Goto Section: 54.506 | 54.508 | Table of Contents
FCC 54.507
Revised as of October 1, 2014
Goto Year:2013 |
2015
§ 54.507 Cap.
(a) Amount of the annual cap. The aggregate annual cap on federal
universal service support for schools and libraries shall be $2.25
billion per funding year, of which $1 billion per funding year will be
available for the category two services, as described in
§ 54.502(a)(2), unless demand for category one services is higher than
available funding.
(1) Inflation increase. In funding year 2010 and subsequent funding
years, the $2.25 billion funding cap on federal universal service
support for schools and libraries shall be automatically increased
annually to take into account increases in the rate of inflation as
calculated in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.
(2) Increase calculation. To measure increases in the rate of inflation
for the purposes of this paragraph (a), the Commission shall use the
Gross Domestic Product Chain-type Price Index (GDP-CPI). To compute the
annual increase as required by this paragraph (a), the percentage
increase in the GDP-CPI from the previous year will be used. For
instance, the annual increase in the GDP-CPI from 2008 to 2009 would be
used for the 2010 funding year. The increase shall be rounded to the
nearest 0.1 percent by rounding 0.05 percent and above to the next
higher 0.1 percent and otherwise rounding to the next lower 0.1
percent. This percentage increase shall be added to the amount of the
annual funding cap from the previous funding year. If the yearly
average GDP-CPI decreases or stays the same, the annual funding cap
shall remain the same as the previous year.
(3) Public notice. When the calculation of the yearly average GDP-CPI
is determined, the Wireline Competition Bureau shall publish a public
notice in the Federal Register within 60 days announcing any increase
of the annual funding cap based on the rate of inflation.
(4) Filing window requests. At the close of the filing window, if
requests for category one services are greater than the available
funding, the Administrator shall shift category two funds to provide
support for category one services. If available funds are sufficient to
meet demand for category one services, the Administrator, at the
direction of the Wireline Competition Bureau, shall direct the
remaining additional funds to provide support for category two
requests.
(5) Amount of unused funds. 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. The Chief, Wireline Competition
Bureau, is delegated authority to determine the proportion of unused
funds, if any, needed to meet category one demand, and to direct the
Administrator to use any remaining funds to provide support for
category two requests. 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.
(6) 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
this paragraph (a).
(b) Funding year. 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 Web site 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. Implementation of
non-recurring services may begin on April 1 prior to the July 1 start
of the funding year. 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) Rules of distribution. When the filing period described in
paragraph (c) of this section closes, the Administrator shall calculate
the total demand for both category one and category two support
submitted by applicants during the filing period. If total demand for
the funding year exceeds the total support available for category one
or both categories, the Administrator shall take the following steps:
(1) Category one. The Administrator shall first calculate the demand
for category one services for all discount levels. The Administrator
shall allocate the category one funds to these requests for support,
beginning with the most economically disadvantaged schools and
libraries, as determined by the schools and libraries discount matrix
in § 54.505(c). Schools and libraries eligible for a 90 percent
discount shall receive first priority for the category one funds. The
Administrator shall next allocate funds toward the requests submitted
by schools and libraries eligible for an 80 percent discount, then for
a 70 percent discount, and shall continue committing funds for category
one services in the same manner to the applicants at each descending
discount level until there are no funds remaining.
(2) Category two. The Administrator shall next calculate the demand for
category two services for all discount categories as determined by the
schools and libraries discount matrix in § 54.505(c). If that demand
exceeds the category two budget for that funding year, the
Administrator shall allocate the category two funds beginning with the
most economically disadvantaged schools and libraries, as determined by
the schools and libraries discount matrix in § 54.505(c). The
Administrator shall allocate funds toward the category two requests
submitted by schools and libraries eligible for an 85 percent discount
first, then for a 80 percent discount, and shall continue committing
funds in the same manner to the applicants at each descending discount
level until there are no category two funds remaining.
(3) To the extent that there are single discount percentage levels
associated with "shared services" under § 54.505(b)(4), the
Administrator shall allocate funds to the applicants at each descending
discount level (e.g., 90 percent, 89 percent, then 88 percent) until
there are no funds remaining.
(4) For both paragraphs (f)(1) and (2) of this section, if the
remaining funds are not sufficient to support all of the funding
requests within a particular discount level, the Administrator shall
allocate funds at that discount level using the percentage of students
eligible for the National School Lunch Program. Thus, if there is not
enough support to fund all requests at the 40 percent discount level,
the Administrator shall allocate funds beginning with those applicants
with the highest percentage of NSLP eligibility for that discount level
by funding those applicants with 19 percent NSLP eligibility, then 18
percent NSLP eligibility, and shall continue committing funds in the
same manner to applicants at each descending percentage of NSLP until
there are no funds remaining.
[ 79 FR 49201 , Aug. 19, 2014]
Effective Date Notes: 1. At 79 FR 49201 , Aug. 19, 2014, § 54.507 was
revised. However, paragraph (d) contains information collection and
recordkeeping requirements and will not become effective until approval
has been given by the Office of Management and Budget.
2. At 79 FR 49201 , Aug. 19, 2014, § 54.507 was revised however,
paragraphs (a) through (c)and (e) through (f)are effective July 1,
2015.
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Goto Section: 54.506 | 54.508
Goto Year: 2013 |
2015
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