FCDL Comment:
FRN 2652797 will be denied because you failed to demonstrate that you selected the most cost-effective service offering in violation of the FCC's competitive bidding rules. Specifically, you sought E-rate funding for cellular and data services from multiple service providers for the same location and time periods on FCC Form 471 Applications 973499, 975264 and 975341. The FCC's Macomb Order held that applicants are prohibited from selecting multiple providers to provide requested identical services "when the additional service providers' bids were not the most cost-effective." In the Macomb Order, the Commission found that Macomb violated its rules when it selected multiple service providers to provide T3 lines and did not show that the lowest-cost bidder was unable to provide all of the necessary requested T3 lines. The Commission further explained that it would have been more cost-effective for Macomb to seek all of the necessary T3 lines from the single, lowest bidder. The documents that you provided to USAC indicate that you selected ATT for the IPhone service, Verizon for the MiFi service and Sprint for the Push to talk service. A single service provider, in this case Sprint, could provide the cellular and data needs to the entire district. You did not demonstrate that multiple service providers were necessary to provide the services requested or that the services were limited to a service area requiring multiple providers. We cannot determine that the most cost effective offering was chosen, with price of the eligible products and services as the primary bid evaluation factor as required by FCC rules and the Macomb Order, therefore the FRN is denied.