Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?mc=true&node=se47.3.54_1315&rgn=div8
Timestamp: 2020-07-16 17:52:07
Document Index: 350492554

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 54', '§54', '§54', '§1', '§54', '§54', '§54', '§54', '§54', '§54']

Title 47 → Chapter I → Subchapter B → Part 54 → Subpart D → §54.315
§54.315 Application process for Connect America Fund phase II support distributed through competitive bidding.
(a) Application to participate in competitive bidding for Phase II support. In addition to providing information specified in §1.21001(b) of this chapter and any other information required by the Commission, an applicant to participate in competitive bidding for Phase II auction support shall:
(2) Certify that the applicant is financially and technically qualified to meet the public interest obligations of §54.309 for each relevant tier and in each area for which it seeks support;
(4) Indicate the tier of bids that the applicant plans to make and describe the technology or technologies that will be used to provide service for each tier of bid;
(6) To the extent that an applicant plans to use spectrum to offer its voice and broadband services, demonstrate it has the proper authorizations, if applicable, and access to operate on the spectrum it intends to use, and that the spectrum resources will be sufficient to cover peak network usage and deliver the minimum performance requirements to serve all of the fixed locations in eligible areas, and certify that it will retain its access to the spectrum for at least 10 years from the date of the funding authorization; and
(b) Application by winning bidders for Phase II auction support—(1) Deadline. As provided by public notice, winning bidders for Phase II auction support shall file an application for Phase II auction support no later than the number of business days specified after the public notice identifying them as winning bidders.
(2) Application contents. An application for Phase II auction support must contain:
(ii) Certification that the applicant is financially and technically qualified to meet the public interest obligations of §54.309 for each tier in which it is a winning bidder and in each area for which it seeks support;
(iii) Certification that the applicant will meet the relevant public interest obligations for each relevant tier, including the requirement that it will offer service at rates that are equal or lower to the Commission's reasonable comparability benchmarks for fixed wireline services offered in urban areas;
(iv) A description of the technology and system design the applicant intends to use to deliver voice and broadband service, including a network diagram which must be certified by a professional engineer. The professional engineer must certify that the network is capable of delivering, to at least 95 percent of the required number of locations in each relevant state, voice and broadband service that meets the requisite performance requirements in §54.309;
(v) Certification that the applicant will have available funds for all project costs that exceed the amount of support to be received from the Phase II auction for the first two years of its support term and that the applicant will comply with all program requirements, including service milestones;
(3) No later than the number of days provided by public notice, the applicant shall submit a letter from a bank meeting the eligibility requirements outlined in paragraph (c) of this section committing to issue an irrevocable stand-by letter of credit, in the required form, to the winning bidder. The letter shall at a minimum provide the dollar amount of the letter of credit and the issuing bank's agreement to follow the terms and conditions of the Commission's model letter of credit.
(4) No later than 180 days after the public notice identifying them as a winning bidder, bidders that did not submit audited financial statements in their short-form application pursuant to paragraph (a)(7)(i) of this section must submit the financial statements from the prior fiscal year that are audited by a certified independent public accountant.
(v) After receipt and review of the applications, a public notice shall identify each winning bidder that may be authorized to receive Phase II auction support after the winning bidder submits a letter of credit and an accompanying opinion letter as described in paragraph (c) of this section, in a form acceptable to the Commission. Each such winning bidder shall submit a letter of credit and accompanying opinion letter as required by paragraph (c) of this section, in a form acceptable to the Commission no later than the number of business days provided by public notice.
(vi) After receipt of all necessary information, a public notice will identify each winning bidder that is authorized to receive Phase II auction support.
(c) Letter of credit. Before being authorized to receive Phase II auction support, a winning bidder shall obtain an irrevocable standby letter of credit which shall be acceptable in all respects to the Commission.
(1) Value. Each recipient authorized to receive Phase II support shall maintain the standby letter of credit or multiple standby letters of credit in an amount equal to at a minimum the amount of Phase II auction support that has been disbursed and that will be disbursed in the coming year, until the Universal Service Administrative Company has verified that the recipient met the final service milestone as described in §54.310(c).
(ii) Once the recipient has met its 80 percent service milestone, it may obtain a new letter of credit or renew its existing letter of credit so that it is valued at a minimum at 60 percent of the total support that has been disbursed plus the amount that will be disbursed in the coming year.
(iv) Any non-United States bank
(3) A winning bidder for Phase II auction support shall provide with its letter of credit an opinion letter from its legal counsel clearly stating, subject only to customary assumptions, limitations, and qualifications, that in a proceeding under Title 11 of the United States Code, 11 U.S.C. 101 et seq. (the “Bankruptcy Code”), the bankruptcy court would not treat the letter of credit or proceeds of the letter of credit as property of the winning bidder's bankruptcy estate under section 541 of the Bankruptcy Code.
(4) Authorization to receive Phase II auction support is conditioned upon full and timely performance of all of the requirements set forth in this section, and any additional terms and conditions upon which the support was granted.
(i) Failure by a Phase II auction support recipient to meet its service milestones as required by §54.310 will trigger reporting obligations and the withholding of support as described in §54.320(c). Failure to come into full compliance within 12 months will trigger a recovery action by the Universal Service Administrative Company. If the Phase II recipient does not repay the requisite amount of support within six months, the Universal Service Administrative Company will be entitled to draw the entire amount of the letter of credit and may disqualify the Phase II auction support recipient from the receipt of Phase II auction support or additional universal service support.
[81 FR 44449, July 7, 2016, as amended at 83 FR 15994, Apr. 13, 2018; 83 FR 18454, Apr. 27, 2018]