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, 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)   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.

(d)   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.

[Source: Added at 34 Ok Reg 5, eff 8-12-16 (emergency); Added at 34 Ok Reg 1011, eff 9-11-17]