Schools and Libraries
About the Schools and Libraries Program:
- Overview of the Program
- Overview of the Process
- Outreach and Training
- HATS Outreach
- Filing Appeals
- Understanding Audits
Schools and Libraries Tools:
Step 1: Proper Service Provider Assistance to Applicants
In certain limited circumstances, service providers can provide assistance to applicants during the application process.
Service providers may provide assistance to applicants in certain limited circumstances. For further information, service providers should review Inappropriate Roles for Service Providers.
Service providers acting in a neutral, advisory role may provide basic information about the program and the application process, including deadlines and timelines.
Service providers may offer technical assistance on the development of a technology plan, so long as that assistance can be interpreted as neutral and in no way as having an undue influence on the applicant's ability to conduct a fair and open competition for the necessary technology, services, and products.
Applicants may sometimes request assistance from service providers in developing Requests for Proposals (RFPs). Any assistance they provide must be neutral. For example, RFPs cannot be written in such a way that only the service provider who rendered the assistance could win the bid. An applicant cannot reveal information to the service provider assisting in the preparation of the bid that the applicant does not share with all prospective bidders.
An applicant must wait at least 28 days after its Form 470 is posted on the USAC website before selecting a service provider or signing a contract. Once the applicant has chosen its service provider and signed the contract, if any, the applicant can file the Description of Services Ordered and Certification Form (Form 471). The service provider selected by the applicant is expected to be a resource to the applicant for information about the technology, the products, and services that are being furnished to the applicant. The service provider should provide detailed information about the services and products being ordered that the applicant can include on its Item 21 Attachment.
Both the applicant and the service provider can be resources to USAC during application review.
If the applicant decides to do a service substitution, the service provider can play a valuable role in detailing how the functionality of the original request is being met by the newly desired configuration.
Service providers should be sure that applicants know correct Billing Account Numbers (if applicable), contract numbers, ineligible components (if any), and other details of existing services. Service providers should discuss with applicants what will happen to discounts being provided if the Funding Commitment Decision Letter on continuing existing services is delayed beyond the beginning of the subsequent funding year.
Service providers should also be sure that the applicant has current information about Service Provider Identification Numbers (SPINs) and company names (especially in an era of rapid changes due to mergers and acquisitions).
