Public Notice SCL00045S

Accepted for Filing Streamlined Public Notice

Submarine Cable Landing

2007-11-09

FCC.report > IB > Public Notices > SCL00045S

Filings Included

File NumberService
SCL-LIC-20071023-00019Submarine Cable Landing
SCL-LIC-20071025-00018Submarine Cable Landing
IBFS_PN_604972

PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 445 12th STREET S.W. WASHINGTON D.C. 20554 News media information 202-418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202-418-2830; Internet: http://www.fcc.gov (or ftp.fcc.gov) TTY (202) 418-2555 Report No. SCL-00045S Friday November 9, 2007 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), 202-418-0432 (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-20071023-00019 E GCI Communication Corp. Submarine Cable Landing License Application filed by GCI Communication Corp. (GCI) for a license to land and operate a non-common carrier fiber-optic submarine cable network, the Southeast Alaska Fiber-Optic System (SEAK), connecting the Alaska communities of Angoon, Hawk Inlet, Juneau, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka and Wrangell with the existing Alaska United West system (which is owned by GCI's affiliate, Alaska United Fiber System Partnership (AUFSP)). The SEAK system will be a digital fiber-optic system connecting seven communities in southeastern Alaska with the existing Alaska United West system, which itself connects Seward, Alaska with Warrenton, Oregon. Alaska United West is wholly owned by AUFSP. AUFSP and ACS are both wholly-owned, indirect subsidiaries of GCI Communications, Inc. (GCI Parent). SEAK's landing points and other associated facilities, which are neither beach manholes nor cable stations, will be located in Angoon, Juneau, Hawk Inlet, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka and Wrangell The application states that SEAK system will consist of three new undersea "wet" components: (1) SEAK will use two fiber pairs that currently terminate at a branching unit on the Alaska United West system (AUW-BU) and extend to Ketchikan via a new repeater segment of undersea cable. This segment will have an initial capacity of 10Gbps and will be upgradeable in OC-48 and OC-192 increments, up to a design capacity of 640 Gbps---320 Gbps on the fiber pair connecting Ketchikan to Seward and 320 Gbps on the fiber pair connecting Ketchikan to Warrenton; (2) SEAK will connect Ketchikan to Wrangell, Petersburg, and Juneau via new festoon-style, unrepeatered segments of undersea cable. This segment will also have an initial capacity of 10 Gbps and will be upgradeable in OC-48 and OC-192 increments, up to a design capacity of 120 Gbps.; (3) SEAK will connect the splice point at Hawk Inlet, Angoon, and Sitka via a new segment of undersea cable with a single repeater at Angoon. This segment will also have an initial capacity of 2.5 Gbps and will be upgradeable in OC-48 and OC-192 increments, up to a design capacity of 120 Gbps. GCI states that between Juneau and Hawk Inlet, it will purchase IRU capacity from Alaska Electric Power and Light Company (AEL&P), an unaffiliated electric power utility in southeastern Alaska, on AEL&P's existing fiber facilities between Juneau and Hawk Inlet. At Hawk Inlet, GCI will splice the SEAK fibers for the Hawk Inlet-Angoon segment directly with the fibers purchased under the IRU with AEL&P. At Juneau, GCI will splice existing GCI-owned terrestrial fibers extending from GCI's Juneau cable station directly to the fibers purchased under the IRU with AEL&P. The application further states that GCI will own and operate the three new undersea cable segments in addition to new cable stations at Ketchikan, Petersburg, Sitka, and Wrangell landings. In Juneau, GCI will use its existing Juneau Data Center as the cable station and AUFSP will continue to own and operate the cable stations at Seward, Alaska and Warrenton, Oregon, for Alaska United West, the separate undersea cable system with which SEAK will interconnect via the AUW-BU. At Angoon, GCI will not construct a new cable station or connect to or through any existing cable station. Rather, GCI proposes to construct a shelter at Angoon to protect a terrestrial repeater, which will ensure signal strength between Juneau and Sitka. GCI proposes to operate the cable system on a private, non-common carrier basis. GCI states that there is sufficient existing or planned facilities on the route or on alternative routes to prevent it from exercising market power in offering services. It also states that capacity will not be sold indifferently to the user public, but will be assigned pursuant to individualized decisions and tailored arrangements based on the needs of the individual capacity purchaser. GCI Communication Corp., an Alaska corporation, is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of GCI Holdings, Inc. GCI Holdings, Inc. is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of GCI, Inc. GCI, Inc., is a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of General Communication, Inc. John W. Stanton and Theresa E. Gillespie, who are husband and wife and U.S. citizens, have, as tenants in common, a 15.4 percent voting interest and a 2.4 percent equity interest in General Communications, Inc. No other person or entity has a ten percent or greater equity or voting interest. 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

SCL-LIC-20071025-00018 E ACS Cable Systems, Inc. Submarine Cable Landing License Application filed by ACS Cable System, Inc. (ACS) for a license to land and operate a non-common carrier fiber-optic submarine cable system linking Anchorage, Homer, Juneau and Nikiski, Alaska and Florence, Oregon. The cable system will consist of four segments: two primary submarine cable segments and two terrestrial segments. The first segment will consist of an un-repeatered eight (8) fiber pair submarine cable between Anchorage, Alaska and Nikiski, Alaska. The second segment will consist of a terrestrial cable connecting Nikiski to Homer, Alaska. The third segment will consist of a repeatered four (4) fiber pair submarine cable that extends from Homer, Alaska to Florence, Oregon. The fourth segment will consist of a terrestrial path connecting the landing station at Florence to the Pittock Building in Portland, Oregon and then on to the Westin Building in Seattle, Washington. Applicant also seeks authority to add a repeatered single fiber pair submarine segment to connect Juneau, Alaska to the main segment running between Homer, Alaska and Florence, Oregon. The design capacity for all repeatered segments will be 64x10Gbps per fiber pair. Initial capacity will be 4x10Gbps on one fiber pair from Homer to Florence, and an additional fiber pair equipped at 4x10Gbps on the Juneau branch, if that option is exercised. For the submerged segments connecting Homer, Alaska to Florence, Oregon, the ultimate capacity is 64 OC-192s per fiber pair. With 4 fiber pairs, the total bandwidth equals 256 OC-192s or 2.56 Terabits/sec. The ACS system will have four primary landing sites, three in Alaska (Anchorage, Nikiski, and Homer) and one in Oregon (Florence). An optional fifth landing site, in Juneau, Alaska, also is being considered. The system and all landing stations will be wholly-owned by ACS. ACS proposes to operate the cable system on a private, non-common carrier basis. ACS states that there is sufficient existing or planned facilities on the route or on alternative routes to prevent it from exercising market power in offering services. It also states that capacity will not be sold indifferently to the user public, but will be assigned pursuant to individualized decisions and tailored arrangements based on the needs of the individual capacity purchaser. ACS, a Delaware corporation, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alaska Communication Systems Holding, Inc., which itself is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alaska Communications Systems Group, Inc. (ACS Group). ACS Group is a publicly traded company in which no person or entity has a ten percent or greater equity or voting interest. 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). 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. The Commission's rules applicable to submarine cable landing licenses (47 C.F.R. §§ 1.767, 1.768) are available at http://www.fcc.gov/ib/td/pf/telecomrules.html. See also http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edoc_public/attachmatch/DA-02-5981A1.pdf for a March 13, 2002 Public Notice; http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-01-332A1.pdf for the December 14, 2001 Report and Order. 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: 2007-11-08 17:04:17
Document Modified: 2007-11-08 17:04:17
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