Administrative Procedure:
Request for Proposal (RFP) Posting Requirements
Further Detail:
Applicants that post a Request for Proposal (RFP), in addition to posting an FCC Form 470, must post the RFP for at least 28 days before selecting a service provider and/or signing a contract.
Rules that this furthers:
1. 47 C.F.R. § 54.503(c) requires applicants to seek competitive bids by posting an FCC Form 470 to the USAC website for a minimum of 28 days to initiate the competitive bidding process.
2. The Commission requires as follows: “[t]o the extent that the applicant also relies on an RFP as the basis of its vendor selection, that RFP must also be available to bidders for 28 days.” Ysleta Order, 18 FCC Rcd 26407, 26423-24, FCC 03-313, ¶ 39.
3. 47 C.F.R § 54.701(a) requires USAC to “administer[ ] the universal service support mechanisms in an efficient, effective, and competitively neutral manner.”
4. 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 applicants comply with the competitive bidding rules and that a fair and open competitive bidding process occurs. Also ensures that information that is not available on the Form 470 is made available to all service providers for at least 28 days.