Attachment Taino-Carib STA Gran

Taino-Carib STA Gran

DECISION submitted by Federal Communications Commission

STA Grant

2018-01-25

This document pretains to SCL-LIC-19920107-00005 for License on a Submarine Cable Landing filing.

IBFS_SCLLIC1992010700005_1345478

Streamlined SCL—STA—20180119—00001 _ UrTanted 1B2018000204 _ AT&T Corp. §¢L— L}Ct— 14q 4 2010 7—00005 Before the . date: Sanyery 4 5, 2618 (J—\;C(, Teke¢ommoni cation i )MMUNICATIONS COMMI Mrized by: ion, Indernatione/ 8 wreau xyor > ~ Washington, DC 20554 _ |and Analysis Divis JAN2 5 2018 signature_nlusaeCaco.____ In the Matter of Explce s\ sa)q a4, 201% Internationar Bureau The Taino—Carib Submarine Cable System File No. SCL—STA—20180119—00001 Operating Between Puerto Rico and St. File No. SCL—LIC—19920512=000+2— Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the 1942 0) 07— 00005 British Virgin Islands APPLICATION FOR SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY On behalf of the licensees of the Taino—Carib submarine cable system, SCL—LIC— 19920512—00012, AT&T Corp. ("AT&T"), pursuant to 47 U.S.C. §§ 34—39, Executive Order 10,530, and 47 C.F.R. § 1.767, hereby requests that the Commission grant Special Temporary Authority ("STA") to allow the continued operation of the Taino—Carib submarine cable pending the filing and processing of an appropriate application by the licensees to renew the cable landing license for this cable, which expired on January 1, 2018. The licensees are: AT&T Corp., MCI International Inc., Prepa Networks, LLC, Primus Telecommunications, Inc., Sprint Communications Company L.P., and Telefonica Larga Distancia De Puerto Rico.‘ AT&T acknowledges, on behalf of the licensees, that the grant of this STAwill not prejudice any action the Commission may take on the foflhcoming underlying application, and that this STA can be modified or revoked by the Commission upon its own motion without a hearing. AT&T also acknowledges on behalf of the licensees that such continued operation of the cable would remain subject to the conditions set forth in the cable landing license granted on June 25, 1992, and released on July 6, 1992.2 ‘ See FCC Public Notice, FY 2016 Regulatory Fees, Listing of Submarine Cable Owners, Sept. 7, 2019, #t 9. 2 See Telefonica Larga Distancia De Puerto Rico, 7 FCC Red. 4275 (1992).

«> I, THE GRANT OF THE STA WILL SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST The cable landing license for the Taino—Carib cable was granted on June 25, 1992, and expired 25 years after the date on which the cable was placed into service on January 1, 19935 AT&T realized late on January 18, 2018 that it inadvertently had overlooked this expiration date and on January 19, 2018 contacted the International Bureau staff to inform them of this situation. AT&T requested guidance on the application procedures to be followed to request renewal of this license, and steps to take in the interim to ensure the continued provision of service via the submarine cable to Puerto Rico and other points of contact along the cable. AT&T expects to file a renewal application as soon as possible after receiving FCC staff advice regarding the format for seeking renewal and the information to be provided in such an application, as there are currently no established procedures for such a renewal. In the meantime, AT&T seeks STA to ensure that AT&T and the other licensees may continue to operate the cable and to provide the important services it provides to customers in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and elsewhere until the Commission completes its consideration of the renewal application. AT&T submits that STA serves the public interest in ensuring the continued provision of communications services to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and that it would not serve the public interest to cease operation of this cable, even on a temporary basis, especially in light of the circumstances recently affecting Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands due to weather and storms. The cable links two landing points in Puerto Rico with the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands, and connects at these U.S. landing points to other cables extending to the U.S. Mainland, other Caribbean island and South American locations. The cable has been 3 See id.

—3 .L operated successfully for 25 years pursuant to the license granted in 1992, and was upgraded multiple times between 2000 and 2016, currently providing more than 650 Gbps of available capacity (F.e., equivalent to more than 7.8 million Kbps circuits). IL. THE COMMISSION HAS AUTHORITY TO GRANT THE STA The Commission has ample authority to issue an STA to allow continued operation of a cable prior to the grant of a landing license renewal application. Neither the Cable Landing License Act nor Executive Order 10,520 (delegatingsubmarine cable licensing authority from the President to the Commission, subject to Executive Branch review) limits the Commission‘s ability to issue an STA for operational authority prior to grant of the renewal of a cable landing license.* The Commission has exercised such authority on numerous occasions to permit the construction and testing of new cable systems prior to the grant of their cable landing licenses." AT&T submits that an even stronger showing of good cause is made where, as here, STA is requested to permit the continued operation of a previously licensed cable system that has ‘provided service to the public for 25 years, and the STA will merely permit that service to continue without change pending the renewal of that submarine cable license. * See 47 U.S.C. §§ 34—39; Executive Order 10,530. * See, ecg., GTI Corporation et al., Request for Special Temporary Authority, File No. SCL— STA—20160914—00018 (granted Sept. 26, 2016); Quintillon Subsea Operations, LLC, Revised Application for Special Temporary Authority, File No. SCL—STA—20160330—00010 (granted Apr. 11, 2016); GU Holdings, Inc., Application for Special Temporary Authority, File No. SCL— STA—20160630—00014 (granted Jul. 11, 2016).

CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, AT&T requests the grant of this STA request, Respectfully submitted, AT&T Corp. Of Counsel: By: umm "J — ~}cM.eA James Tal$ot Mark D. Schneider Assistant Secretary Sidley Austin LLP AT&T Corp. 1501 K Street, NW 1120 204 Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20005 Suite 1000 {(202) 736—8058 Washington, D.C, 20036 mschneider@sidley.com (202) 457—3048 Jjtalbot@att.com Dated: January 18, 2018

CERTIFICATE OF SERS;/ICE I hereby certify that the foregoing application was sierved on the following by first—class mail on January 22, 2018: U.S. Coordinator, EB/CIP U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20520—5818 Office of Chief Counsel/NTIA U.S. Department of Commerce 14th St., NW and Constitution Ave., NW Washington, DC 20230 Defense Information Systems Agency ATTN: GC/DOI 6910 Cooper Avenue Fort Meade, MD 20755—7088 Lacretia Hill


Document Created: 2018-02-27 13:29:03
Document Modified: 2018-02-27 13:29:03
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