Attachment JGA South STA Reques

This document pretains to SCL-STA-20190809-00025 for Special Temporal Authority on a Submarine Cable Landing filing.

IBFS_SCLSTA2019080900025_1837621

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) GU HOLDINGS INC., AARNET PTY LTD, ) File Nos. SCL-LIC-20190502-00016 RTI JGA PTE. LTD., and ) SCL-STA-2019_________ RTI CONNECTIVITY PTE. LTD. ) ) Application for a License to Construct, Land, ) and Operate a Submarine Cable ) Connecting Guam and Australia ) REQUEST FOR SPECIAL TEMPORARY AUTHORITY Pursuant to the Act Relating to the Landing and Operation of Submarine Cables in the United States, 47 U.S.C. §§ 34-39, Executive Order 10,530, and 47 C.F.R. § 1.767, GU Holdings Inc., AARNet Pty Ltd, RTI JGA Pte. Ltd., and RTI Connectivity Pte. Ltd. (collectively, “Applicants”) hereby request special temporary authority (“STA”) to construct, connect, and test the portion of the JGA South cable system in U.S. territory prior to the Commission’s grant of Applicants’ pending cable landing license application.1 Without such authority, construction of the JGA South cable system would likely be delayed at significant cost to Applicants and thereby delay the benefits of new Guam-Australia capacity that the cable will provide. Applicants therefore seek STA beginning no later than September 13, 2019, and ending 180 days from grant. Applicants have notified the Team Telecom agencies of this request. 1See GU Holdings Inc., Application for a License to Construct, Land, and Operate a Submarine Cable Connecting Guam and Australia, FCC File No. SCL-LIC-20190502-00016 (filed May 2, 2019) (JGA South Application); see also Public Notice, Streamlined Submarine Cable Landing License Applications Accepted for Filing, Report No. SCL. 00244S (rel. June 21, 2019) (Public Notice).

Applicants acknowledge that grant of such STA will not prejudice action by the Commission on the underlying application and that such STA is subject to cancellation or modification upon notice. The Commission has authority to grant the requested STA and has previously granted STA requests seeking similar relief. I. BACKGROUND On May 2, 2019, Applicants applied for authority to construct, land, and operate JGA South, a high-capacity fiber-optic submarine cable system connecting Guam and Australia.2 The Commission placed the JGA South Application on public notice (streamlined processing) on June 21, 2019,3 but later removed the application from streamlined processing at the request of the Team Telecom agencies pending completion of a national security and law enforcement review. Applicants are pursuing discussions with the Team Telecom agencies to complete a national security review of the Application. However, Applicants do not expect that those discussions will be concluded in time for the Commission to fully consider and grant the underlying application by September 13, 2019, the date on which Applicants and the system supplier plan to begin laying the cable in U.S. territory. Laying the cable is part of a series of interrelated processes, the delay or reordering of which would impose substantial additional costs on Applicants and raise concerns about the continuing availability of a cable-laying ship for the project. Consequently, Applicants seek STA now in order to ensure that construction, connection, and testing in U.S. territory may proceed on schedule. With this request, Applicants do not seek authority for other operation of the cable and will not begin to provide service using 2 See JGA South Application. 3 See Public Notice. 2

the JGA South cable system until a cable landing license or STA for operation is issued by the Commission. II. GRANT OF THE STA REQUEST WILL SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST Grant of this STA request will serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. Delaying the construction start date for the cable would delay the availability of its substantial transmission capacity and impose significant economic costs on Applicants. Depending on the length of the delay, the financial viability of the project could be at risk. Conversely, grant of this STA request would help to ensure realization of the project’s public benefits. Specifically, the JGA South cable will provide significant new and replacement capacity on the Guam-Australia route, where demand has increased substantially in recent years. JGA South will be the first new cable system to directly connect Guam to Australia since 2009.4 III. THE FCC HAS AUTHORITY TO GRANT THE STA REQUEST The Commission has on numerous occasions granted STAs for construction, connection, and testing prior to the grant of a cable landing license, and it should also do so in this case. Recently, the Commission granted, upon showings similar to the facts presented here, STAs for construction, connection, and testing of the Taino-Carib and Curie cable systems.5 Neither the Cable Landing License Act nor Executive Order 10,530 (delegating submarine cable licensing authority from the President to the Commission, subject to Executive Branch review) limits the Commission’s ability to issue such relief.6 Applicants seek similar authority here to construct, connect, and test JGA South in U.S. territory. 4 JGA South Application at 1-2. 5 See Request for Extension of Special Temporary Authority, FCC File No. SCL-STA- 20190128-00002 (granted Feb. 22, 2019); Request for Extension of Special Temporary Authority, FCC File No. SCL-STA-20190530-00017 (granted June 13, 2019). 6 See 47 U.S.C. §§ 34-39; Executive Order 10530, 19 Fed. Reg. 2709 (May 10, 1954). 3

IV. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons, the Commission should grant this STA request as expeditiously as possible, and in any event no later than September 13, 2019. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Ulises R. Pin Ulises R. Pin Brett P. Ferenchak Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP 1111 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20004 (202) 373-6000 ulises.pin@morganlewis.com brett.ferenchak@morganlewis.com Counsel for GU Holdings Inc. August 9, 2019 4

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing document was served this date upon the following: Marlene Dortch U.S. Coordinator Secretary EB/CIP Federal Communications Commission U.S. Department of State 445 12th Street, SW 2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20520-5818 (via first class U.S. mail, postage prepaid) (via first class U.S. mail, postage prepaid) David Krech Defense Information Systems Agency International Bureau Attn: GC/DO1 Federal Communications Commission 6910 Cooper Avenue 445 12th Street, SW Fort Meade, MD 20755-7088 Washington, DC 20554 (via first class U.S. mail, postage prepaid) (via electronic mail to david.drech@fcc.gov) Denise Coca Office of Chief Counsel/NTIA International Bureau U.S. Department of Commerce Federal Communications Commission 14th Street and Constitution Ave., NW 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20230 Washington, DC 20554 (via first class U.S. mail, postage prepaid) (via electronic mail to denise.coca@fcc.gov) Tom Sullivan Troy Tanner International Bureau International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20554 (via electronic mail to (via electronic mail to troy.tanner@fcc.gov) thomas.sullivan@fcc.gov) /s/ Brett P. Ferenchak Brett P. Ferenchak August 9, 2019 5


Document Created: 2019-08-09 13:18:21
Document Modified: 2019-08-09 13:18:21
© 2025 FCC.report
This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the FCC