Public Notice SCL00206S

Accepted for Filing Streamlined Public Notice

Submarine Cable Landing

2017-12-07

FCC.report > IB > Public Notices > SCL00206S

Filings Included

File NumberService
SCL-LIC-20171031-00024Submarine Cable Landing
IBFS_PN_1311632

PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 445 12th STREET S.W. WASHINGTON D.C. 20554 News media information 202-418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov (or ftp.fcc.gov) TTY (202) 418-2555 Report No. SCL-00206S Thursday December 7, 2017 Streamlined Submarine Cable Landing License Applications Accepted For Filing Unless otherwise specified, the following procedures apply to the applications listed below: The applications listed below have been found, upon initial review, to be acceptable for filing and subject to the streamlined processing procedures set forth in section 1.767 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.767. Pursuant to the Submarine Cable Landing License Act, 47 U.S.C. §§ 34-39, and Executive Order No. 10530, reprinted as amended in 3 U.S.C. § 301, each applicant seeks: (a) the grant of a cable landing licensee; (b) the modification of a cable landing license; and/or (c) the assignment or transfer of control of an interest in a submarine cable landing license. Pursuant to its decision in Review of Commission Consideration of Applications under the Cable Landing License Act, IB Docket No. 00-106, FCC 01-332, 16 FCC Rcd 22167 (2001) and section 1.767 of the rules, the Commission will take action upon these applications within forty-five (45) days after release of this public notice, unless the Commission has informed the applicant in writing that the application, upon further examination, has been deemed ineligible for streamlined processing. Ex parte communications between outside parties and Commission staff concerning these applications are permitted subject to the Commission's rules for "permit-but-disclose proceedings." See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1206. Filings relating to this application must be received within 14 days of this notice. Such filings will not necessarily result in an application being deemed ineligible for streamlined processing. Copies of all applications listed here are available for public inspection in the FCC Reference and Information Center, located in room CY-A257 at the Portals 2 building, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington DC 20554. The center can be contacted at (202) 418-0270. People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 1-888-835-5322 (tty). All applications listed are subject to further consideration and review, and may be returned and/or dismissed if not found to be in accordance with the Commission's rules, regulations, and other requirements. Page 1 of 3

SCL-LIC-20171031-00024 E GCI Communication Corp. Submarine Cable Landing License Application filed by GCI Communication Corp. (GCICC) for a license to land and operate in the United States a non-common carrier fiber-optic submarine cable system connecting five communities in Southwest Alaska and the Aleutian Islands: Akutan, Dutch Harbor, False Pass, Levelock, and Port Heiden. The cable system, known as the TERRA-Aleutian cable system, will consist entirely of U.S. domestic landing points. TERRA-Aleutian is GCICC's next-generation hybrid fiber-optic and microwave network that will provide symmetrical broadband service to Alaska's remote and rural regions. The cable system will extend GCICC's the TERRA network to remote Southwest Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The TERRA-Aleutian cable system will be a high capacity digital fiber-optic system landing in five locations with four segments: (1) Segment 1 extends from a newly constructed cable landing station located at Levelock, Alaska to a newly constructed cable landing station located at Port Heiden, Alaska; (2) Segment 2 extends from Port Heiden, Alaska to a newly constructed cable landing station located at False Pass, Alaska; (3) Segment 3 extends from False Pass, Alaska to a newly constructed cable landing station located at Akutan, Alaska; and (4) Segment 4 extends from Akutan, Alaska to a newly constructed cable landing station located at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The TERRA-Aleutian system will have a total length of 670 miles and consist of 12 fiber pairs with a current design capacity of 800 Gigbits per second (Gbps) per fiber pair. See Supplemental Filing of GCI Communication Corp., dated December 5, 2017. GCICC intends to commence commercial operation of the cable system in the first calendar quarter of 2020. GCICwill own and operate the whole of the TERRA-Aleutian, including the wet links and cable landing facilities (cable landing stations and beach manholes) for all five landings in Alaska. GCICC proposes to operate the cable system on a private, non-common carrier basis. Applicant states that the TERRA-Aleutian cable will allow it to continue to compete vigorously with the incumbent, Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. (ACS), in the intra-Alaska and Alaska-Lower 48 markets, and provide customers in the five remote communities that now rely solely on satellite links, which suffer from propagation delays and capacity constraints, with much needed capacity and redundancy. Application at 2-6. In addition, the cable system will also allow GCICC to compete with existing providers' facilities, including satellite service providers: ACS, TelAlaska, Bristol Bat Telecom. AT&T, DSL, and HughesNet. Id. GCICC states that capacity will not be sold indifferently to the user public, but will be provided in bulk capacity to particular carrier, enterprise, and government users pursuant to individually-negotiated indefeasible rights of use (IRUs) and capacity leases, the terms of which will vary depending on the characteristics and needs of the particular capacity purchaser. Id. GCICC, a Delaware corporation, is a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of GCI Holdings, Inc., which in turn, is a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of GCI, Inc. GCI, Inc. is a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of General Communication, Inc. (GCI Parent), a publicly-traded company. GCI Parent has three 10-percent-or-greater shareholders: (1) John W. Stanton and Theresa Gillespie, who are U.S. citizens, own as tenants in common, 47.1 percent of GCI Parent's outstanding Class B common shares and 3.8 percent of GCI Parent's outstanding Class A shares, which, on a fully- diluted basis across all share classes, gives them an 24.6 percent voting interest and a 7.4 percent equity interest in GCI Parent, (2) Ronald A. Duncan, a U.S. citizen, owns 38.5 percent of GCI Parent's outstanding Class B common shares and 3.4 percent of GCI Parent's outstanding Class A shares, which, on a fully- diluted basis across all share classes, gives Mr. Duncan an 20.2 percent voting interest and a 6.4 percent equity interest in GCI Parent, and (3) Blackrock, Inc., a Delaware corporation, which owns 12.8 percent of GCI Parent's Class A shares, which, on a fully-diluted basis, gives the company a 6.6 percent voting interest and a 11.7 percent equity interest in GCI Parent. GCI Holdings, Inc., GCI, Inc., and GCI Parent are all Alaska companies. GCI Parent entered into a transaction to transfer control of its and its subsidiaries, including GCICC, to GCI Liberty, Inc. (GCI Liberty). The Commission granted consent to the transaction on November 8, 2017. See Joint Application of General Communication, Inc. and GCI Liberty, Inc. for Consent to Transfer Control, WC Docket No. 17-114, Memorandum Opinion and Order, DA 17-1096 (WCB, IB, MB, WTB rel. Nov. 8, 2017). Consummation of the transaction is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2018. Post-consummation, GCICC will remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of GCI Holdings, Inc., which will become wholly-owned by Ventures Holdo, LLC, which in turn will be wholly-owned by GCI, LLC. GCI Liberty will wholly own GCI, LLC. Dr. John C. Malone, a U.S. citizen, is projected to hold a 27.4% voting and a 4% equity interest in GCI Liberty. No other individual or entity will hold a ten percent or greater direct or indirect equity or voting interest in GCI Liberty. See SCL-T/C-20170501-00013. See also Supplemental Filing of GCI Communication Corp., dated November 21, 2017. Applicant agrees to accept and abide by the routine conditions specified in section 1.767(g) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §1.767(g). Page 2 of 3

REMINDERS: Applicants must certify that neither the applicant nor any party to the application is subject to a denial of federal benefits by federal and/or state courts under authority granted in 21 U.S.C. § 862. See C.F.R. §§ 1.2001-1.2003. By this notice, we inform the public that submarine cable landing license applications and international section 214 applications that are part of larger transactions involving multiple Commission licenses or authorizations may involve "extraordinary circumstances" as referenced in Review of Commission Consideration of Applications under the Cable Landing License Act, Report and Order, 16 FCC Rcd 22167 (2001) and Rules and Policies on Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Market, Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, 12 FCC Rcd 23891 (1997), paras. 327-28, Order on Reconsideration, 15 FCC Rcd 18158 (2000). Additionally, these extraordinary circumstances may result where Executive Branch agencies petition the Commission to defer decision on certain transactions pending the resolution of potential national security, law enforcement, foreign policy and trade policy issues. Accordingly, these applications may not be acted on within the 90-day review period that the Commission has established as the period of time normally required to reach a decision on non-streamlined cable landing licenses and international section 214 applications. This notice shall serve as public notice to applicants that, in these circumstances, additional time may be required for Commission review and final action. No additional formal public notice will be provided routinely with respect to specific applications in the event that the applicable review period extends beyond 90 days. Page 3 of 3


Document Created: 2017-12-06 15:36:08
Document Modified: 2017-12-06 15:36:08
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