Okla. Admin. Code § 165:59-7-19

Current through Vol. 42, No. 7, December 16, 2024

Section 165:59-7-19 - Competitive bidding

(a) In the interest of fostering a fair and open bidding process from all qualified bidders eligible to receive OUSF funding under the Oklahoma Telecommunications Act, the following are requirements for requests for bids:

(1) The bidder must be an Eligible Provider r, as defined in 17 O.S. § 139.102.

(2) Bidding shall not be structured in a manner to exclude carriers eligible to receive OUSF funding where the OUSF Beneficiary is located.

(A) The bid request must require ineligible services be priced separately from OUSF eligible services.

(B) The bid request shall not require that the Internet and WAN be provided by the same Eligible Provider.

(C) To avoid bid structuring, the bid request shall clearly identify the requested bandwidth range, inclusive of the eligible bandwidth limit, of the OUSF Beneficiary, and shall include a minimum and a maximum bandwidth at standard available levels as suggested in guidelines promulgated by the FCC or Commission rules.

(b) Bids must contain all costs to provide the Special Universal Services. Any bid containing estimated costs, other than fees and taxes to be paid to a third party, will be disregarded as not meeting the bid requirements.

(c) If the bid consists of multiple locations, each location must be specifically identified.

(d) Bidders are presumed to know statutory requirements for contracts for public entities; bids that do not conform to requirements for public entities may be disregarded.

(e) An existing contract, selected by the OUSF Beneficiary for comparison to received bids, shall be considered as being submitted during the same bidding period as the awarded bid.

(f) Services that are funded by the OUSF are to be competitively bid at least every five (5) years. If an OUSF Beneficiary fails to seek and accept competitive bids at or before the expiration of the five (5) year period, continued funding will be subject to the Administrator's discretion in accordance with 17 O.S. § 139.109.1(B)(9) and may require the filing of a new Request for OUSF Funding before funding can continue.

(g) OUSF Beneficiaries that claim to be exempt from the requirement to seek competitive bids, under 17 O.S. § 139.109.1(B)(1), must provide the statutory basis for the mandatory exemption, and provide all relevant evidence to support such exemption as part of the funding request.

Okla. Admin. Code § 165:59-7-19

Adopted by Oklahoma Register, Volume 34, Issue 24, September 1, 2017, eff. 9/11/2017

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 41, Issue 23, August 15, 2024, eff. 9/1/2024