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Notes

47 C.F.R. §§ 54.603–54.606

4 sections in range

§54.603. Consortia, telecommunications services, and existing contracts.

47 C.F.R. § 54.603

(a)
Consortia.
(1)
Under the Telecommunications Program, an eligible health care provider may join a consortium with other eligible health care providers; with schools, libraries, and library consortia eligible under subpart F of this part; and with public sector (governmental) entities to order telecommunications services. With one exception, eligible health care providers participating in consortia with ineligible private sector members shall not be eligible for supported services under this subpart. A consortium may include ineligible private sector entities if such consortium is only receiving services at tariffed rates or at market rates from those providers who do not file tariffs.
(2)
For consortia, universal service support under the Telecommunications Program shall apply only to the portion of eligible services used by an eligible health care provider.
(b)
Telecommunications services. Any telecommunications service that is the subject of a properly completed bona fide request by a rural health care provider shall be eligible for universal service support. Upon submitting a bona fide request to a telecommunications carrier, each eligible rural health care provider is entitled to receive the most cost-effective, commercially-available telecommunications service, and a telecommunications service carrier that is eligible for support under the Telecommunications Program shall provide such service at the urban rate, as defined in § 54.604.
(c)
Existing contracts. A signed contract for services eligible for Telecommunications Program support pursuant to this subpart between an eligible health care provider, as defined under § 54.600, and a service provider shall be exempt from the competitive bid requirements as set forth in § 54.622(i).
Notes, amendments, and revision history

Source

Source: 84 FR 54979, Oct. 11, 2019, unless otherwise noted.

Authority

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 155, 201, 205, 214, 219, 220, 229, 254, 303(r), 403, 1004, 1302, 1601-1609, and 1752, unless otherwise noted.

Source

Source: 62 FR 32948, June 17, 1997, unless otherwise noted.

§54.604. Determining the urban rate.

47 C.F.R. § 54.604

(a)
Effective funding year 2024—
(1)
If a rural health care provider requests support for an eligible service to be funded from the Telecommunications Program that is to be provided over a distance that is less than or equal to the “standard urban distance,” as defined in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, for the state in which it is located, the “urban rate” for that service shall be a rate no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate charged to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service in any city with a population of 50,000 or more in that state, calculated as if it were provided between two points within the city.
(2)
If a rural health care provider requests an eligible service to be provided over a distance that is greater than the “standard urban distance,” as defined in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, for the state in which it is located, the urban rate for that service shall be a rate no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate charged to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service provided over the standard urban distance in any city with a population of 50,000 or more in that state, calculated as if the service were provided between two points within the city.
(3)
The “standard urban distance” for a state is the average of the longest diameters of all cities with a population of 50,000 or more within the state.
(4)
The Administrator shall calculate the “standard urban distance” and shall post the “standard urban distance” and the maximum supported distance for each state on its website.
(b)
As of funding year 2025, if a rural health care provider requests support for an eligible service to be funded from the Telecommunications Program the “urban rate” for that service shall be a rate no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate charged to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service in any city with a population of 50,000 or more in that state, calculated as if it were provided between two points within the city.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[89 FR 1845, Jan. 11, 2024]

Source

Source: 84 FR 54979, Oct. 11, 2019, unless otherwise noted.

Authority

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 155, 201, 205, 214, 219, 220, 229, 254, 303(r), 403, 1004, 1302, 1601-1609, and 1752, unless otherwise noted.

Source

Source: 62 FR 32948, June 17, 1997, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[89 FR 1845, Jan. 11, 2024]

§54.605. Determining the rural rate.

47 C.F.R. § 54.605

(a)
Effective funding year 2024, the rural rate shall be the average of the rates actually being charged to commercial customers, other than health care providers, for identical or similar services provided by the telecommunications carrier providing the service in the rural area in which the health care provider is located. The rates included in this average shall be for services provided over the same distance as the eligible service. The rates averaged to calculate the rural rate must not include any rates reduced by universal service support mechanisms. The “rural rate” shall be used as described in this subpart to determine the credit or reimbursement due to a telecommunications carrier that provides eligible telecommunications services to eligible health care providers.
(b)
If the telecommunications carrier serving the health care provider is not providing any identical or similar services in the rural area, then the rural rate shall be the average of the tariffed and other publicly available rates, not including any rates reduced by universal service programs, charged for the same or similar services in that rural area over the same distance as the eligible service by other carriers. If there are no tariffed or publicly available rates for such services in that rural area, or if the carrier reasonably determines that this method for calculating the rural rate is unfair, then the carrier shall submit for the state commission's approval, for intrastate rates, or for the Commission's approval, for interstate rates, a cost-based rate for the provision of the service in the most economically efficient, reasonably available manner.
(1)
The carrier must provide, to the state commission, for intrastate rates, or to the Commission, for interstate rates, a justification of the proposed rural rate, including an itemization of the costs of providing the requested service.
(2)
The carrier must provide such information periodically thereafter as required, by the state commission for intrastate rates or the Commission for interstate rates. In doing so, the carrier much take into account anticipated and actual demand for telecommunications services by all customers who will use the facilities over which services are being provided to eligible health care providers.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

Amendments

[88 FR 17395, Mar. 23, 2023]

Source

Source: 84 FR 54979, Oct. 11, 2019, unless otherwise noted.

Authority

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 155, 201, 205, 214, 219, 220, 229, 254, 303(r), 403, 1004, 1302, 1601-1609, and 1752, unless otherwise noted.

Source

Source: 62 FR 32948, June 17, 1997, unless otherwise noted.

Amendments

[88 FR 17395, Mar. 23, 2023]

§54.606. Calculating support.

47 C.F.R. § 54.606

(a)
The amount of universal service support provided for an eligible service to be funded from the Telecommunications program shall be the difference, if any, between the urban rate and the rural rate charged for the services, as defined in this section. In addition, all reasonable charges that are incurred by taking such services, such as state and federal taxes, shall be eligible for universal service support. Charges for termination liability, penalty surcharges, and other charges not included in the cost of taking such service shall not be covered by the universal service support mechanisms.
(b)
The universal service support mechanisms shall provide support for intrastate telecommunications services, as set forth in § 54.101(a), provided to rural health care providers as well as interstate telecommunications services.
(c)
Mobile rural health care providers—
(1)
Calculation of support. The support amount allowed under the Telecommunications Program for satellite services provided to mobile rural health care providers is calculated by comparing the rate for the satellite service to the rate for an urban wireline service with a similar bandwidth. Support for satellite services shall not be capped at an amount of a functionally similar wireline alternative. Where the mobile rural health care provider provides service in more than one state, the calculation shall be based on the urban areas in each state, proportional to the number of locations served in each state.
(2)
Documentation of support.
(i)
Mobile rural health care providers shall provide to the Administrator documentation of the price of bandwidth equivalent wireline services in the urban area in the state or states where the service is provided. Mobile rural health care providers shall provide to the Administrator the number of sites the mobile health care provider will serve during the funding year.
(ii)
Where a mobile rural health care provider serves less than eight different sites per year, the mobile rural health care provider shall provide to the Administrator documentation of the price of bandwidth equivalent wireline services. In such case, the Administrator shall determine on a case-by-case basis whether the telecommunications service selected by the mobile rural health care provider is the most cost-effective option. Where a mobile rural health care provider seeks a more expensive satellite-based service when a less expensive wireline alternative is most cost-effective, the mobile rural health care provider shall be responsible for the additional cost.
Notes, amendments, and revision history

Source

Source: 84 FR 54979, Oct. 11, 2019, unless otherwise noted.

Authority

Authority: 47 U.S.C. 151, 154(i), 155, 201, 205, 214, 219, 220, 229, 254, 303(r), 403, 1004, 1302, 1601-1609, and 1752, unless otherwise noted.

Source

Source: 62 FR 32948, June 17, 1997, unless otherwise noted.