Goto Section: 54.506 | 54.508 | Table of Contents
FCC 54.507
Revised as of October 1, 2008
Goto Year:2007 |
2009
Sec. 54.507 Cap.
(a) Amount of the annual cap. The annual funding cap on federal universal
service support for schools and libraries shall be $2.25 billion per funding
year. All funding authority for a given funding year that is unused in that
funding year shall be carried forward into subsequent funding years for use
in accordance with demand. All funds collected that are unused shall be
applied to stabilize universal service contributions in accordance with the
public interest and consistent with Sec. 54.709(b) for no more than three
quarters, beginning with third quarter 2002. Beginning no later than second
quarter 2003, all funds collected that are unused shall be carried forward
into subsequent funding years for use in the schools and libraries support
mechanism in accordance with the public interest and notwithstanding the
annual cap.
(1) Amount of unused funds. The Administrator shall report to the
Commission, on a quarterly basis, funding that is unused from prior years of
the schools and libraries support mechanism.
(2) Application of unused funds. On an annual basis, in the second quarter
of each calendar year, all funds that are collected and that are unused from
prior years shall be available for use in the next full funding year of the
schools and libraries mechanism in accordance with the public interest and
notwithstanding the annual cap, as described in paragraph (a) of this
section.
(b) A funding year for purposes of the schools and libraries cap shall be
the period July 1 through June 30.
(c) Requests . Funds shall be available to fund discounts for eligible
schools and libraries and consortia of such eligible entities on a
first-come-first-served basis, with requests accepted beginning on the first
of July prior to each funding year. The Administrator shall maintain on the
Administrator's website a running tally of the funds already committed for
the existing funding year. The Administrator shall implement an initial
filing period that treats all schools and libraries filing within that
period as if their applications were simultaneously received. The initial
filing period shall begin on the date that the Administrator begins to
receive applications for support, and shall conclude on a date to be
determined by the Administrator. The Administrator may implement such
additional filing periods as it deems necessary.
(d) Annual filing requirement. Schools and libraries, and consortia of such
eligible entities shall file new funding requests for each funding year no
sooner than the July 1 prior to the start of that funding year. Schools,
libraries, and eligible consortia must use recurring services for which
discounts have been committed by the Administrator within the funding year
for which the discounts were sought. The deadline for implementation of
non-recurring services will be September 30 following the close of the
funding year. An applicant may request and receive from the Administrator an
extension of the implementation deadline for non-recurring services if it
satisfies one of the following criteria:
(1) The applicant's funding commitment decision letter is issued by the
Administrator on or after March 1 of the funding year for which discounts
are authorized;
(2) The applicant receives a service provider change authorization or
service substitution authorization from the Administrator on or after March
1 of the funding year for which discounts are authorized;
(3) The applicant's service provider is unable to complete implementation
for reasons beyond the service provider's control; or
(4) The applicant's service provider is unwilling to complete installation
because funding disbursements are delayed while the Administrator
investigates their application for program compliance.
(e) Long term contracts . If schools and libraries enter into long term
contracts for eligible services, the Administrator shall only commit funds
to cover the pro rata portion of such a long term contract scheduled to be
delivered during the funding year for which universal service support is
sought.
(f) Date services must be supplied . The Administrator shall not approve
funding for services received by a school or library before January 1, 1998.
(g) Rules of priority. Administrator shall act in accordance with paragraph
(g)(1) of this section with respect to applicants that file a Form 471, as
described in Sec. 54.504(c) of this part, when a filing period described in
paragraph (c) of this section is in effect. Administrator shall act in
accordance with paragraph (g)(2) of this section with respect to applicants
that file a Form 471, as described in Sec. 54.504(c) of this part, at all times
other than within a filing period described in paragraph (c) of this
section.
(1) When the filing period described in paragraph (c) of this section
closes, Administrator shall calculate the total demand for support submitted
by applicants during the filing period. If total demand exceeds the total
support available for that funding year, Administrator shall take the
following steps:
(i) Schools and Libraries Corporation shall first calculate the demand for
telecommunications services, voice mail, and Internet access for all
discount categories, as determined by the schools and libraries discount
matrix in Sec. 54.505(c). These services shall receive first priority for the
available funding.
(ii) Schools and Libraries Corporation shall then calculate the amount of
available funding remaining after providing support for all
telecommunications services, voice mail, and Internet access for all
discount categories. Schools and Libraries Corporation shall allocate the
remaining funds to the requests for support for internal connections,
beginning with the most economically disadvantaged schools and libraries, as
determined by the schools and libraries discount matrix in Sec. 54.505(c) of
this part. Schools and libraries eligible for a 90 percent discount shall
receive first priority for the remaining funds, and those funds will be
applied to their requests for internal connections.
(iii) To the extent that funds remain after the allocation described in
Sec. 54.507(g)(1) (i) and (ii), Schools and Libraries Corporation shall next
allocate funds toward the requests for internal connections submitted by
schools and libraries eligible for an 80 percent discount, then for a 70
percent discount, and shall continue committing funds for internal
connections in the same manner to the applicants at each descending discount
level until there are no funds remaining.
Note to paragraph(g)(l)(iii): To the extent that there are single discount
percentage levels associated with “shared services” under Sec. 54.505(b)(4), the
Administrator shall allocate funds for internal connections beginning at the
ninety percent discount level, then for the eighty-nine percent discount,
then for the eighty-eight percent discount, and shall continue committing
funds for internal connections in the same manner to the applicants at each
descending discount level until there are no funds remaining.
(iv) If the remaining funds are not sufficient to support all of the funding
requests within a particular discount level, Schools and Libraries
Corporation shall divide the total amount of remaining support available by
the amount of support requested within the particular discount level to
produce a pro-rata factor. Schools and Libraries Corporation shall reduce
the support level for each applicant within the particular discount level,
by multiplying each applicant's requested amount of support by the pro-rata
factor.
(v) Schools and Libraries Corporation shall commit funds to all applicants
consistent with the calculations described herein.
(2) Rules of priority . When expenditures in any funding year reach the
level where only $250 million remains before the cap will be reached, funds
shall be distributed in accordance to the following rules of priority:
(i) The Administrator or the Administrator's subcontractor shall post a
message on the Administrator's website, notify the Commission, and take
reasonable steps to notify the educational and library communities that
commitments for the remaining $250 million of support will only be made to
the most economically disadvantaged schools and libraries (those in the two
most disadvantaged categories) for the next 30 days or the remainder of the
funding year, whichever is shorter.
(ii) The most economically disadvantaged schools and libraries (those in the
two most disadvantaged categories) that have not received discounts from the
universal service support mechanism in the previous or current funding years
shall have exclusive rights to secure commitments for universal service
support under this subpart for a 30-day period or the remainder of the
funding year, whichever is shorter. If such schools and libraries have
received universal service support only for basic telephone service in the
previous or current funding years, they shall remain eligible for the
highest priority once spending commitments leave only $250 million remaining
before the funding cap is reached.
(iii) Other economically disadvantaged schools and libraries (those in the
two most disadvantaged categories) that have received discounts from the
universal service support mechanism in the previous or current funding years
shall have the next highest priority, if additional funds are available at
the end of the 30-day period or the funding year, whichever is shorter.
(iv) After all requests submitted by schools and libraries described in
paragraphs (g)(2) and (g)(3) of this section during the 30-day period have
been met, the Administrator shall allocate the remaining available funds to
all other eligible schools and libraries in the order in which their
requests have been received by the Administrator, until the $250 million is
exhausted or the funding year ends.
[ 62 FR 32948 , June 17, 1997, as amended at 62 FR 40748 , July 30, 1997; 62 FR 41304 , Aug. 1, 1997; 62 FR 56120 , Oct. 29, 1997; 63 FR 2130 , Jan. 13, 1998;
63 FR 3832 , Jan. 27, 1998; 63 FR 45958 , Aug. 28, 1998; 63 FR 70572 , Dec. 21,
1998; 64 FR 22810 , Apr. 28, 1999; 64 FR 30442 , June 8, 1999; 64 FR 33788 ,
June 24, 1999; 66 FR 38378 , July 24, 2001; 67 FR 41866 , June 20, 2002; 68 FR 36942 , June 20, 2003; 69 FR 6191 , Feb. 10, 2004; 71 FR 65750 , Nov. 9, 2006]
Goto Section: 54.506 | 54.508
Goto Year: 2007 |
2009
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