TELCOMM SERVICES

DR: Documentation provided during the selective review demonstrates that the applicant violated the Commission's competitive bidding requirements by considering the price of eligible and ineligible products/services as the primary factor in its vendor selection process. FCC rules require applicants to carefully consider all submitted bids prior to entering into a contract, and to treat the price of eligible products and services as the primary factor in selecting the winning bid. Because you included the cost of ineligible products and services in the most heavily weighted factor, your evaluation was not in compliance with FCC rules and funding will be denied. In response to USAC's intent to deny letter, you provided a revised bid evaluation which was created in response to that letter. You explained that the cost of eligible goods and services totaling 30 possible points included indirect costs totaling 14 possible points that are not E-rate eligible such as man hours and equipment upgrade costs. In addition, you had an additional factor, costs of ineligible goods and services totaling 5 possible points. However, applicants cannot create new documentation after the fact and must be able to demonstrate that the district was in compliance with the applicable rule at the time the application was filed. Because you were not in compliance with the FCC rule at the time of the filing of the application, funding is denied.