Supplement 12-03-09

SUPPLEMENT submitted by CARIBBEAN CROSSINGS LTD

Supplement

2009-12-03

This document pretains to SCL-T/C-20090506-00009 for Transfer of Control on a Submarine Cable Landing filing.

IBFS_SCLTC2009050600009_784840

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC 20554 In the Matters of CARIBBEAN CROSSINGS LTD., Application for Transfer of Control of Submarine Cable Landing License File No. SCL—T/C—20090506—00009 TRINITY COMMUNICATIONS LTD., Application‘for Transfer of Control of Section File No. ITC—T/C—20090506—00204 214 Authorization CONSOLIDATED AMENDMENTS TO APPLICATIONS FOR A CABLE LANDING LICENSE AND INTERNATIONAL SECTION 214 AUTHORITY Caribbean Crossings Ltd. ("CCL") and Trinity Communications Ltd. ("Trinity") (together, "the Companies"), by their undersigned counsel, and pursuant to the Commission‘s Report and Order in Rules and Policies on Foreign Participation ‘in the U.S. Telecommunications Market; Market Entry and Regulation of Foreign—Affiliated Entities, FCC 97—398, released November 26, 1997 ("Foreign Participation Order"), on reconsideration, FCC 00—339, released September 19, 2000, and, in the case of Trinity, pursuant to Section 63.18(k)(3) of the Commission‘s rules, 47 C.F.R. 53.18(k)(3), hereby amend their respective, above— captioned applications to demonstrate that the Commonwealth of The Bahamas provides effective competitive opportunities to U.S. carriers to compete in that country‘s market for resold and facilities—based telecommunications service, including submarine fiber optic cable service, and that the public interest would be served by the grant of their applications. This filing is necessitated by the fact that the Commonwealth of the Bahamas is not currently a member of the

World Trade Organization ("WTO") and that, as a result of the transfer of control contemplated in the Companies‘ submissions, the Government of The Bahamas, which currently owns 100% of Bahamas Telecommunications Company ("BTC"), the Commonwealth‘s dominant provider of domestic and international telecommunications services, will hold a 29.2% ownership interest in Cable Bahamas Ltd. ("CBL"), the Companies‘ parent. Pursuant to the Commission‘s rules, this ownership interest transforms BTC into a "foreign affiliate" of the Companies.‘ I. Background A. The ECO Test In its Foreign Participation Order, the Commission eliminated the "effective competitive opportunities" ("ECO") standard which was then in effect for applicants seeking Section 214 authorizations and submarine cable landing licenses who were affiliated with foreign carriers in WTO member nations, but retained it for applications involving non—WTO member states. The Commission drew this distinction because it found that "competitive concerns continue to exist for carriers that possess the ability to exercise market power in such [non—WTO Member] countries and that we should continue to pursue our goal of encouraging such countries to open their markets to competition." Foreign Participation Order, © 12. The Commuission‘s stated that its "primary competitive concern" was "preventing carriers that control bottleneck facilities in foreign countries from using those bottlenecks to discriminate against unaffiliated U.S. carriers... Absent effective regulation in our market, we are concerned that a foreign carrier with 1 Pursuant to Section 63.09(e) of the Commission‘s rules, 47 C.F.R. 63.09(e), two entities are affiliated with one another if one of them, or an entity that controls one of them, directly or indirectly owns more than 25% of the capital stock of, or controls, the other. In the instant case, the percentage of equity ownership in CBL held by the Government of The Bahamas will increase from 20.5% to 29.2% as a result of the proposed purchase by CBL of shares of CBL stock currently owned by its largest stockholder, Columbus Communications Ltd. In view of the de minimis amount by which the percentage equity interest of the Government of the Bahamas in CBL exceeds the Commission‘s 25% threshold, and for the public interest reasons set forth herein, as an alternative remedy the Companies hereby request the Commission to waive its 25% threshold in this case.


Document Created: 2009-12-03 10:11:06
Document Modified: 2009-12-03 10:11:06
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