Public Notice SCL00243

Action Taken Public Notice

Submarine Cable Landing

2019-06-17

FCC.report > IB > Public Notices > SCL00243

Filings Included

File Number	Service
SCL-AMD-20180801-00028	Submarine Cable Landing
SCL-LIC-20171031-00024	Submarine Cable Landing

IBFS_PN_1733141

SCL-LIC-20171031-00024 E GCI Communication Corp.
Submarine Cable Landing License
Grant of Authority Date of Action: 06/13/2019

Acceptability for Filing Public Notice: Application filed by GCI Communication Corp. (GCICC or Applicant) for a license to land and operate in
the United States a non-common carrier fiber-optic submarine cable system connecting ten (10) communities in Southwest Alaska and the
Aleutian Islands: Kodiak, Larsen Bay, Chignik, Perryville, Sand Point, King Cove, Cold Bay, Akutan, Dutch Harbor, and False Pass. The cable
system, known as the AU-Aleutian (previously, the Terra-Aleutian) cable system, will consist entirely of U.S. domestic landing points. The
Application was placed on Public Notice on December 7, 2017. See Streamlined Submarine Cable Landing License Applications Accepted for
Filing, File No. SCL-LIC-20171031-00024, Public Notice, Report No. SCL-00206S (IB, Dec. 7, 2017).

Applicant filed three letter supplements and one amendment to the application. The supplements, filed on November 21 and December 5, 2017,
and May 15, 2019, update ownership, capacity, and cable landing station facility information. The application was amended on August 1, 2018,
to update the route and landing points of AU-Aleutian and revise its indirect ownership information to reflect consummation of the transfer of
control by which GCI Liberty, Inc. (GCI Liberty) became GCICC's ultimate parent. SCL-AMD-20180801-00028. See Streamlined Submarine
Cable Landing License Applications Accepted for Filing, File No. SCL-LIC-20171031-00024, Public Notice, Report No. SCL-00208S (IB, Jan.
22, 2018).

The Application has been coordinated with the Department of State and other Executive Branch agencies pursuant to section 1.767(b) of the
Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §1.767(b), and consistent with procedures established with the Department of State. See Review of Commission
Consideration of Applications under the Cable Landing License Act, IB Docket No. 00-106, Report and Order, 16 FCC Rcd 22167, 22192-93,
paras. 51-52 (2001) (Submarine Cable Landing License Report and Order); Streamlined Procedures for Executive Branch Review of Submarine
Cable Landing License Requests, State Department Media Note (Revised) (rel. Dec. 20, 2001) available at
https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2001/6951.htm. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed a Petition to Adopt Conditions to
Authorizations and Licenses on June 10, 2019 (Petition). DHS has no objections to the Commission approving authority to construct, land, and
operate the AU-Aleutian cable system, provided that the Commission conditions its approval on the commitment of GCI Communication Corp. to
abide by the undertakings set forth in the June 3, 2019 Letter of Assurances from GCI Communication Corp. to DHS.

Actions Taken: (1) Grant of Cable Landing License, as amended, to GCI Communication Corp. for the purpose of landing and operating a
common carrier fiber-optic submarine cable network, the AU-Aleutian cable system, extending between Kodiak, Larsen bay, Chignik, Perryville,
Sand Point, King Cove, Cold Bay, Akutan, Dutch Harbor, and False Pass; and (2) grant of the Petition to Adopt Conditions to Authorizations and
Licenses filed on June 10, 2019, by the Department of Homeland Security.

Licensee Information: The Applicant for the cable landing license for the AU-Aleutian cable system is GCI Communication Corp. (GCICC).

GCICC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GCI Holdings, Inc., which in turn is wholly owned by Ventures Holdco, LLC, all three of which are
Delaware entities. Ventures Holdco is wholly owned by GCI, LLC, an Alaska company, which is wholly owned by GCI Liberty, a Delaware
corporation. Dr. John C. Malone, a U.S. citizen, holds an approximate 27% voting interest and an approximate 4% equity interest in GCI Liberty.
GCI Liberty's shares trade publicly on the NASDAQ exchange. GCI Liberty has no other ten percent or greater direct or indirect voting or equity
interest holders.

Cable Design and Capacity: The AU-Aleutian cable system will be a high capacity digital fiber-optic system and consist of 15 segments and 12
landing points: (1) Segment 1: Dutch Harbor to Akutan Branch Unit (58.5 kilometers, 12 fiber pairs); (2) Segment 2: Akutan to Akutan Branch
Unit (27.3 kilometers, 12 fiber pairs); (3) Segment 3: Akutan Branch Unit to False Pass Branch Unit (212 kilometers, 12 fiber pairs); (4) Segment
4: False Pass to False Pass Branch Unit (44.2 kilometers, 12 fiber pairs); (5) Segment 5: False Pass Branch Unit to King Cove (60.7 kilometers, 12
fiber pairs); (6) Segment 6: King Cove to Cold Bay (43.1 kilometers, 6 fiber pairs); (7) Segment 7: King Cove to Sand Point (175.9 kilometers, 6
fiber pairs); (8) Segment 8: Sand Point to Perryville Branch Unit (118.4 kilometers, 9 fiber pairs); (9) Segment 9: Perryville to Perryville Branch
Unit (45.9 kilometers, 6 fiber pairs); (10) Segment 10: Perryville Branch Unit to Chignik Bay (135.5 kilometers, 9 fiber pairs); (11) Segment 11:
Chignik Bay to Larsen Bay Branch Unit (326.8 kilometers, 6 fiber pairs); (12) Segment 12: Larsen Bay to Larsen Bay Branch Unit (37.2
kilometers, 12 fiber pairs); (13) Segment 13: Larsen Bay Branch Unit to Kodiak (135.7 kilometers, 6 fiber pairs); Segment 14: Chignik Bay to
Chignik Lagoon (16.5 kilometers, 6 fiber pairs); and (15) Segment 15: Chignik Lagoon to Chignik Lake (18 kilometers, 6 fiber pairs). The
AU-Aleutian system will have a total length of 1,456 miles with a current design capacity of 800 Gigabits per second (Gbps) per fiber pair.

AU-Aleutian will have 12 landing points, all in Alaska: (1) Akutan; (2) Dutch Harbor; (3) False Pass; (4) King Cove; (5) Cold Bay; (6) Sand
Point; (7) Perryville; (8) Chignik Bay; (9) Chignik Lagoon; (10) Chignik Lake; (11) Larsen Bay; and (12) Kodiak. The landing point at Kodiak
will use a previously constructed cable landing station, and the cable landing stations at the other 11 landing points will be new facilities
constructed in connection with AU-Aleutian.

Ownership of the Cable System and Landing Points: GCICC will own and operate the whole of the AU-Aleutian, including the wet links and
cable landing facilities (cable landing stations/equipment huts and beach manholes) for all twelve landing points in Alaska.

Regulatory Status of the Cable: GCICC proposes to operate the AU-Aleutian cable system on a private, non-common carrier basis. Applicant
states that the AU-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. In addition, the cable
system will also allow GCICC to compete with existing providers' facilities, including satellite service providers: ACS, TelAlaska, Bristol Bay
Telecom. AT&T, DSL, and HughesNet. 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.

Applicant has provided information sufficient enough to demonstrate that the proposed operation of the cable on a non-common carrier basis
satisfies the requirements set forth in National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners v. FCC, 525 F.2d 630, 642 (D.C. Cir.
1976)(NARUC I), cert. denied, 425 U.S. 992 (1976). See also Submarine Cable Landing License Report and Order, 16 FCC Rcd at 22202-22203,

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paras. 69-70; Review of Commission Consideration or Applications under the Cable Landing License Act, IB Docket No. 00-106, Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, 15 FCC Rcd 20789, 20815-20818, paras. 62-67 (Cable Landing License Act).

Conditions and Requirements: GCICC will comply with the routine conditions set out in 1.767(g)(1)-(14) of the Commission rules, 47 C.F.R. §
1.767 (g)(1)-(14), and with the requirements of section 1.768 of the Commission's rules, § 1.768 (Notification by and prior approval for submarine
cable landing licensees that are or propose to become affiliated with a foreign carrier).

We grant the Petition to Adopt Conditions to Authorizations and Licenses (Petition) filed in this proceeding on June 10, 2019, by the Department
of Homeland Security. Accordingly, we condition grant of the application on GCI Communication Corp. abiding by the commitments and
undertakings contained in the June 3, 2019 Letter of Assurances from Dan Boyette, Vice President and General Manager - AU-Aleutian Program,
GCI Communications Corp. to the Assistant Secretary for Border, Immigration and Trade, Office of Policy, DHS (2019 LOA). A failure to
comply and/or remain in compliance with any of these commitments and undertakings shall constitute a failure to meet a condition of the cable
landing license and thus grounds for declaring license terminated without further action on the part of the Commission. Failure to meet a
condition of the license may also result in monetary sanctions or other enforcement action by the Commission. A copy of the Petition and the
2019 LOA are publicly available and may be viewed on the FCC website through the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS) by searching for
SCL-LIC-20171031-00024 and accessing "Other filings related to this application" from the Document Viewing area.

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Document Created: 2019-06-14 14:59:49
Document Modified: 2019-06-14 14:59:49

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