**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, DC 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Request for Review of the )

Decision of the )

Universal Service Administrator by )

)

Atlanta Adventist Academy HS ) File No. SLD-189986

Atlanta, Georgia )

)

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: January 9, 2002 Released: January 10, 2002**

By the Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

1.  In this Order, the Accounting Policy Division dismisses the Request
    for Review of Atlanta Adventist Academy HS, Atlanta, Georgia
    (Atlanta Adventist).[^1] Atlanta Adventist seeks review of a
    decision of the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the
    Universal Service Administrative Company (Administrator).[^2]
    Atlanta Adventist seeks review of SLD's determination that its
    electronic application for support for telecommunications services,
    Internet access, and internal connections in Funding Year 3 of the
    schools and libraries support mechanism did not meet its Minimum
    Processing Standards, and thus could not be processed. Atlanta
    Adventist also asks that its manually-filed FCC Form 471 be deemed
    timely filed for Funding Year 3. For the reasons set forth below, we
    deny Atlanta Adventist's Request for Review and affirm the
    Administrator's determination that Atlanta Adventist did not file a
    timely completed application in Funding Year 3 of the universal
    service support mechanism for eligible schools and libraries.

# I. BACKGROUND

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 on eligible
    telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal
    connections.[^3] In order to receive discounts on eligible services,
    applicants must file certain information with the Administrator.
    Specifically, the Commission\'s rules require that an applicant
    submit a completed FCC Form 470 to the Administrator, in which the
    applicant sets forth its technological needs and the services for
    which it seeks discounts.[^4] In its FCC Form 470, the applicant
    must also demonstrate that its existing technology provides support
    necessary for the effective use of the requested eligible services.
    Once the applicant has signed a contract for eligible services, it
    must file an FCC Form 471 application to notify the Administrator of
    the services that have been ordered, the carrier with whom the
    school has signed a contract, and an estimate of the funds needed to
    cover the discounted portion of the price of the eligible
    services.[^5]

3.  The Commission's rules direct the Administrator to implement an
    initial filing period ("filing window") for the FCC Form 471
    applications that treats all schools and libraries filing within
    that period as if their applications were simultaneously
    received.[^6] Such applications are referred to as "in-window"
    applications. Applications that are received outside of this filing
    window are subject to separate funding priorities under the
    Commission's rules.[^7] It is to all applicants' advantage,
    therefore, to ensure that the Administrator receives their
    applications prior to the close of the filing window. In Funding
    Year 3, only applicants that filed within the window received
    funding. Applicants may file a completed FCC Form 471 in paper form,
    or electronically using the SLD web site. Under either filing
    method, FCC rules require that the FCC Form 471 be completed prior
    to the close of the filing window to ensure in-window consideration.
    In Funding Year 3, electronic Form 471 filers were required to print
    out the Block 6 certification to the Form 471 and mail it to SLD by
    January 31, 2000.[^8] The Funding Year 3 filing window was scheduled
    by the Administrator to close at 11:59 PM eastern standard time on
    January 19, 2000.[^9]

4.  In the *Server Crash Order*, released June 8, 2000, the Commission
    directed SLD to waive its filing window deadline for applicants who
    would have completed their applications before the close of the Year
    3 filing window on January 19, 2000, but were unable to access SLD's
    Internet site on January 19^th^ due to a failure of SLD's network
    server at approximately 11:25 PM Eastern Standard Time.[^10] The
    Commission stated that this action was necessary so that those
    applicants who exercised due diligence to file their applications
    within the filing window were not disadvantaged due to SLD's server
    failure on January 19, 2000.[^11] Applicants that met the criteria
    of the *Server Crash Order* were allowed to submit their
    applications within 30 days of the release date of that order, and
    those applications were treated as if the application was received
    within the filing window.[^12]

5.  Atlanta Adventist asserts that it attempted to file its FCC Form 471
    on January 18, 2000, but that due to "mass problems on the site
    while filing the form 471 on-line on January 18, 2000," Atlanta
    Adventist was "thrown off the site before printing Block 6."[^13]
    Atlanta Adventist states that it had contacted the Client Services
    Bureau and was told that its application was "in the system
    complete," and advised to print out a hard copy of the Block 6
    certification and complete it.[^14] Atlanta Adventist states that it
    mailed this hard copy to SLD on January 19, 2000.[^15] The record
    demonstrates that while SLD received Atlanta Adventist's Block 6
    certification hard copy on January 20, 2000, SLD apparently did not
    receive a complete Form 471 application from Atlanta Adventist prior
    to the close of the filing window on January 19, 2000, either online
    or a hard copy.[^16] SLD informed Atlanta Adventist on February 24,
    2000 that its Form 471 application did not meet its Minimum
    Processing Standards and could not be processed, and that the Block
    6 certification that SLD had received from Atlanta Adventist
    referred to an incomplete FCC Form 471.[^17] SLD further informed
    Atlanta Adventist that in order to be considered for E-rate
    discounts, its application must be corrected and resubmitted.[^18]
    SLD records indicate that Atlanta Adventist's complete Year 3
    application for universal service support was received on March 1,
    2000.[^19]

# II. DISCUSSION

6.  We conclude that Atlanta Adventist did not timely file its Year 3
    application for universal service support in order to receive
    "in-window" treatment, because it did not complete its application
    prior to the close of the Funding Year 3 filing window on January
    19, 2000. In requesting funds from the schools and libraries
    universal service support mechanism, the applicant has certain
    responsibilities. The applicant bears the burden of getting its
    forms and other information to SLD for processing within the
    established deadline if the applicant wishes to be considered with
    other in-window applicants. Applications are deemed timely only when
    SLD receives the complete FCC Form 471 application within the
    established timeframe. In this case, the record indicates that
    Atlanta Adventist did not file a complete Funding Year 3 application
    for universal service support under the schools and libraries
    mechanism until March 1, 2000, well after the January 19, 2000 close
    of the Year 3 filing window, and thus the Block 6 certification that
    was received separately from the remainder of its application on
    January 20, 2000 was correctly treated by SLD as an incomplete FCC
    Form 471.

7.  We note that with this appeal, Atlanta Adventist has included copies
    of print-outs of an FCC Form 471 with the date January 18, 2000 in
    the Internet address footer. We find, however, that these documents
    do not establish that SLD electronically received the FCC Form 471
    from Atlanta Adventist on that date. These forms only indicate that
    print-outs were made from Atlanta Adventist's computer screen and do
    not indicate whether the application was actually received by SLD on
    that date. The record indicates that Atlanta Adventist corrected and
    resubmitted its application in response to SLD's Minimum Processing
    Standards Letter of February 24, 2000, and SLD thus first received
    Atlanta Adventist's complete application on March 1, 2000. It is
    clear from the record, therefore, that Atlanta Adventist did not
    file its complete application within the Year 3 filing window and
    thus is not eligible for Year 3 "in-window" support.

8.  Atlanta Adventist alleges that "mass problems with the site while
    filing the Form 471 on-line on January 18, 2000" prevented it from
    being able to complete its Year 3 application.[^20] Numerous other
    applicants, however, successfully competed their applications
    electronically within the filing window during the same time period
    that Atlanta Adventist claims it attempted to complete its online
    application. Atlanta Adventist has not demonstrated that it was
    unable to log back on to complete its application and verify for
    itself that its application had been transmitted before the close of
    the filing window on January 19, 2000. Furthermore, while Atlanta
    Adventist alleges that it was informed by the Client Services Bureau
    that its application was "in the system complete" prior to the close
    of the window, Atlanta Adventist provides no corroborating
    information to support this assertion, and no documentation of such
    contact is present in the record. In light of the thousands of
    applications that SLD reviews and processes each year, it is
    administratively necessary to place on the applicant the
    responsibility of complying with all relevant rules and procedures.
    [^21] In order for the program to work efficiently, the applicant
    must assume responsibility for timely submission of its application
    materials if it wishes to be considered within the window.

9.  We further conclude that Atlanta Adventist does not qualify for
    relief under the *Server Crash Order* because it does not fall
    within the limited category of applicants entitled to relief under
    the *Server Crash Order*. The relief set forth in the *Server Crash
    Order* only applies to that group of applicants that attempted to
    file their applications online during a very short time period on
    January 19, 2000, specifically between approximately 11:25 PM
    Eastern time to the close of the filing window at 12:00 midnight.
    Atlanta Adventist alleges "mass problems" with the SLD server on
    January 18, 2000, but there was no reported SLD server failure on
    January 18^th^, and Atlanta Adventist still had the entire day of
    January 19, 2000 to complete its online application or to re-verify
    whether its application had actually been received by the system
    prior to being booted off the server. In sum, we conclude that
    Atlanta Adventist did not timely file its complete Year 3
    application prior to January 19, 2000, and was not eligible for
    "in-window" consideration for Year 3 universal service support, and
    thus its Request for Review must be denied.

# III. ORDERING CLAUSE

10. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to sections 1-4, and 254 of the
    Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151-154 and
    254, and sections 54.719 and 54.722 of the Commission's rules, 47
    C.F.R. §§ 54.719 and 54.722, that the Request for Review filed on
    March 3, 2000 by the Atlanta Adventist Academy HS, Atlanta, Georgia,
    IS DISMISSED.

> FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
>
> Mark G. Seifert
>
> Deputy Chief, Accounting Policy Division
>
> Common Carrier Bureau

[^1]: Letter from Rachel Burg, Atlanta Adventist Academy HS, to Federal
    Communications Commission, filed March 3, 2000 (Request for Review).

[^2]: Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service
    Administrative Company, to Rachel Burg, Atlanta Adventist Academy
    HS, dated February 24, 2000 (Minimum Processing Standards Letter).
    Section 54.719(c) of the Commission's rules provides that any person
    aggrieved by an action taken by a division of the Administrator may
    seek review from the Commission. 47 C.F.R. § 54.719(c).

[^3]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 54.502, 54.503.

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(b)(1), (b)(3).

[^5]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(c).

[^6]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.507(c).

[^7]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.507(g).

[^8]: *See, e.g.,* SLD Web site, What's New (January 2000)
    [http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/
    012000.asp#extended](http://www.sl.universalservice.org/whatsnew/012000.asp#extended)
    (noting that for Funding Year 3, the filing window for FCC Forms 471
    closed on January 19, 2000, while the deadline for certifications
    was initially January 26, 2000, and later extended to January 31,
    2000). For Funding Year 5, which begins July 1, 2002, SLD has
    enhanced its online filing capabilities so that Block 6
    certifications to FCC Forms 471 can be filed electronically. *See*
    [http://www.sl.universalservice.org/
    reference/471mps.asp]{.underline}.

[^9]: *Id.*

[^10]: *See Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Universal
    Service Support for Eligible Schools and Libraries, Year 3 Filing
    Window,* Order, CC Docket No. 96-45, 15 FCC Rcd 13932 (rel. June 8,
    2000) (*Server Crash Order*). At approximately 11:25 PM Eastern
    Standard Time on January 19, 2000, the computer equipment supporting
    the online application filing process on the SLD Internet site
    failed, and caused SLD's database to stop serving requests from the
    Internet site at that time. Applicants who were in the process of
    completing their applications on the Internet site at that time lost
    their connection, and applicants who had previously entered their
    information and intended to log on to complete their applications
    immediately prior to the close of the window were unable to do so.

[^11]: *Server Crash Order*, 15 FCC Rcd at 13935, para. 8.

[^12]: *Id.,* para. 9.

[^13]: Request for Review.

[^14]: *Id*.

[^15]: *Id*.

[^16]: The Block 6 certification in the record has an SLD bar code
    attached to it dated January 20, 2000, verifying that SLD did
    receive the Block 6 certification in a timely manner. SLD has no
    record, however, of a completed Form 471 application filed by
    Atlanta Adventist prior to the close of the filing window on January
    19, 2000. The earliest date that SLD received a completed funding
    Year 3 Form 471 application from Atlanta Adventist is March 1, 2000.
    *See* FCC Form 471, Atlanta Adventist Academy, filed March 1, 2000
    (Atlanta Adventist Form 471).

[^17]: *See* Minimum Processing Standards Letter.

[^18]: Minimum Processing Standards Letter at 1.

[^19]: *See* Atlanta Adventist Form 471.

[^20]: Request for Review.

[^21]: *Request for Review by Anderson School Staatsburg, Federal-State
    Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors
    of the National Exchange Carrier Association*, File No. SLD-13364,
    CC Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 15 FCC Rcd 25610 (Com. Car.
    Bur. 2000), para. 8.