Disposition of 37 separate appeals of USAC decisions from participants seeking to corect ministerial or clerical errors associated with the invoicing process. Found the denial of funding due to such errors inflicts undue hardship on the E-Rate participants and rigid compliance with the invoice filing deadline and invoice filing deadline extension rules does not further the purposes of section 254(h) or serve the public interest. Directed USAC to review appeals ministerial and clerical errors and not to direct these petitioners to file waiver requests with the Commission.
1/19/2023
Academy of Detroit West Operational SPIN Change Order
Disposition of 12 separate operational SPIN changes. When a new provider is delayed in starting to provide service, the applicant may remain with a previous provider during the transition period, even if that incumbent provider was not the second highest bidder. Change of service provider due to unsatisfactory quality of service is allowed. If there are two different services and other bidders can only provide one of the two services, applicant can seek new bids and award a single contract for both services to the winning bidder. If operational SPIN change is necessary due to quality of service issues and the second highest scoring bidder also has quality of service issues, applicant can seek bid from another vendor that can meet quality of service requirements. Dissatisfaction with vendor's customer service rather than quality of service is not legitimate reason to switch vendors. An applicant that overestimates its demand in one FRN cannot allocate its unneeded funding to a different FRN. Operational SPIN change rules do not grant applicants the right to remain with incumbent providers, rather than the newly-selected service provider, when technical problems do not prevent that transition. Applicant cannot wait to switch vendors until after receiving FCDL even if applicant cannot afford new vendor's higher priced service in the absence of E-Rate funding approval.
Topics: Duplicate Service; Service Substitution; Ineligible Services
Ineligible services appeal denied, USAC not required to allow Service Substitution to replace eligible equipment for ineligible equipment; backup units are ineligible.
Grants appeals of SLD decisions denying funding due to certain clerical or ministerial errors in the application, i.e., a failure to timely file an FCC Form 471, a failure to timely file a certification related to an FCC Form 470, or a failure to comply with minimum processing standards.
Directs USAC to provide all future and pending applicants with a 15-day opportunity to cure any ministerial or clerical errors on their FCC Form 470, FCC Form 471, or associated certifications and to develop targeted outreach procedures designed to better inform applicants of application procedures.
SLD should grant service change requests for a substitute service or product where (1) that service or product has the same functionality; (2) the substitution does not result in an increase in price; (3) the substitution does not violate any contract provisions or state or local procurement laws; and (4) the substitution does not result in an increase in the percentage of ineligible services or functions; requires the applicant's request for a service change to include a certification that the requested change in service is consistent with the controlling Form 470 and Request For Proposal (RFP) for the original services.
