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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 )
                                   )
Our Lady of Guadalupe School       )    File No. SLD-139630
Houston, Texas                     )
                                   )
Federal-State Joint Board on       )    CC Docket No. 96-45
Universal Service                  )
                                   )
Changes to the Board of Directors of    )    CC Docket No. 97-21
the National Exchange Carriers Association, Inc.  )


                             order

Adopted:  August 9, 2000                Released: August 10, 2000

By the Accounting Policy Division, Common Carrier Bureau:

1.     The Accounting Policy Division (Division)  has under consideration a Letter of
Appeal filed by Our Lady of Guadalupe School (Guadalupe), Houston, Texas, on May 23, 2000,
seeking review of a decision issued by the Schools and Libraries Division (SLD) of the Universal
Service Administrative Company (USAC or Administrator).  Guadalupe seeks review of the
SLD's denial of requests for discounted services under the schools and libraries universal service
support mechanism and requests a waiver of the Commission's competitive bidding
requirements.  For the reasons set forth below, we deny the Letter of Appeal and affirm the
SLD's denial of Guadalupe's requests. 
2.     Upon review of the record, the Division concludes that SLD correctly denied
Guadalupe's requests for support.  To receive support for discounted services, the Commission's
rules provide that, with limited exceptions for existing, binding contracts, an applicant must
comply with the Commission's competitive bidding requirements, including the posting of a
request for services (FCC Form 470) on SLD's website for 28 days.  Because Guadalupe
checked Item 10, in Block 3 of its FCC Form 470, indicating that it sought support only for
services provided pursuant to existing, binding contracts, SLD did not post Guadalupe's request
for services to SLD's website. The contracts for which Guadalupe seeks support, however, do not
meet either of the limited exceptions for existing, binding contracts permitted by the
Commission's rules.  Accordingly, consistent with prior Common Carrier Bureau (Bureau)
decisions, SLD correctly denied Guadalupe's requests for support.
3.     To the extent that Guadalupe requests a waiver of the 28-day posting requirement on
the ground that it misunderstood the instructions to the FCC Form 470, it has not shown good
cause for waiver.  The Bureau previously has denied requests for waiver of its competitive
bidding requirements when the applicant asserted the need for a waiver based on its own error or
misunderstanding of the Commission's rules or SLD's procedures.  Because Guadalupe offers
no further basis for considering its request, the Division denies Guadalupe's waiver request.
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 May 23, 2000, Letter of Appeal filed by Our Lady of Guadalupe School, Houston,
Texas, IS DENIED. 
                              FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



                              Sharon L. Webber
                              Deputy Chief, Accounting Policy Division
                              Common Carrier Bureau