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     Before the
     Federal Communications Commission
     Washington, D.C. 20554

                                   )         
In the Matter of                   )    
                                   )
Request for Review                      )
of the Decision of                      )
the Universal Service Administrator by       )
                                   )    
Ozarks Unlimited Resources Cooperative       )                   
Harrison, Arkansas                      )
On behalf of                            )
                                   )
Yellville-Summit School District             )    File No. SLD- 139666
                                   )
Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service    )    CC Docket No. 96-45
                                   )    
Changes to the Board of Directors of the          )    CC Docket No. 97-21
National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.       )
                                   

                                  ORDER


                  Adopted:  January 6, 2000                    Released:  January 7, 2000

By the Common Carrier Bureau:

     1.   The Common Carrier Bureau has under consideration a Letter of Appeal, filed
September 29, 1999, by Ozarks Unlimited Resources Cooperative (Ozarks).  Ozarks is seeking
funding in connection with an FCC Form 471, billed entity number 139666, Ozarks allegedly filed
with the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal Service Administrative Company
(USAC or Administrator) for the Yellville-Summit School District. Ozarks asserts that it filed an FCC
Form 471 but did not receive a corresponding funding commitment decision letter.  Ozarks further
indicates in its letter that it has sought assistance from SLD personnel who have been unable to find
any record of the FCC Form 471 in question and seeks Commission assistance in resolving this
situation. For the reasons set forth below, we deny the Letter of Appeal. 

     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.  In order to receive discounts
on eligible services, schools must file certain information with the Administrator.  Specifically, the
Commission's rules require that an applicant submit to the Administrator a completed FCC Form 470,
in which the applicant sets forth the school's technological needs and the services for which it seeks
discounts.  The applicant must generally use the FCC Form 470 application as the basis for seeking
competitive bids on the services for which discounts are sought.  Once the school has signed a
contract for eligible services, it must file an FCC Form 471 application to notify the Administrator of
the services that have been ordered, the carrier with whom the school has signed the contract, and an
estimate of funds needed to cover the discounts to be given for eligible services.  The Administrator
then determines the amount of discounts for which the school is eligible.  Approval of the application
is contingent upon the filing of an FCC Form 471.  If the Administrator has established a filing
window, all FCC Form 471s submitted during the filing window will be treated as if they were
simultaneously received.  For the first funding period, the filing window opened on January 30, 1998
and closed on April 15, 1999. 

     3.   We have reviewed the copy of the FCC Form 471 Ozarks attached to its Letter of
Appeal as well as SLD's records relating to this applicant.  Unfortunately, we  have found no evidence
in the  record before us that this particular FCC Form 471 was filed with SLD at any time within the
January 30, 1998 to April 15, 1999 filing window.  Rather, SLD's records reveal that the FCC Form
471 Ozarks attached to its Letter of Appeal was faxed to SLD on August 20, 1999.  SLD records
reveal that the faxed copy was sent in connection with SLD's efforts to locate an FCC Form 471 that
Ozarks allegedly filed within the filing window.  There is no indication, however, that this FCC Form
471 was filed prior to the close of the filing window and Ozarks has made no showing that it was
timely filed.  In light of these circumstances, we conclude that the Letter of Appeal filed by Ozarks
must be denied, since there is no evidence that the FCC Form 471 in question was, in fact, filed with
SLD within the filing window.

     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 Ozarks Unlimited Resources Cooperative on behalf of Yellville-Summit School
District, dated September 29, 1999, IS DENIED.

                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                              Yog R. Varma
                              Deputy Chief,  Common Carrier Bureau