Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 110 Part 1.djvu/98

 110 STAT. 74 PUBLIC LAW 104-104—FEB. 8, 1996 between the rates for services provided to health care providers for rural areas in a State and the rates for similar services provided to other customers in comparable rural areas in that State treated as a service obligation as a part of its obligation to participate in the mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service. "(B) EDUCATIONAL PROVIDERS AND LIBRARIES. —A ll tele- ^ communications carriers serving a geographic area shall, upon a bona fide request for any of its services that are ' within the definition of universal service under subsection (c)(3), provide such services to elementary schools, secondary schools, and libraries for educational purposes at rates less than the amounts charged for similar services to other parties. The discount shall be an amount that the Commission, with respect to interstate services, and the States, with respect to intrastate services, determine is appropriate and necessary to ensure affordable access to and use of such services by such entities. A telecommunications carrier providing service under this paragraph shall— "(i) have an amount equal to the amount of the discount treated as an offset to its obligation to contribute to the mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service, or "(ii) notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (e) of this section, receive reimbursement utilizing the support mechanisms to preserve euid advance universal service. "(2) ADVANCED SERVICES. —The Commission shall establish competitively neutral rules— "(A) to enhance, to the extent technically feasible and economically reasonable, access to advanced telecommunications and information services for all public and nonprofit elementary and secondary school classrooms, health care providers, and libraries; and "(B) to define the circumstances under which a telecommunications carrier may be required to connect its network to such public institutional telecommunications users. "(3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— Telecommunications services and network capacity provided to a public institutional telecommunications user under this subsection may not be sold, resold, or otherwise transferred by such user in consideration for money or any other thing of value. "(4) ELIGIBILITY OF USERS. —No entity listed in this subsection shall be entitled to preferential rates or treatment as required by this subsection, irsuch entity operates as a forprofit business, is a school described in paragraph (5)(A) with an endowment of more than $50,000,000, or is a library not eligible for participation in State-based plans for funds under title III of the Library Services and Construction Act (20 U.S.C. 335c et seq.). "(5) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subsection: "(A) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS. —The term 'elementary and secondary schools' means elementary schools and secondary schools, as defined in paragraphs (14) and (25), respectively, of section 14101 of the

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