[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 143 (Wednesday, July 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 42398]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11631]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[FCC 06-91]


Notice of Debarment and Order Denying Waiver Petition

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) debars NEC-Business Network 
Solutions, Inc.'s (NEC) from all activities associated with the schools 
and libraries universal service support mechanism, also known as the E-
Rate program. NEC pled guilty to and was convicted of serious fraud-
related felonies against the E-Rate program. We find NEC's conduct 
merits a debarment of at least three years, as contemplated by our 
debarment rule, but in light of several important factors, we will 
impose a debarment period of six months from the effective date of this 
Order.

DATES: Debarment commences on the date NEC-Business Network Solutions, 
Inc. receives the debarment letter or whichever date comes first, for a 
period of six months.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Lee, Federal Communications 
Commission, Enforcement Bureau, Investigations and Hearings Division, 
Room 4-A265, 445 12th Street, SW., Washington, DC 20554. Diana Lee may 
be contacted by phone at 202-418-1420 or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This a summary of the Commission's Notice of 
Debarment and Order Denying Waiver Petition, released June 30, 2006. As 
an additional precaution to protect the E-Rate program, we put in place 
two monitoring measures to ensure NEC's compliance upon its re-entry 
into the E-Rate program. First, we order USAC to review with heightened 
scrutiny NEC's applications submitted during the first two funding 
years after re-entry.\1\ Second, we order the Administrator to conduct 
automatic annual audits regarding NEC's compliance with the Act and the 
Commission's rules governing the E-Rate program, for each of the first 
two funding periods upon NEC's re-entry. We find these additional 
precautionary measures are necessary to ensure that E-Rate funds are 
used only for their intended purpose and that the program is not 
subject to additional waste, fraud, or abuse. The full text of this 
Notice is available for inspection and copying during normal business 
hours in the FCC Reference Center, Room CY-A-257, 445 12th Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20554. The complete text may also be purchased from the 
Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. 
(BCP), Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 
20554. The complete item is also available on the Commission's Web site 
at http://www.fcc.gov/eb.
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    \1\ See Fifth Report and Order, 19 FCC Rcd at 15822-23, para. 
44. We note that the Commission currently is considering what 
particular requirements, if any, that it should apply in conducting 
heightened review of E-Rate program participants. See Universal 
Service Fund Oversight NPRM, 20 FCC Rcd at 11345, para. 91.

Federal Communications Commission.
William H. Davenport,
Chief, Investigations and Hearings Division, Enforcement Bureau.
 [FR Doc. E6-11631 Filed 7-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P