CFR

54.603—Competitive bid requirements.

(a) Competitive bidding requirement. To select the telecommunications carriers that will provide services eligible for universal service support to it under this subpart, each eligible health care provider shall participate in a competitive bidding process pursuant to the requirements established in this subpart and any additional and applicable state, local, or other procurement requirements.

(b) Posting of FCC Form 465. (1) An eligible health care provider seeking to receive telecommunications services eligible for universal service support under this subpart shall submit a completed FCC Form 465 to the Rural Health Care Division. FCC Form 465 shall be signed by the person authorized to order telecommunications services for the health care provider and shall include, at a minimum, that person's certification under oath that:

(i) The requester is a public or non-profit entity that falls within one of the seven categories set forth in the definition of health care provider, listed in § 54.601(a) ;

(ii) The requester is physically located in a rural area, unless the health care provider is requesting services provided under § 54.621 ;

(iii) If the health care provider is requesting services provided under § 54.621, that the requester cannot obtain toll-free access to an Internet service provider;

(iv) The requested service or services will be used solely for purposes reasonably related to the provision of health care services or instruction that the health care provider is legally authorized to provide under the law in the state in which such health care services or instruction are provided;

(v) The requested service or services will not be sold, resold or transferred in consideration of money or any other thing of value; and

(vi) If the service or services are being purchased as part of an aggregated purchase with other entities or individuals, the full details of any such arrangement, including the identities of all co-purchasers and the portion of the service or services being purchased by the health care provider.

(2) The Rural Health Care Division shall post each FCC Form 465 that it receives from an eligible health care provider on its website designated for this purpose.

(3) After posting an eligible health care providers FCC Form 465 on the Rural Health Care Corporation website, the Rural Health Care Division shall send confirmation of the posting to the entity requesting services. The health care provider shall wait at least 28 days from the date on which its FCC Form 465 is posted on the website before making commitments with the selected telecommunications carrier(s).

(4) After selecting a telecommunications carrier, the health care provider shall certify to the Rural Health Care Division that the provider is selecting the most cost-effective method of providing the requested service or services, where the most cost-effective method of providing a service is defined as the method that costs the least after consideration of the features, quality of transmission, reliability, and other factors that the health care provider deems relevant to choosing a method of providing the required health care services. The health care provider shall submit to the Administrator paper copies of the responses or bids received in response to the requested services.

(5) The confirmation from the Rural Health Care Division shall include the date after which the requester may sign a contract with its chosen telecommunications carrier(s).

[62 FR 32948, June 17, 1997, as amended at 62 FR 41304, Aug. 1, 1997; 63 FR 2131, Jan. 13, 1998; 68 FR 74502, Dec. 24, 2003]

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