Attachment Transfer Application

This document pretains to ITC-T/C-20170905-00149 for Transfer of Control on a International Telecommunications filing.

IBFS_ITCTC2017090500149_1270874

                                    Before the
                     FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                              Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of the Application of                 )
                                                    )
Bandwidth.com, Inc.,                                )
Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC,                            )
     Licensees,                                     )
                                                    )       WC Docket No. 17-_______
and                                                 )
                                                    )       File No. ITC-T/C-2017__________
David A. Morken,                                    )       File No. ITC-T/C-2017__________
      Transferee,                                   )
                                                    )
for Authority Pursuant to Section 214 of the        )
Communications Act of 1934, as Amended, and         )
Sections 63.04 and 63.24 of the Commission’s        )
Rules to Transfer Control of Domestic and           )
International Section 214 Carriers                  )


                                      JOINT APPLICATION

I.     INTRODUCTION

       A.      Summary of Transaction

       Bandwidth.com, Inc. (“Bandwidth”), Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC (“Bandwidth CLEC”)

and David A. Morken (“Transferee”) (collectively, “Applicants”) respectfully request authority

pursuant to Section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 214 (the

“Act”), and Sections 63.04 and 63.24 of the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission

(“Commission” or “FCC”), 47 C.F.R. §§ 63.04, 63.24, to transfer control of Bandwidth and

Bandwidth CLEC (“Licensees”), entities that hold authority under Section 214 to provide

domestic and international telecommunications services on a competitive basis, to Transferee in

connection with a planned restructuring of stock related to an anticipated initial public offering


(“IPO”) by Bandwidth (the “Transaction”). 1 Mr. Morken is the Cofounder, Chief Executive

Officer and Chairman of Bandwidth. Upon completion of the Transaction, Mr. Morken will hold

a majority of the voting power of the outstanding Bandwidth stock, and as a result, he will

control the Licensees. The IPO is not expected to result in any new equity owners of Bandwidth

who will hold 10 percent or more ownership in Licensees.

       B.     Request for Streamlined Processing

       Applicants respectfully submit that this Application is eligible for streamlined processing

pursuant to Sections 63.03 and 63.12 of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 63.03 & 63.12.

With respect to domestic authority, this Application is eligible for streamlined processing

pursuant to Section 63.03(b)(2)(i) because, immediately following the Transaction:

   1. Applicants (including their Affiliates, as that term is defined in Section 3(1) of the Act)

       combined will hold less than a ten percent (10%) share of the interstate, interexchange

       market;

   2. Applicants and their Affiliates will provide competitive telephone exchange services or

       exchange access services exclusively in geographic areas served by dominant local ex-

       change carriers (none of which is a party to the proposed Transaction); and

   3. Neither the Applicants nor any of their Affiliates are regulated as dominant with respect

       to any service.

       With respect to international authority, this Application is eligible for streamlined pro-

cessing pursuant to Section 63.12(a)-(b) of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 63.12(a)-(b).




1       Bandwidth’s wholly owned subsidiary, IP Spectrum Solutions, LLC, is concurrently
filing an application to transfer control of its wireless authorization, Call Sign WQVL906.



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Specifically, Applicants are not foreign carriers and have no affiliations with any U.S. or foreign

carriers.

II.     DESCRIPTION OF THE APPLICANTS

        Bandwidth, a Delaware corporation, and Bandwidth CLEC, a Delaware limited liability

company and wholly owned subsidiary of Bandwidth, are headquartered at 900 Main Campus

Drive, Suite 500, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606. The Company is the leading cloud-based

communications platform for enterprises with one of the largest Internet protocol (“IP”) voice

networks in the nation. Its solutions include a broad range of software application programming

interfaces (“APIs”) for voice and messaging functionality as well as end-to-end communications

solutions through its Communications platform-as-a-service (“CPaaS”). Its customers include

large enterprises as well as small and medium-sized businesses.

        Mr. Morken is the Cofounder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Bandwidth and

is therefore well-qualified to obtain control of the Licensees. He cofounded the Company 18

years ago and has led the Company to develop and deploy its APIs and CPaaS offerings and

build its IP network. Under Mr. Morken’s leadership, Bandwidth has increased use of its IP

network from no minutes or messages in 2008 to 27 billion minutes and 10 billon messages in

the twelve months ended June 30, 2017. Prior to the anticipated IPO and inclusive only of actual

outstanding securities, Bandwidth’s equity interests are beneficially held by Mr. Morken (ap-

proximately 12 percent), James A. Bowen (approximately 13 percent), Henry R. Kaestner

(approximately 22 percent), and Carmichael Investment Partners, LLC (approximately 15

percent). No other entity or individual holds a 10 percent or greater interest in Bandwidth. As

described in Section III below, Mr. Morken will obtain a majority of the voting power of the




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outstanding Bandwidth stock in connection with the Transaction and as a result, he will control

the Licensees.

III.   DESCRIPTION OF THE TRANSACTION

       On August 16, 2017, Bandwidth confidentially filed with the Securities and Exchange

Commission (“SEC”) a registration statement on SEC Form S-1 for the IPO. The planned IPO

of Bandwidth includes a restructuring of stock in which Bandwidth anticipates that Mr. Morken

will obtain a majority of the voting power of the outstanding Bandwidth stock. As a result, Mr.

Morken will control the Licensees. The IPO is not expected to result in any new equity owners of

Bandwidth who will hold 10 percent or more ownership in Licensees. As a result of restructur-

ing of stock planned as part of the IPO, Bandwidth anticipates that the voting power of shares as

well as the equity interests beneficially held by some of the current owners will be diluted.

       While the date of the IPO is yet to be determined, Applicants anticipate that the IPO will

occur prior to December 31, 2017, and are seeking to have all required regulatory approvals as

soon as possible, and no later than December 31, 2017, so that the stock restructuring can occur

either before the IPO or as soon thereafter as possible.

       For the Commission’s reference, charts depicting the Applicants’ current ownership

structure, as well as the expected ownership structure post-closing, are provided as Exhibit A.

IV.    PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

       The Transaction will serve the public interest. The IPO is expected to provide Bandwidth

with a new infusion of capital and with greater flexibility for corporate and financial transactions

which will allow it to become a stronger competitor. The IPO will not affect the technical or

managerial qualifications of Licensees, which will continue to be managed by its highly-

qualified and experienced management team including Mr. Morken.



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       At the same time, the Transaction will have no adverse impact on the Licensees’

customers or competition in the telecommunications services more generally. The Transaction

will be transparent to Licensees’ customers. Immediately following the Transaction, Licensees

will continue to provide service to their customers at the same rates, terms, and conditions

available under existing contracts and without interruption.

V.     INFORMATION REQUIRED BY SECTION 63.24(e)

       Pursuant to Section 63.24(e)(2) of the Commission’s Rules, the Applicants submit the

following information requested in Section 63.18 (a)-(d) and (h)-(p) in support of this

Application:

63.18 (a)      Name, address and telephone number of each Applicant:

       Licensees

       Bandwidth.com, Inc.                                                 FRN: 0015443773
       Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC                                             FRN: 0017042060
       900 Main Campus Drive, Suite 500
       Raleigh, NC 27606
       Tel: 919-439-3571

       Transferee

       David A. Morken                                                     FRN: 0026798496
       900 Main Campus Drive, Suite 500
       Raleigh, NC 27606
       Tel: 919-439-3571

63.18 (b)      Jurisdiction of Organizations:

       Transferee:    Mr. Morken is a U.S. citizen.

       Licensees:     Bandwidth.com, Inc. is a Delaware corporation.
                      Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC. is a Delaware limited liability company.




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63.18 (c)      (Answer to Question 10) Correspondence concerning this Application should
               be sent to:

   Tamar Finn, Esq.                                  with a copy to:
   Danielle Burt, Esq.                                  W. Christopher Matton
   Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP                          General Counsel
   1111 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.                         Bandwidth.com, Inc.
   Washington, DC 20004                                 900 Main Campus Drive, Suite 500
   202-739-3000 (tel)                                   Raleigh, NC 27606
   202-739-3001 (fax)                                   Tel: (919) 439-4171
   tamar.finn@morganlewis.com                           cmatton@bandwidth.com
   danielle.burt@morganelewis.com


63.18 (d)      (Answer to Question 10) Section 214 Authorizations

               Transferee:    Transferee does not hold any Section 214 authority.

               Licensees:     Bandwidth holds blanket domestic Section 214 authority and holds
                              international Section 214 authority to provide resold services
                              granted in File No. ITC-214-20060901-00416.

                              Bandwidth CLEC holds blanket domestic Section 214 authority
                              and holds international Section 214 authority to provide facilities-
                              based and resold services granted in File No. ITC-214-20030807-
                              00413, which was assigned to Bandwidth CLEC in File No. ITC-
                              ASG-20071109-00457.

63.18 (h)      (Answer to Questions 11 and 12) Ownership

       The following persons or entities hold or will hold, directly or indirectly, a 10% or great-
       er interest in Licensees as calculated pursuant to the Commission’s ownership attribution
       rules for wireline and international telecommunications carriers:2

       Pre-Transaction Ownership

            1. Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC is wholly-owned by:

               Name:                  Bandwidth.com, Inc.
               Address:               900 Main Campus Drive, Suite 500
                                      Raleigh, NC 27606

2       While the Commission’s rules for combined domestic and international applications
requires this information only for the transferee, see 47 C.F.R. §§ 63.04(b), 63.24(e)(2), Appli-
cants are providing ownership information for all parties.



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   Ownership:            100%
   Citizenship:          United States (Delaware)
   Principal Business:   Communications services

2. The following persons have a 10% or greater voting or equity interest in Band-
   width.com, Inc.:

   Name:                 James A. Bowen
   Address:              120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400
                         Wheaton, IL 60187
   Ownership:            13% of Bandwith.com, Inc.
   Citizenship:          United States
   Principal Business:   Individual

   Name:                 Henry R. Kaestner
   Address:              900 Main Campus Drive, Suite 500
                         Raleigh, NC 27606
   Ownership:            22% of Bandwith.com, Inc.
   Citizenship:          United States
   Principal Business:   Individual

   Name:                 David A. Morken
   Address:              900 Main Campus Drive, Suite 500
                         Raleigh, NC 27606
   Ownership:            12% of Bandwith.com, Inc.
   Citizenship:          United States
   Principal Business:   Individual

   Name:                 Carmichael Investment Partners, LLC
   Address:              4725 Piedmont Row Drive, Suite 210
                         Charlotte, NC 28210
   Ownership:            15% of Bandwith.com, Inc.
   Citizenship:          United States
   Principal Business:   Individual

3. The sole managing member of Carmichael Investment Partners LLC is:

   Name:                 Carmichael Bandwidth LLC
   Address:              4725 Piedmont Row Drive, Suite 210
                         Charlotte, NC 28210


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               Ownership:            Managing Member of 15% of Carmichael Investment Part-
                                     ners LLC
               Citizenship:          United States
               Principal Business:   Individual

            4. The only managing members of Carmichael Bandwidth LLC are:

               Name:                 Brian Bailey
               Address:              4725 Piedmont Row Drive, Suite 210
                                     Charlotte, NC 28210
               Ownership:            Managing Member of Carmichael Bandwidth, LLC
               Citizenship:          United States
               Principal Business:   Individual

               Name:                 Kevin Martin
               Address:              4725 Piedmont Row Drive, Suite 210
                                     Charlotte, NC 28210
               Ownership:            Managing Member of Carmichael Bandwidth, LLC
               Citizenship:          United States
               Principal Business:   Individual

       Post-Transaction Ownership

       As described above, as a result of the planned restructuring of stock in connection with
       the IPO of Bandwidth, Mr. Morken will obtain a majority of the voting power of the out-
       standing Bandwidth stock, and as a result, he will have the ability to control the Licen-
       sees. The IPO is not expected to result in any new equity owners of Bandwidth who will
       hold 10 percent or more ownership in Licensees. As a result of the IPO, Bandwidth an-
       ticipates that the equity interests beneficially held by some of the current owners will be
       diluted.

       No other person or entity is expected to hold a 10% or greater ownership interest in the
       Licensees pursuant to the Commission’s attribution rules as a result of the consummation
       of the Transaction.

       Applicants do not have any interlocking directorates with a foreign carrier.

63.18 (i)      (Answer to Question 14) Applicants certifies that none is a foreign carrier, and
               none is affiliated with any foreign carrier

63.18 (j)      (Answer to Question 15) Applicants certify that they do not seek to provide
               international telecommunications services to any destination country where:

               (1)    any Applicant is a foreign carrier in that country;

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              (2)     any Applicant controls a foreign carrier in that country;

              (3)     any entity that owns more than 25 percent of an Applicant, or that controls
                      an Applicant, controls a foreign carrier in that country; and

              (4)     two or more foreign carriers (or parties that control foreign carriers) own,
                      in the aggregate, more than 25 percent of an Applicant and are parties to,
                      or the beneficiaries of, a contractual relation affecting the provision or
                      marketing of international basic telecommunications services in the United
                      States.

63.18 (k)     Not applicable.

63.18 (l)     Not applicable.

63.18 (m)     Not applicable.

63.18 (n)     As evidenced by the signature of each Applicant to this Application, Applicants
              certify that they have not agreed to accept special concessions directly or indirect-
              ly from any foreign carrier with respect to any U.S. international route where the
              foreign carrier possesses market power on the foreign end of the route and will
              not enter into such agreements in the future.

63.18 (o)     As evidenced by the signature of each Applicant to this Application, Applicants
              certify that they are not subject to denial of federal benefits pursuant to Section
              5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. See 21 U.S.C. § 853a; see also 47
              C.F.R. §§ 1.2001-1.2003.

63.18 (p)     Applicants respectfully submit that this Application is eligible for streamlined
              processing pursuant to Section 63.12(a)-(b) of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §
              63.12(a)-(b). In particular, Section 63.12(c)(1) is inapplicable because none of the
              Applicants are or are affiliated with any foreign carrier and none of the scenarios
              outlined in Section 63.12(c) of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. § 63.12(c), apply.

VI.    INFORMATION REQUIRED BY SECTION 63.04

       In lieu of an attachment, pursuant to Commission Rule 63.04(b), 47 C.F.R. § 63.04(b),

Applicants submit the following information in support of their request for domestic Section 214

authority in order to address the requirements set forth in Commission Rule 63.04(a)(6)-(12), 47

C.F.R. § 63.04(a)(6)-(12):

63.04(a)(6): Description of the Transaction

       A description of the proposed Transaction is set forth in Section III above.


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63.04(a)(7): Geographic Areas Served

      The Applicants and their affiliates offer domestic telecommunications services in the U.S.
      as follows:

      Licensees: Bandwidth does not currently provide any intrastate telecommunications
      services. Bandwidth CLEC currently provides intrastate telecommunications services in:
      Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia,
      Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
      Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,
      Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York,
      North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
      South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington,
      Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

      Transferee: Transferee is not authorized to provide domestic telecommunications services
      and is not affiliated with any company that provides domestic telecommunications ser-
      vices other than Licensees and Republic Wireless, Inc. Mr. Morken holds approximately
      12 percent of Republic Wireless, Inc., a former subsidiary of Bandwidth that holds inter-
      national section 214 authority pursuant to File No. ITC-214-20150512-00122 and pro-
      vides services to CMRS/interconnected VoIP customers.

63.04(a)(8): Streamlining Categorization

      This Application is eligible for streamlined processing pursuant to Section 63.03(b)(2)(i)
      of the Commission’s Rules because, immediately following the Transaction, (1) Appli-
      cants (including their Affiliates, as that term is defined in Section 3(1) of the Act) com-
      bined will hold less than a ten percent (10%) share of the interstate, interexchange
      market; (2) Applicants and their Affiliates will provide competitive telephone exchange
      services or exchange access services exclusively in geographic areas served by dominant
      local exchange carriers (none of which is a party to the proposed Transaction); and (3)
      neither the Applicants nor any of their Affiliates are regulated as dominant with respect to
      any service.

63.04(a)(9): Additional FCC Applications

      By this Application, Applicants seek authority with respect to both international and
      domestic Section 214 authorizations (this Application is being separately and concur-
      rently filed with respect to both types of authorities in compliance with Commission
      Rule 63.04(b), 47 C.F.R. § 63.04(b)). Bandwidth’s wholly owned subsidiary, IP Spec-
      trum Solutions, LLC, is also concurrently filing an application to transfer control of its
      wireless authorization, Call Sign WQVL906.

63.04(a)(10): Special Consideration Requests

      Although neither party to the Transaction is facing imminent business failure, prompt
      completion of the proposed Transaction is important to ensure that Applicants can obtain

                                              10


       the benefits described in this Application. Accordingly, Applicants respectfully request
       that the Commission approve this Application expeditiously.

63.04(a)(11): Waiver Requests

       No waiver requests are being filed in conjunction with the Transaction.

63.04(a)(12): Public Interest Statement

       A statement showing how grant of the Application will serve the public interest,
       convenience, and necessity is provided in Section IV above.

VII.   CONCLUSION

       Based on the foregoing, the Applicants respectfully submit that the public interest, con-

venience, and necessity would be furthered by grant of this Application.

                                            Respectfully submitted,

                                             /s/ Tamar E. Finn
                                            ____________________________
                                            Tamar Finn, Esq.
                                            Danielle Burt, Esq.
                                            Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
                                            1111 Pennsylvania, Ave., N.W.
                                            Washington, DC 20004
                                            202-739-3000 (tel)
                                            202-739-3001 (fax)
                                            tamar.finn@morganlewis.com
                                            danielle.burt@morganlewis.com

                                            Counsel for Applicants

Date: September 5, 2017




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               EXHIBIT A

Pre- and Post-Transaction Ownership Charts


                                    Pre-Transaction Structure



                                                  Shareholders*


                                            Bandwidth.com, Inc.


                           100%                                               100%

               Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC                              IP Spectrum Solutions, LLC




*Current 10% Equity and Voting Holders:
      James A. Bowen – 13%
      Henry R. Kaestner – 22%
      David A. Morken – 12%
      Carmichael Investment Partners, LLC – 15%




                                                   Exhibit A - Page 1


                                  Post-Transaction Structure



                                             David A. Morken
                                                         >50% Voting

                                           Bandwidth.com, Inc.*


                           100%                                            100%

               Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC                           IP Spectrum Solutions, LLC




*No new 10% Equity Holder is expected. Depending on Amount
of Shares Issued in IPO, 10% Equity Holders of
Bandwidth.com, Inc. may include:
      James A. Bowen
      Henry R. Kaestner
      David A. Morken
      Carmichael Investment Partners, LLC




                                                Exhibit A - Page 2


                                         VERIFICATION


          I, David A. Morken, state that I am Cofounder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of

Bandwidth.com, Inc. and Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC; that I am authorized to make this

Verification on behalf of Bandwidth.com, Inc. and Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC; that the foregoing

filing was prepared under my direction and supervision; and that the contents thereof and the

certifications contained therein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and

belief.

          I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this

   5th day of September, 2017.
______



                                       __________________________________
                                       David A. Morken
                                       Cofounder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
                                       Bandwidth.com, Inc. and Bandwidth.com CLEC, LLC



Document Created: 2019-04-19 06:46:16
Document Modified: 2019-04-19 06:46:16

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