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                                                           Before the
               Federal Communications Commission
                     Washington, DC  20554

In the Matter of                   )
                                   )
Request for Review of the          )
Decision of the                    )
Universal Service Administrator by )
                                   )
Lakeside Youth Services            )    File No. SLD-118452
Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania       )
                                   )
Federal-State Joint Board on       )    CC Docket No. 96-45
Universal Service                  )
                                   )
Changes to the Board of Directors of the     )    CC Docket No. 97-21
National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.  )

                             order

Adopted:  January 9, 2001               Released: January 10, 2001

By the Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

1.     The Accounting Policy Division (Division) has under consideration a Letter of
Appeal filed by Lakeside Youth Services  (Lakeside), Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania, on June 22,
2000.  Lakeside requests review of a decision by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of
the Universal Service Administrative Company to deny Lakeside's application for discounted
services under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism.  For the reasons
set forth below, we deny the Letter of Appeal and affirm SLD's denial of Lakeside's application.
2.     Under the schools and libraries universal service support mechanism, eligible schools,
libraries, and consortia that include eligible schools and libraries, may apply for discounts for
eligible telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections.  The
Commission's rules provide that, with one limited exception for existing, binding contracts, an
eligible school, library or consortium that includes eligible schools or libraries must seek
competitive bids for all services eligible for support.  In accordance with the Commission's
rules, an applicant must file with SLD, for posting to its website, an FCC Form 470 requesting
services.  The applicant must wait 28 days from the date that SLD posts the applicant's FCC
Form 470 to SLD's website before entering into an agreement with a service provider for the
requested services and submitting an FCC Form 471 requesting support for the services ordered
by the applicant.  Further, the instructions for the FCC Form 471 state that the date of signature
for the FCC Form 471 "CANNOT be earlier than the 29th day following the posting of the
associated FCC Form 470 to the [SLD] Web Site."
3.     Upon review of the record, the Division concludes that SLD correctly denied
Lakeside's request for support.  Lakeside signed its FCC Form 471 on March 18, 1999, prior to
its allowable contract date of March 19, 1999.  A signature date on an FCC Form 471 or on a
service provider agreement that predates the expiration of the 28-day posting period indicates
that the applicant failed to wait 28 days before entering into an agreement with a service provider
and therefore violated the Commission's competitive bidding rules.  The Common Carrier
Bureau has consistently denied requests for review by applicants that had similarly violated the
Commission's competitive bidding rules.  The Division, therefore, denies Lakeside's Letter of
Appeal.
4.        ACCORDINGLY, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to authority delegated under sections
0.91, 0.291, and 54.722(a) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.91. 0.291, and 54.722(a),
that the appeal filed by Lakeside Youth Services, Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania, on June 22,
2000, IS DENIED.

                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                              Mark G. Seifert
                              Deputy Chief, Accounting Policy Division     
                                   Common Carrier Bureau