Administrative Procedure:
Contract Signature and Date Requirements
Further Detail:
Applicants are required to have a legally binding agreement (for Funding Year 2003 and earlier) or a signed contract (for Funding Year 2004 and later) prior to the FCC Form 471 certification postmark date. If the contract is not signed or dated by the applicant, the applicant will be asked to complete a certification stating that the contract satisfies their state and/or local procurement regulations or rules. Additionally, the applicant will be required to provide the contract award date and supporting documentation for that date. If an applicant states that unsigned and/or undated contracts are considered legal contracts in their state or locality, USAC will request documentation demonstrating that unsigned and/or undated contracts are legally binding contracts in the applicant’s state or locality.
Rules that this furthers:
1. 47 C.F.R. § 54.504(a) requires applicants to submit an FCC Form 471 to USAC after signing a contract for eligible services. The Commission has stated that applicants are required to have a signed contract or a legally binding agreement. See Requests for Waiver of the Decision of the Universal Service Administrator by Adams County School District 14, et al., Schools and Libraries Universal Service Mechanism, File Nos. SLD -425151 425211 425303 425352 426285 et al., CC Docket No. 02-6, Order, 22 FCC Rcd 6019, 6020, FCC 07-35, ¶ 2 (2007) (Adams County Order). With regard to this requirement, the Commission stated:
To the extent state contract law does not require two signatures and two dates for a valid contract, Commission precedent does not impose such a requirement. We note that in detailing document retention requirements, the Commission required both beneficiaries and service providers to retain executed contracts that are ‘signed and dated by both parties.’ Schools and Libraries Universal Service Support Mechanism, CC Docket No. 02-6, Fifth Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd 15808, 15825, FCC 04-190, ¶ 48 (2004). We clarify that this language was not intended to establish a new rule regarding the validity of a contractual agreement. Id. at 6024, ¶ 11 n.29.
2. 47 C.F.R § 54.701(a) requires USAC to “administer[ ] the universal service support mechanisms in an efficient, effective, and competitively neutral manner.”
3. 47 C.F.R. § 54.702(g) requires USAC to take “administrative action intended to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse.”
How this protects against waste, fraud, and abuse:
Ensures that the applicant has signed a valid contract with its service provider(s) prior to requesting discounts on eligible products or services.