§ 54.504   Requests for services.

   (a) Filing of the FCC Form 471. An eligible school, library, or consortium
   that includes an eligible school or library seeking to receive discounts for
   eligible services under this subpart shall, upon entering into a signed
   contract or other legally binding agreement for eligible services, submit a
   completed FCC Form 471 to the Administrator.

   (1) The FCC Form 471 shall be signed by the person authorized to order
   eligible services for the eligible school, library, or consortium and shall
   include that person's certification under oath that:

   (i) The schools meet the statutory definition of “elementary school” or
   “secondary school” as defined in § 54.500 of this subpart, do not operate as
   for-profit businesses, and do not have endowments exceeding $50 million.

   (ii) The libraries or library consortia eligible for assistance from a State
   library administrative agency under the Library Services and Technology Act
   of  1996 do not operate as for-profit businesses and whose budgets are
   completely  separate  from  any school (including, but not limited to,
   elementary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities).

   (iii) The entities listed on the FCC Form 471 application have secured
   access to all of the resources, including computers, training, software,
   maintenance, internal connections, and electrical connections, necessary to
   make effective use of the services purchased. The entities listed on the FCC
   Form 471 will pay the discounted charges for eligible services from funds to
   which access has been secured in the current funding year or, for entities
   that will make installment payments, they will ensure that they are able to
   make all required installment payments. The billed entity will pay the
   non-discount portion of the cost of the goods and services to the service
   provider(s).

   (iv) The entities listed on the FCC Form 471 application have complied with
   all applicable state and local laws regarding procurement of services for
   which support is being sought.

   (v) The services the school, library, or consortium purchases at discounts
   will  be used primarily for educational purposes and will not be sold,
   resold, or transferred in consideration for money or any other thing of
   value, except as allowed by § 54.513.

   (vi) The entities listed in the application have complied with all program
   rules and acknowledge that failure to do so may result in denial of discount
   funding and/or recovery of funding.

   (vii) The applicant understands that the discount level used for shared
   services is conditional, for future years, upon ensuring that the most
   disadvantaged schools and libraries that are treated as sharing in the
   service, receive an appropriate share of benefits from those services.

   (viii) The applicant recognizes that it may be audited pursuant to its
   application, that it will retain for ten years any and all worksheets and
   other records relied upon to fill out its application, and that, if audited,
   it will make such records available to the Administrator.

   (ix) Except as exempted by § 54.503(e), all bids submitted to a school,
   library, or consortium seeking eligible services were carefully considered
   and the most cost-effective bid was selected in accordance with § 54.503 of
   this subpart, with price being the primary factor considered, and it is the
   most cost-effective means of meeting educational needs and technology goals.

   (2) All pricing and technology infrastructure information submitted as part
   of an FCC Form 471 shall be treated as public and non-confidential by the
   Administrator unless the applicant specifies a statute, rule, or other
   restriction,  such as a court order or an existing contract limitation
   barring public release of the information.

   (i) Contracts and other agreements executed after adoption of this rule may
   not prohibit disclosure of pricing or technology infrastructure information.

   (ii) The exemption for existing contract limitations shall not apply to
   voluntary extensions or renewals of existing contracts.

   (b) Mixed eligibility requests. If 30 percent or more of a request for
   discounts made in an FCC Form 471 is for ineligible services, the request
   shall be denied in its entirety.

   (c)  Rate  disputes. Schools, libraries, and consortia including those
   entities,  and  service providers may have recourse to the Commission,
   regarding interstate rates, and to state commissions, regarding intrastate
   rates, if they reasonably believe that the lowest corresponding price is
   unfairly high or low.

   (1) Schools, libraries, and consortia including those entities may request
   lower rates if the rate offered by the carrier does not represent the lowest
   corresponding price.

   (2) Service providers may request higher rates if they can show that the
   lowest corresponding price is not compensatory, because the relevant school,
   library, or consortium including those entities is not similarly situated to
   and subscribing to a similar set of services to the customer paying the
   lowest corresponding price.

   (d) Service substitution. (1) The Administrator shall grant a request by an
   applicant to substitute a service or product for one identified on its FCC
   Form 471 where:

   (i) The service or product has the same functionality;

   (ii) The substitution does not violate any contract provisions or state or
   local procurement laws;

   (iii) The substitution does not result in an increase in the percentage of
   ineligible services or functions; and

   (iv) The applicant certifies that the requested change is within the scope
   of the controlling FCC Form 470, including any associated Requests for
   Proposal, for the original services.

   (2) In the event that a service substitution results in a change in the
   pre-discount price for the supported service, support shall be based on the
   lower of either the pre-discount price of the service for which support was
   originally requested or the pre-discount price of the new, substituted
   service.

   (3) For purposes of this rule, the two categories of eligible services are
   not deemed to have the same functionality as one another.

   (e) Mixed eligibility services. A request for discounts for a product or
   service that includes both eligible and ineligible components must allocate
   the cost of the contract to eligible and ineligible components.

   (1) Ineligible components. If a product or service contains ineligible
   components, costs must be allocated to the extent that a clear delineation
   can be made between the eligible and ineligible components. The delineation
   must have a tangible basis, and the price for the eligible portion must be
   the most cost-effective means of receiving the eligible service.

   (2)  Ancillary ineligible components. If a product or service contains
   ineligible components that are ancillary to the eligible components, and the
   product  or  service is the most cost-effective means of receiving the
   eligible  component  functionality, without regard to the value of the
   ineligible component, costs need not be allocated between the eligible and
   ineligible components. Discounts shall be provided on the full cost of the
   product or service. An ineligible component is “ancillary” if a price for
   the ineligible component cannot be determined separately and independently
   from the price of the eligible components, and the specific package remains
   the most cost-effective means of receiving the eligible services, without
   regard to the value of the ineligible functionality.

   (3) The Administrator shall utilize the cost allocation requirements of this
   paragraph in evaluating mixed eligibility requests under paragraph (e)(1) of
   this section.

   (f)  Filing of FCC Form 473. All service providers eligible to provide
   telecommunications and other supported services under this subpart shall
   submit annually a completed FCC Form 473 to the Administrator. The FCC Form
   473 shall be signed by an authorized person and shall include that person's
   certification under oath that:

   (1) The prices in any offer that this service provider makes pursuant to the
   schools and libraries universal service support program have been arrived at
   independently, without, for the purpose of restricting competition, any
   consultation,  communication,  or  agreement with any other offeror or
   competitor relating to those prices, the intention to submit an offer, or
   the methods or factors used to calculate the prices offered;

   (2) The prices in any offer that this service provider makes pursuant to the
   schools  and  libraries  universal service support program will not be
   knowingly disclosed by this service provider, directly or indirectly, to any
   other offeror or competitor before bid opening (in the case of a sealed bid
   solicitation) or contract award (in the case of a negotiated solicitation)
   unless otherwise required by law; and

   (3) No attempt will be made by this service provider to induce any other
   concern to submit or not to submit an offer for the purpose of restricting
   competition.

   (4) The service provider listed on the FCC Form 473 certifies that the
   invoices that are submitted by this Service Provider to the Billed Entity
   for reimbursement pursuant to Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement Forms
   (FCC Form 472) are accurate and represent payments from the Billed Entity to
   the Service Provider for equipment and services provided pursuant to E-rate
   program rules.

   (5) The service provider listed on the FCC Form 473 certifies that the bills
   or invoices issued by this service provider to the billed entity are for
   equipment  and  services eligible for universal service support by the
   Administrator,  and  exclude  any  charges  previously invoiced to the
   Administrator by the service provider.

   [ 79 FR 49199 , Aug. 19, 2014, as amended at  79 FR 68634 , Nov. 18, 2014;  80 FR 5989 , Feb. 4, 2015]

   Effective Date Notes: At  79 FR 49199 , Aug. 19, 2014, § 54.504 was revised.
   However, paragraphs (f)(4) and (f)(5) will become effective July 1, 2016.

   2. At  80 FR 5989 , Feb. 4, 2015, § 54.504 was amended by revising paragraph
   (a)(1)(iii). However, this paragraph contains information collection and
   recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective until approval has
   been given by the Office of Management and Budget.

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