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Before the
               Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                        )
                                   )
Request for Review of the Universal Service  )
Administrator by                        )    
                                   )         
MeritCare Clinic Bemidji                )    File No. RHCD-10454-1
Bemidji, Minnesota                      )     
                                   )    
Federal-State Joint Board on                 )    CC Docket No. 96-45
Universal Service                       )
                                   )    
Changes to the Board of Directors of the          )    CC Docket No. 97-21
National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc.       )
                                   
                             ORDER

Adopted:  March 20, 2000                          Released:  March 21, 2000

By the Common Carrier Bureau:

1.   This Order dismisses the Letter of Appeal of the MeritCare Clinic Bemidji (Bemidji),
Bemidji, Minnesota, seeking review of a decision issued by the Universal Service Administrative
Company's Rural Health Care Division on October 1, 1999.  The Commission received Bemidji's
Letter of Appeal on January 10, 2000.  Under section 54.720 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.
 54.720, any such appeal must be filed within 30 days of the issuance of the decision as to which
review is sought.  Documents are considered to be filed with the Commission only upon receipt. 
47 C.F.R.  1.7.  Because the instant Letter of Appeal was not filed within the specified 30-day
period, it will be dismissed without further consideration.
   
2.   ACCORDINGLY IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to authority delegated under sections 0.91,
0.291, and 54.722(a) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R.  0.91, 0.291, and 54.722(a), that the
Letter of Appeal filed January 10, 2000, by the MeritCare Clinic Bemidji, Bemidji, Minnesota, IS
DISMISSED.

                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                                                       

                         


                    Carol E. Mattey
                         Deputy Chief, Common Carrier Bureau