed by the Office of Management and
   Budget is eligible for a free lunch.

   Pre-discount price. The “pre-discount price” means, in this subpart, the
   price  the  service provider agrees to accept as total payment for its
   telecommunications or information services. This amount is the sum of the
   amount the service provider expects to receive from the eligible school or
   library and the amount it expects to receive as reimbursement from the
   universal service support mechanisms for the discounts provided under this
   subpart.

   Secondary school. A “secondary school” means a secondary school as defined
   in 20 U.S.C. 7801(38), a non-profit institutional day or residential school,
   including  a  public secondary charter school, that provides secondary
   education, as determined under state law except that the term does not
   include any education beyond grade 12.

   State telecommunications network. A “state telecommunications network” is a
   state   government   entity   that   procures,   among  other  things,
   telecommunications offerings from multiple service providers and bundles
   such offerings into packages available to schools, libraries, or rural
   health care providers that are eligible for universal service support, or a
   state  government entity that provides, using its own facilities, such
   telecommunications offerings to such schools, libraries, and rural health
   care providers.

   Voice services. “Voice services” include local phone service, long distance
   service,  plain old telephone service (POTS), radio loop, 800 service,
   satellite telephone, shared telephone service, Centrex, wireless telephone
   service  such as cellular, interconnected voice over Internet protocol
   (VoIP), and the circuit capacity dedicated to providing voice services.

   Wide area network. For purposes of this subpart, a “wide area network” is a
   voice or data network that provides connections from one or more computers
   within an eligible school or library to one or more computers or networks
   that are external to such eligible school or library. Excluded from this
   definition is a voice or data network that provides connections between or
   among instructional buildings of a single school campus or between or among
   non-administrative buildings of a single library branch.

   [ 63 FR 2128 , Jan. 13, 1998, as amended at  68 FR 36942 , June 20, 2003;  76 FR 56302 , Sept. 13, 2011;  79 FR 49197 , Aug. 19, 2014;  79 FR 68634 , Nov. 18,
   2014]

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