**Before the**

**Federal Communications Commission**

**Washington, DC 20554**

In the Matter of )

)

Request for Review of the )

Decision of the )

Universal Service Administrator by )

)

Roosevelt Elementary School District No. 66 ) File No. SLD-245714

Phoenix, Arizona )

)

Schools and Libraries Universal Service ) CC Docket No. 02-6

Support Mechanism )

**order**

**Adopted: July 26, 2005 Released: July 27, 2005**

By the Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition
Bureau:

1.  NextiraOne, LLC (NextiraOne), on behalf of Roosevelt Elementary
    School District No. 66, Phoenix, Arizona (Roosevelt), filed a
    Request for Review of a decision by the Schools and Libraries
    Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company
    (Administrator).[^1] The SLD decision denied funding for discounted
    services for Funding Year 2001 under the schools and libraries
    universal service mechanism. For the reasons set forth below, we
    grant NextiraOne's Request for Review and remand it to SLD for
    appropriate action consistent with this Order.

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, Internet access, and internal connections
    services.[^2] Two schools and libraries program rules are relevant
    to this inquiry. First, section 54.507(d) of the Commission's rules
    requires applicants to implement non-recurring services by September
    30 following the close of the applicable funding year.[^3] If a
    service provider is unable to complete implementation for reasons
    beyond the service provider's control, an applicant may request an
    extension of the implementation deadline for non-recurring
    services.[^4] Secondly, applicants must submit an FCC Form 486
    indicating that services have begun and specifying the start date
    before SLD will accept invoices from the service provider and issue
    disbursements for discounts on eligible services.[^5] In Funding
    Year 2001, the due date for these forms was October 28, 2001, unless
    either service began or a funding commitment decision letter was
    issued after that date, in which case the FCC Form 486s were
    required to be postmarked no later than 120 days after the service
    start date or the date of the funding commitment decision letter,
    whichever was later.[^6] If an applicant failed to meet this
    requirement, SLD adjusted the start date for discounted services to
    either the date that the FCC Form 486 was postmarked or, in cases
    where the funding commitment decision letter came after the October
    28, 2001 deadline, to 120 days before the date that the FCC Form 486
    was postmarked.[^7]

3.  On February 8, 2002, SLD issued a funding commitment decision letter
    to Roosevelt containing Funding Request Number (FRN) 606794 for
    internal connections.[^8] On June 24, 2002, Roosevelt requested a
    service implementation deadline extension for the installation of
    internal connections, including the installation of FRN 606794.[^9]
    Roosevelt stated in its request that, for reasons beyond the service
    provider's control, the service provider was unable to complete
    delivery and installation.[^10] On September 30, 2002, SLD granted
    Roosevelt's extension request for FRN 606794, allowing these
    non-recurring services to be delivered and installed up to September
    30, 2003, and permitting invoices to be postmarked up to December
    29, 2003.[^11] On August 25, 2003, pursuant to Commission rules,
    Roosevelt filed its FCC Form 486, indicating a service start date
    for FRN 606794 of June 9, 2003.[^12] On February 4, 2004, Roosevelt
    signed a service certification form erroneously listing December 19,
    2002 as the delivery and installation date for services approved in
    FRN 606794.[^13] In fact, Roosevelt received the services in June
    2003, as Roosevelt stated in its FCC Form 486.[^14] One month later,
    on March 3, 2004, SLD notified Roosevelt that, because it had filed
    its FCC Form 486 more than 120 days after the date on the funding
    commitment decision letter, the service start date for FRN 606794
    had been adjusted under program rules to April 28, 2003, 120 days
    before Roosevelt's FCC Form 486 postmark date.[^15] On November 5,
    2004, SLD denied the invoice for FRN 606794, noting that the
    December 19, 2002 delivery and installation date listed on the
    service certification form was before the FCC Form 486 adjusted
    start date.[^16]

4.  On January 4, 2005, NextiraOne, on behalf of Roosevelt, appealed
    SLD's denial of FRN 606794.[^17] In support of its claim, NextiraOne
    attached to its appeal signed certificates of delivery and
    acceptance demonstrating that all installation occurred in June
    2003, after the FCC Form 486 adjusted start date.[^18] On February
    10, 2005, SLD denied NextiraOne's appeal on different grounds,
    stating that Roosevelt's services were delivered outside the dates
    for which discounts applied.[^19] SLD cited to section 54.507(d) of
    the Commission's rules, requiring that the implementation of
    non-recurring services be completed by September 30 following the
    close of the funding year.[^20]

5.  Upon review of the record, we grant NextiraOne's Request for Review.
    We conclude that Roosevelt's services were delivered in June 2003,
    within the timeframe of the services implementation extension
    granted by SLD and, therefore, Roosevelt was in compliance with
    section 54.507(d) of the Commission's rules.[^21] In reaching this
    conclusion, we find persuasive the certificates of delivery and
    acceptance submitted by NextiraOne showing that services for FRN
    606794 were delivered in June 2003.[^22] Generally, new information
    may not be admitted on appeal to contradict earlier information, but
    can be admitted to clarify an ambiguity in earlier information.[^23]
    In the instant case, there was an ambiguity regarding the date that
    services were received: the February 4, 2004 service certification
    form listed December 19, 2002 as the delivery and installation date,
    while Roosevelt's FCC Form 486 reported June 9, 2003 as the start
    date for the services at issue.[^24] The new information provided by
    NextiraOne resolves this ambiguity by clarifying that the services
    for FRN 606794 were installed in June 2003, after the FCC Form 486
    adjusted service start date of April 23, 2003. Accordingly, we grant
    NextiraOne's Request for Review.

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 by NextiraOne, LLC, on behalf of Roosevelt Elementary School
    District No. 66, Phoenix, Arizona, on April 8, 2005, IS GRANTED, and
    the application is REMANDED to SLD for further consideration
    consistent with this Order.

    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

    Vickie S. Robinson

> Deputy Chief
>
> Telecommunications Access Policy Division
>
> Wireline Competition Bureau

[^1]: NextiraOne, LLC Request for Review, filed April 21, 2005 (Request
    for Review). Section 54.719(c) of the Commission's rules provides
    that any person aggrieved by an action taken by a division of the
    Universal Service Administrative Company may seek review from the
    Commission. 47 C.F.R. § 54.719(c). NextiraOne was Roosevelt's
    selected service provider and seeks review on behalf of Roosevelt.

[^2]: 47 C.F.R. §§ 54.502, 54.503.

[^3]: 47 C.F.R § 54.507(d). Under the rule, schools and libraries
    receiving funding commitments for non-recurring services in Funding
    Year 2001 had until September 30, 2002 to implement these services.

[^4]: 47 C.F.R. § 54.507(d)(3). Extensions of the implementation
    deadline for non-recurring services may also be granted for: (1)
    applicants whose funding commitment decision letters are issued by
    the Administrator on or after March 1 of the funding year for which
    discounts are authorized; (2) applicants who received service
    provider change authorizations or service substitution
    authorizations from the Administrator on or after March 1 of the
    funding year for which discounts are authorized; or (3) applicants
    whose service providers are unwilling to complete installation
    because funding disbursements are delayed while the Administrator
    investigates the application for program compliance. *See* 47 C.F.R.
    § 54.507(d)(1)-(2), (4).

[^5]: Schools and Libraries Universal Service, Receipt of Service
    Confirmation Form, OMB 3060-0853 (July 2001) (FCC Form 486);
    Instructions for Completing the Schools and Libraries Universal
    Service, Receipt of Service Confirmation Form (FCC Form 486), OMB
    3060-0853 (July 2001) (Form 486 Instructions). *See* *also
    Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Children's Internet
    Protection Act*, CC Docket No. 96-45, Order, 17 FCC Rcd 12443,
    12444, para. 4 (2002); 47 C.F.R. § 54.520.

[^6]: *See* *Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Children's
    Internet Protection Act*, CC Docket No. 96-45, Report and Order, 16
    FCC Rcd 8182, 8188-89, 8191, paras. 10, 18 (2001); 47 C.F.R. §
    54.520(g); Form 486 Instructions at 8-10.

[^7]: Form 486 Instructions at 9-10. *See, e.g., Request for Review by
    East Carroll Parish School Board, Federal-State Joint Board on
    Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors of the National
    Exchange Carrier Association, Inc*., File No. SLD**-**232946, CC
    Docket Nos. 96-45 and 97-21, Order, 17 FCC Rcd 24591, 24594, para. 7
    (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2002) (providing funding only for services
    provided on or after the FCC Form 486 filing date of October 30,
    2001, instead of the funding year start date of July 1, 2001).

[^8]: Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service
    Administrative Company, to Rene Castaneda, Roosevelt Elementary
    School District No. 66, dated February 8, 2002 (Funding Commitment
    Decision Letter).

[^9]: Letter from Rene Castaneda, Roosevelt Elementary School District
    No. 66, to Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service
    Administrative Company, dated June 24, 2002.

[^10]: *Id.* at 1.

[^11]: Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service
    Administrative Company, to Rene Castaneda, Roosevelt Elementary
    School District No. 66, dated September 30, 2002 (Administrator's
    Decision on Implementation Extension Request).

[^12]: FCC Form 486, Roosevelt Elementary School District No. 66, dated
    August 25, 2003 (Roosevelt FCC Form 486).

[^13]: *See* Request for Review at Attachment 5.

[^14]: *See* Roosevelt FCC Form 486.

[^15]: Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service
    Administrative Company, to Rene Castaneda, Roosevelt Elementary
    School District No. 66, dated March 3, 2004 (Form 486 Notification
    Letter).

[^16]: *See* Request for Review at 3, Attachment 6.

[^17]: Letter from Thomas F. O'Neil III, counsel for NextiraOne, to
    Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service Administrative
    Company, dated January 4, 2005 (Request for Appeal).

[^18]: *Id.*

[^19]: Letter from Schools and Libraries Division, Universal Service
    Administrative Company, to E. Ashton Johnston, DLA Piper Rudnick
    Gray Cary US LLP, dated February 10, 2005 (Administrator's Decision
    on Invoice Appeal).

[^20]: *Id.*

[^21]: We also find that Roosevelt's FCC Form 486 was in compliance with
    the Commission's procedures. While Roosevelt's FCC Form 486 was
    postmarked more than 120 days after the funding commitment decision
    letter date, it was postmarked no later than 120 days after the
    service start date. *See* Form 486 Instructions at 9-10.

[^22]: Request for Review at Attachment 2.

[^23]: *See Request for Review by the Shawano-Gresham School District*,
    *Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, Changes to the
    Board of Directors of the National Exchange Carrier Association,*
    File No. SLD-292913, CC Docket Nos. 95-46 and 97-21, Order, 19 FCC
    Rcd 2180, 2181, para. 5 (Wireline Comp. Bur. 2004); *Request for
    Review by Pope Branch Elementary School, Federal-State Joint Board
    on Universal Service, Changes to the Board of Directors of the
    National Exchange Carrier Association,* File No. SLD-200168, CC
    Docket Nos. 95-46 and 97-21, Order, 16 FCC Rcd 20205, 20207, para. 5
    (Com. Car. Bur. 2001). *See also*
    http://www.sl.universalservice.org/reference/AppealsSLDGuidelines.asp.

[^24]: Request for Review at Attachment 5; Roosevelt FCC Form 486.