In the case of qualified preexisting contracts, discounts may be effective as of January 1, 1998, the beginning of the first program year. In other situations, the discounts will be effective as of a date following the award of a contract that resulted from posting of a request for new services in a Form 470 application to the SLC Web Site.

Completion of the Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement Form is mandatory unless the Billed Entity and service provider have made their own, mutually agreed-upon arrangements for reimbursement or implementation of the discounts. If such an arrangement has been mutually agreed upon, reimbursement of the discounts can be achieved by submission of a Service Provider Invoice Form to the fund administrator, following either the service provider's reimbursement to the Billed Entity Applicant or the implementation of the discounts.

The applicant should prepare and submit a Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement Form to the fund administrator when ALL of the following conditions occur:

1. The applicant receives a Funding Commitment Decisions Letter from the fund administrator which approves discounts for services; AND
    
2. The applicant is already receiving or has received these services, and has already paid for the services, including the price of the discounts; AND
    
3. The applicant has filed FCC Form 486 (Receipt of Service Confirmation Form) and entered "Yes" in Column (I) of Item 6 of the FCC Form 486 to indicate its intention to submit a Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement Form.