Sec. 54.500  Terms and definitions.

    Terms used in this subpart have the following meanings:
    (a) Elementary school. An ``elementary school'' is a non-profit 
institutional day or residential school that provides elementary 
education, as determined under state law.
    (b)Existing contract. For the purpose of Sec. 54.511(c), an 
``existing contract'' is

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any signed contract for services eligible for discounts pursuant to this 
subpart between an eligible school or library as defined under 
Sec. 54.501 and a service provider that either:
    (1) Was signed prior to November 8, 1996; or
    (2) Is limited to services provided before December 31, 1998 and was 
signed on or after November 8, 1996 but was before the first date that 
the universal service competitive bidding system described in 
Sec. 54.504 is operational. The competitive bidding system will be 
deemed to be operational when both the universal service administrator 
is ready to accept and post requests for service from schools and 
libraries on a website and that website may be used by potential service 
providers.
    (c) Internal connections. A given service is eligible for support as 
a component of the institution's internal connections only if it is 
necessary to transport information to individual classrooms. Thus, 
internal connections includes items such as routers, hubs, network file 
servers, and wireless LANs and their installation and basic maintenance 
because all are needed to switch and route messages within a school or 
library.
    (d) Library. A ``library'' includes:
    (1) A public library;
    (2) A public elementary school or secondary school library;
    (3) An academic library;
    (4) A research library, which for the purposes of this definition 
means a library that:
    (i) Makes publicly available library services and materials suitable 
for scholarly research and not otherwise available to the public; and
    (ii) Is not an integral part of an institution of higher education; 
and
    (5) A private library, but only if the state in which such private 
library is located determines that the library should be considered a 
library for the purposes of this definition.
    (e) Library consortium. A ``library consortium'' is any local, 
statewide, regional, or interstate cooperative association of libraries 
that provides for the systematic and effective coordination of the 
resources of school, public, academic, and special libraries and 
information centers, for improving services to the clientele of such 
libraries. For the purposes of these rules, references to library will 
also refer to library consortium.
    (f) Lowest corresponding price. ``Lowest corresponding price'' is 
the lowest price that a service provider charges to non-residential 
customers who are similarly situated to a particular school, library, or 
library consortium for similar services.
    (g) National school lunch program. The ``national school lunch 
program'' is a program administered by the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture and state agencies that provides free or reduced price 
lunches to economically disadvantaged children. A child whose family 
income is between 130 percent and 185 percent of applicable family size 
income levels contained in the nonfarm poverty guidelines prescribed by 
the Office of Management and Budget is eligible for a reduced price 
lunch. A child whose family income is 130 percent or less of applicable 
family size income levels contained in the nonfarm income poverty 
guidelines prescribed by the Office of Management and Budget is eligible 
for a free lunch.
    (h) Pre-discount price. The ``pre-discount price'' means, in this 
subpart, the price the service provider agrees to accept as total 
payment for its telecommunications or information services. This amount 
is the sum of the amount the service provider expects to receive from 
the eligible school or library and the amount it expects to receive as 
reimbursement from the universal service support mechanisms for the 
discounts provided under this subpart.
    (i) Secondary school. A ``secondary school'' is a non-profit 
institutional day or residential school that provides secondary 
education, as determined under state law. A secondary school does not 
offer education beyond grade .

[62 12 FR 32948 , June 17, 1997, as amended at  62 FR 40748 , July 30, 1997]