**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, DC 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Request for Review of the )

Decision of the )

Universal Service Administrative Company by )

)

Caddo Parish School Board ) File No. SLD-139572

Shreveport, 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: March 5, 2001 Released: March 6, 2001**

By the Common Carrier Bureau:

1.  This order addresses Requests for Review filed by the Caddo Parish
    School Board (Caddo Parish), Shreveport, Louisiana, on November 9,
    1999 and November 12, 1999,[^1] seeking review of a decision issued
    by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service
    Administrative Company (Administrator) on October 12, 1999,
    regarding Funding Request Numbers (FRNs) 216602 and 252147,
    respectively.[^2] Under section 54.720 of the Commission's rules any
    such appeal must be filed within 30 days of the issuance of the
    decision as to which review is sought.[^3] Documents are considered
    to be filed with the Commission only upon receipt.[^4] Because the
    Request for Review regarding FRN 252147 was not filed within the
    specified 30-day period, it will be dismissed without further
    consideration. The remainder of this order addresses Caddo Parish's
    Request for Review relating to FRN 216602, which was timely filed on
    November 9, 1999.

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.[^5] In order to receive discounts on eligible services,
    the Commission's rules require that the applicant submit to the
    Administrator a completed FCC Form 470, in which the applicant sets
    forth its technological needs and the services for which it seeks
    discounts.[^6] Once the applicant has complied with the Commission's
    competitive bidding requirements and entered into an agreement for
    eligible services, it must file an FCC Form 471 to notify the
    Administrator of the services that have been ordered, the carrier
    with whom the applicant has entered into an agreement, and an
    estimate of funds needed to cover the discounts to be given for
    eligible services.[^7] This information is generally provided in
    Block 5 of FCC Form 471. Among other information, Block 5 requires
    the applicant to indicate services requested, the name of the
    service provider, the type of service or product for which support
    is sought, the contract award and expiration dates, and the
    estimated total annual pre-discount cost. Using information provided
    by the applicant in its FCC Form 471, the Administrator determines
    the amount of discounts for which the applicant is eligible.
    Approval of the application is contingent upon the filing of FCC
    Form 471, and funding commitment decisions are based on information
    provided by the school or library in this form.

3.  Caddo Parish's November 9, 1999, Request for Review arises from
    SLD's reduction of Caddo Parish's Year 2 application for discounted
    internal connections, FRN 216602, on the grounds that Caddo Parish's
    funding request included a Cisco 2514 remote access router,[^8]
    which was a product ineligible for discounts.[^9] In this appeal,
    Caddo Parish requests permission to amend its FCC Form 471 to
    substitute the Cisco 2514 router with a Cisco 2610 router.[^10]
    According to Caddo Parish, the substitution of a Cisco 2514 remote
    access router with a Cisco 2610 router would qualify it for
    unreduced discounts.

4.  Consistent with our decision in *White Sulphur Springs*, we remand
    FRN 216602 to SLD for further review to determine whether Caddo
    Parish is using its Cisco 2514 remote access router to support
    remote access connections.[^11] In *White Sulphur Springs*, the
    Bureau found that, although White Sulphur Springs' remote access
    router was capable of supporting wide area network (WAN)
    connections, White Sulphur Springs was not using the router to
    connect to any facilities other than to its Internet service
    provider in order to receive Internet access.[^12] Accordingly, the
    Bureau granted White Sulphur Springs' appeal and remanded White
    Sulphur Springs' funding application to SLD for further
    determination. Applying *White Sulphur Springs* to the instant
    situation, remote access routers may be considered for discounts if
    they are not being used to provide remote access.[^13] In light of
    our decision in *White Sulphur Springs*, we conclude that it is
    appropriate to remand Caddo Parish's application to SLD for further
    review. We direct SLD to review Caddo Parish's use of its remote
    access router to determine whether such use is eligible for
    discounts.

5.  We decline to grant Caddo Parish's request that the Commission allow
    it to amend its FCC Form 471 to substitute the Cisco 2514 remote
    access router with a Cisco 2610 router.[^14] SLD has established a
    policy that applicants are not permitted to amend completed FCC Form
    471s to remove ineligible service requests after the closure of the
    filing window.[^15] This policy imposes upon applicants the
    responsibility of preparing their applications carefully and
    obtaining appropriate assistance to avoid including ineligible
    expenses.[^16] If applicants were permitted to correct their
    applications after SLD has denied them, it would eliminate any
    incentive for them to avoid including ineligible expenses in their
    funding requests. This would significantly increase the
    administrative burden SLD would face while carrying out its
    obligation to guard against the occurrence of errors and fraud. In
    light of the thousands of applications that SLD reviews and
    processes each funding year, administrative necessity requires that
    each applicant be responsible for clearly and accurately describing
    its funding request and for understanding all applicable program
    rules. The applicant must act to ensure that its request for
    discounts satisfies program rules, which limit universal service
    mechanism funds to eligible services only.[^17] Allowing applicants
    who fail to follow program rules to amend their applications
    prejudices other applicants who properly completed their
    applications and sought only eligible services.

6.  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 Request for Review
    filed on November 12, 1999, by Caddo Parish School Board,
    Shreveport, Louisiana, IS DISMISSED.

7.  IT IS FURTHER 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 Request for Review
    filed by Caddo Parish School Board, Shreveport, Louisiana on
    November 9, 1999, IS GRANTED to the extent provided herein. We
    direct the Administrator to review Caddo Parish's funding
    application and, if warranted, issue a revised Funding Commitment
    Decision Letter.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Carol E. Mattey

Deputy Chief, Common Carrier Bureau

[^1]: Letter from Joe Brown, Caddo Parish School Board, to the Federal
    Communications Commission, filed November 12, 1999 (November 12,
    1999, Request for Review); Letter from Joe Brown, Caddo Parish
    School Board, to the Federal Communications Commission, filed
    November 9, 1999 (November 9, 1999, Request for Review).

[^2]: *See* Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal
    Service Administrative Company, to Joe Brown, Caddo Parish School
    District, issued October 12, 1999 (Funding Commitment Decision
    Letter).

[^3]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 54.720.

[^4]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.7.

[^5]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 54.502, 54.503.

[^6]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.504 (b)(1), (b)(3).

[^7]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(c).

[^8]: Remote access routers allow access to the Internet from any
    location by any individual knowing the dial-in telephone number.
    Access routers, with no remote capabilities, cannot provide dial-in
    access to the Internet from remote locations.

[^9]: *See* Funding Commitment Decision Letter at 5; *see also*
    *Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service*, CC Docket No.
    96-45, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 8776, 9021-22, paras. 459-460
    (1997) (*Universal Service Order*), as corrected by *Federal‑State
    Joint Board on Universal Service*, CC Docket No. 96‑45, Errata, FCC
    97‑157 (rel. June 4, 1997), *affirmed in part*, *Texas Office of
    Public Utility Counsel v. FCC*, 183 F.3d 393 (5th Cir. 1999)
    (affirming *Universal Service Order* in part and reversing and
    remanding on unrelated grounds), *cert. denied, Celpage, Inc. v.
    FCC*, 120 S. Ct. 2212 (May 30, 2000), *cert. denied,* *AT&T Corp. v.
    Cincinnati Bell Tel. Co*., 120 S. Ct. 2237 (June 5, 2000), *cert.
    dismissed,* *GTE Service Corp. v. FCC*, 121 S.Ct. 423 (Nov. 2,
    2000). The Schools and Libraries Eligibility List is located on the
    SLD web site,
    \<[http://www.sl.universalservice.org](http://www.sl.universalservice.org/)\>.

[^10]: *See* November 9, 1999, Request for Review at 1.

[^11]: *Request for Review of the Decision by the Universal Service Fund
    Administrator by White Sulphur Springs School District, White
    Sulphur Springs, Montana,* CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 15
    FCC Rcd 3396, 3398, para. 7 (1999) (*White Sulphur Springs*). Under
    section 54.500 of the Commission's rules, a wide area network is
    defined as "a voice or data network that provides connections from
    one or more computers within an eligible school . . . to one or more
    computers or networks that are external to such eligible school." 47
    C.F.R. § 54.500(l). Section 54.518 of the Commission's rules states
    that "\[t\]o the extent that states \[or\] schools . . . build or
    purchase a wide area network to provide telecommunications services,
    the cost of such wide area networks shall not be eligible for
    universal service discounts." 47 C.F.R. § 54.518. *See also Request
    for Review by the Department of Education of the State of Tennessee
    of the Decision of the Universal Service Administrator, Request for
    Review by Integrated Systems and Internet Solutions, Inc., of the
    Decision of the Universal Service Administrator, Request for Review
    by Education Networks of America of the Decision of the Universal
    Service Administrator, 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, 14 FCC Rcd 13734, para. 28 (1999) (discussing the
    Commission's rules regarding the eligibility of internal connections
    for discount funding, and the ineligibility of wide area network
    facilities for discount funding).

[^12]: *See White Sulphur Springs* at 3398, para. 7.

[^13]: *See* SLD website,
    \<http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/052000.asp#052500_2\>,
    clarifying SLD's policy regarding the eligibility of remote access
    routers. Applicants must certify that the requested remote access
    routers will not be used to provide remote access in the funding
    year or, if the product is to be used remotely, applicants must
    ensure that only entities eligible for support under the Schools and
    Libraries program have the capability to access it. If a router is
    to be used for remote access, such access must only be from sites
    for which services would be eligible for discount under the program.

[^14]: *See* November 9, 1999, Request for Review at 1.

[^15]: The Commission's rules require that applicants file a completed
    Form 471 by the filing window deadline to be considered pursuant to
    the funding priorities for "in-window" applicants. 47 C.F.R. §§
    54.504(c), 54.507(c).

[^16]: Assistance is available to applicants from many sources,
    including SLD's website.

[^17]: 47 C.F.R. §54.504 *et seq*.