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                           Before the 
                FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                        Washington, D.C. 20554
     DA 97-1476
    In the matter of)
     )
 POLAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.)
     )
 Application for authority to  ) File No. I-T-C-97-283
 construct and operate facilities)
 for service between the United)
    States and Canada.)

               ORDER, AUTHORIZATION AND CERTIFICATE

   Adopted: July 9, 1997 Released: July 16, 1997  

By the Chief, Telecommunications Division:

      1.Upon consideration of the above-captioned
uncontested application, filed pursuant to Section 214 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, we find that the present
and future public convenience and necessity require a grant
thereof.

      2.Accordingly, it is ordered that application File
No. I-T-C-97-283 IS GRANTED, and Polar Telecommunications, Inc.
(Polar) is authorized to:

      a.construct and operate fiber optic cable facilities in
     North Dakota to the Canadian border near Pembina, North
     Dakota, connecting with facilities in Canada to be provided
     by the Manitoba Telephone Company; and

      b.use said facilities to provide regularly authorized
     services, including switched voice and data and private line
     services, between the United States and Canada.

      3.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the applicant shall
file annual circuit status reports in accordance with the
requirements set forth in Rules for Filing of International
Circuit Status Reports, CC Docket No. 93-157, Report and Order,
10 FCC Rcd 8605 (1995).

      4.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that grant of this
application is subject to all the conditions set forth in Section
63.21 of the Commission's Rules, 47 C.F.R. 63.21.
      5.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that, to the extent the
applicant originates these authorized services in the local
exchange area of an affiliated incumbent local exchange carrier
(ILEC), or otherwise provides "in-region" service, as these terms
are defined in Regulatory Treatment of LEC Provision of
Interexchange Services in the LEC's Local Exchange Area and
Policy and Rules Concerning the Interstate, Interexchange
Marketplace, Second Report and Order in CC Docket No. 96-149 and
Third Report and Order in CC Docket No. 96-61, FCC 97-142
(released April 18, 1997), at paragraph 4, n. 13, recon., FCC 97-
229 (released June 27, 1997) (LEC Classification Order), it shall
do so subject to  the following conditions:  (1) the applicant
shall maintain separate books of account from the affiliated
ILEC; (2) the applicant shall not jointly own any transmission or
switching facilities with the affiliated ILEC; (3) the applicant
shall take any tariffed services from the affiliated ILEC
pursuant to the terms and conditions of the ILEC's generally
applicable tariff; and (4) the applicant shall be treated as a
nonregulated affiliate for purposes of local exchange carrier
accounting under the Commission's joint cost and affiliate
transactions rules as set forth in Parts 32 and 64 of the
Commission's Rules.  These interim conditions will continue to
apply until the LEC Classification Order becomes effective, at
which time these conditions will be superseded by the rules
adopted in that order.

          6.  This order is issued under Section 0.261 of the
Commission's Rules and is effective upon adoption.  Petitions for
reconsideration under Section 1.106 or applications for review
under Section 1.115 of the Commission's Rules may be filed within
30 days of the date of public notice of this order (see Section
1.4(b)(2)).
     FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



     Diane J. Cornell
     Chief, Telecommunications Division
     International Bureau