§  54.603   Consortia, telecommunications services, and existing contracts.

   (a) Consortia. (1) Under the Telecommunications Program, an eligible
   health care provider may join a consortium with other eligible health
   care providers; with schools, libraries, and library consortia eligible
   under subpart F of this part; and with public sector (governmental)
   entities to order telecommunications services. With one exception,
   eligible health care providers participating in consortia with
   ineligible private sector members shall not be eligible for supported
   services under this subpart. A consortium may include ineligible
   private sector entities if such consortium is only receiving services
   at tariffed rates or at market rates from those providers who do not
   file tariffs.

   (2) For consortia, universal service support under the
   Telecommunications Program shall apply only to the portion of eligible
   services used by an eligible health care provider.

   (b) Telecommunications services. Any telecommunications service that is
   the subject of a properly completed bona fide request by a rural health
   care provider shall be eligible for universal service support. Upon
   submitting a bona fide request to a telecommunications carrier, each
   eligible rural health care provider is entitled to receive the most
   cost-effective, commercially-available telecommunications service, and
   a telecommunications service carrier that is eligible for support under
   the Telecommunications Program shall provide such service at the urban
   rate, as defined in § 54.604.

   (c) Existing contracts. A signed contract for services eligible for
   Telecommunications Program support pursuant to this subpart between an
   eligible health care provider, as defined under § 54.600, and a service
   provider shall be exempt from the competitive bid requirements as set
   forth in § 54.622(i).