§ 54.500   Terms and definitions.

   Basic maintenance. A service is eligible for support as a “basic
   maintenance” service if, but for the maintenance at issue, the internal
   connection would not function and serve its intended purpose with the
   degree of reliability ordinarily provided in the marketplace to
   entities receiving such services. Basic maintenance services do not
   include services that maintain equipment that is not supported by
   E-rate or that enhance the utility of equipment beyond the transport of
   information, or diagnostic services in excess of those necessary to
   maintain the equipment's ability to transport information.

   Billed entity. A “billed entity” is the entity that remits payment to
   service providers for services rendered to eligible schools and
   libraries.

   Consortium. A “consortium” is any local, statewide, regional, or
   interstate cooperative association of schools and/or libraries eligible
   for E-rate support that seeks competitive bids for eligible services or
   funding for eligible services on behalf of some or all of its members.
   A consortium may also include health care providers eligible under
   subpart G of this part, and public sector (governmental) entities,
   including, but not limited to, state colleges and state universities,
   state educational broadcasters, counties, and municipalities, although
   such entities are not eligible for support. Eligible schools and
   libraries may not join consortia with ineligible private sector members
   unless the pre-discount prices of any services that such consortium
   receives are generally tariffed rates.

   Educational purposes. For purposes of this subpart, activities that are
   integral, immediate, and proximate to the education of students, or in
   the case of libraries, integral, immediate and proximate to the
   provision of library services to library patrons, qualify as
   “educational purposes.” Activities that occur on library or school
   property are presumed to be integral, immediate, and proximate to the
   education of students or the provision of library services to library
   patrons.

   Elementary school. An “elementary school” means an elementary school as
   defined in 20 U.S.C. 7801(18), a non-profit institutional day or
   residential school, including a public elementary charter school, that
   provides elementary education, as determined under state law.

   Internal connections. A service is eligible for support as a component
   of an institution's “internal connections” if such service is necessary
   to transport or distribute broadband within one or more instructional
   buildings of a single school campus or within one or more
   non-administrative buildings that comprise a single library branch.

   Library. A “library” includes:

   (1) A public library;

   (2) A public elementary school or secondary school library;

   (3) An academic library;

   (4) A research library, which for the purpose of this section means a
   library that:

   (i) Makes publicly available library services and materials suitable
   for scholarly research and not otherwise available to the public; and

   (ii) Is not an integral part of an institution of higher education; and

   (5) A private library, but only if the state in which such private
   library is located determines that the library should be considered a
   library for the purposes of this definition.

   Library consortium. A “library consortium” is any local, statewide,
   regional, or interstate cooperative association of libraries that
   provides for the systematic and effective coordination of the resources
   of schools, public, academic, and special libraries and information
   centers, for improving services to the clientele of such libraries. For
   the purposes of these rules, references to library will also refer to
   library consortium.

   Lowest corresponding price. “Lowest corresponding price” is the lowest
   price that a service provider charges to non-residential customers who
   are similarly situated to a particular school, library, or library
   consortium for similar services.

   Managed internal broadband services. A service is eligible for support
   as “managed internal broadband services” if provided by a third party
   for the operation, management, and monitoring of the eligible
   components of a school or library local area network (LAN) and/or
   wireless LAN.

   Master contract. A “master contract” is a contract negotiated with a
   service provider by a third party, the terms and conditions of which
   are then made available to an eligible school, library, rural health
   care provider, or consortium that purchases directly from the service
   provider.

   Minor contract modification. A “minor contract modification” is a
   change to a universal service contract that is within the scope of the
   original contract and has no effect or merely a negligible effect on
   price, quantity, quality, or delivery under the original contract.

   National school lunch program. The “national school lunch program” is a
   program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and state
   agencies that provides free or reduced price lunches to economically
   disadvantaged children. A child whose family income is between 130
   percent and 185 percent of applicable family size income levels
   contained in the nonfarm poverty guidelines prescribed by the Office of
   Management and Budget is eligible for a reduced price lunch. A child
   whose family income is 130 percent or less of applicable family size
   income levels contained in the nonfarm income poverty guidelines
   prescribed by the Office of Management and Budget is eligible for a
   free lunch.

   Pre-discount price. The “pre-discount price” means, in this subpart,
   the price the service provider agrees to accept as total payment for
   its telecommunications or information services. This amount is the sum
   of the amount the service provider expects to receive from the eligible
   school or library and the amount it expects to receive as reimbursement
   from the universal service support mechanisms for the discounts
   provided under this subpart.

   Secondary school. A “secondary school” means a secondary school as
   defined in 20 U.S.C. 7801(38), a non-profit institutional day or
   residential school, including a public secondary charter school, that
   provides secondary education, as determined under state law except that
   the term does not include any education beyond grade 12.

   State telecommunications network. A “state telecommunications network”
   is a state government entity that procures, among other things,
   telecommunications offerings from multiple service providers and
   bundles such offerings into packages available to schools, libraries,
   or rural health care providers that are eligible for universal service
   support, or a state government entity that provides, using its own
   facilities, such telecommunications offerings to such schools,
   libraries, and rural health care providers.

   Voice services. “Voice services” include local phone service, long
   distance service, plain old telephone service (POTS), radio loop, 800
   service, satellite telephone, shared telephone service, Centrex,
   wireless telephone service such as cellular, interconnected voice over
   Internet protocol (VoIP), and the circuit capacity dedicated to
   providing voice services.

   Wide area network. For purposes of this subpart, a “wide area network”
   is a voice or data network that provides connections from one or more
   computers within an eligible school or library to one or more computers
   or networks that are external to such eligible school or library.
   Excluded from this definition is a voice or data network that provides
   connections between or among instructional buildings of a single school
   campus or between or among non-administrative buildings of a single
   library branch.

   [ 63 FR 2128 , Jan. 13, 1998, as amended at  68 FR 36942 , June 20, 2003;
    76 FR 56302 , Sept. 13, 2011;  79 FR 49197 , Aug. 19, 2014;  79 FR 68634 ,
   Nov. 18, 2014]

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