Step 2 Competitive Bidding

28-Day Waiting Period

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules require applicants to wait at least 28 days after the FCC Form 470 is posted to the USAC website before selecting a service provider, executing any contracts for contracted services, or signing and submitting an FCC Form 471. Your state or local procurement regulations may require a longer waiting period or impose additional requirements.

Some state or local procurement rules or regulations require applicants to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) in addition to the FCC Form 470. Also, applicants may choose to issue an RFP even though one is not required by state or local procurement regulations. FCC rules require that, if applicants issue an RFP, it must be available to bidders during at least the same 28-day period as the FCC Form 470. 

If you issued an RFP after you posted a FCC Form 470, your Allowable Vendor Selection/Contract Date (ACD) is actually 28 days after you issued the RFP, not 28 days after you posted the FCC Form 470. Although the ACD featured on the FCC Form 470 Receipt Notification Letter is calculated by USAC's system when a FCC Form 470 is successfully posted to the USAC website, your actual ACD will be later than the ACD featured in the RNL if you issued an RFP after you posted your form.

Filing an FCC Form 470 on Paper

If an applicant files a paper FCC Form 470, USAC must successfully enter the data on the form in its system before the FCC Form 470 can be posted to the USAC website. If information necessary to complete data entry is missing or incomplete, USAC will attempt to reach the contact person named on the FCC Form 470 to obtain the information needed for data entry. A paper FCC Form 470 cannot be posted to the USAC website until all necessary information has been obtained.

The 28-day clock does not start until the form has actually been posted to the USAC website.