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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) ALASKA NETWORK SYSTEMS, INC. ) File No. ITC-97-099 ) Application for authority to operate as an) international resale carrier. ) ORDER, AUTHORIZATION AND CERTIFICATE Adopted: November 12, 1997 Released: November 14, 1997 By the Chief, Telecommunications Division: 1. Alaska Network Systems, Inc. (ANS), pursuant to Section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, submitted the above-captioned application requesting authority to provide global international resale services. The application was placed on public notice on February 28, 1997. A Petition to Deny Or In the Alternative to Condition the Application was filed on March 21, 1997, by General Communication, Inc. (GCI). Oppositions were filed by ANS and by Arctic Slope Telephone Association Cooperative (ASTAC) and Mukluk Telephone Company (Mukluk), jointly, on March 31, 1997. GCI filed a Reply to the Oppositions on April 7, 1997. In June, 1997, ANS filed supplemental information on the application and GCI filed its response. A status conference was held on October 10, 1997. It was agreed by the parties that the application could be granted subject to the conditions listed below. 2. ANS is a corporation owned by twelve independent Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) in Alaska. The sole issue presented in the lengthy pleadings submitted by the parties is the allegation by GCI that ASTAC, one of the twelve LECs that are shareholders in ANS, and Mukluk, a subsidiary of another of the twelve shareholders, have "refused" to make the necessary network upgrades to provide interconnection required by Section 201 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, so that GCI can offer competitive long distance service to the citizens in twelve communitites. At present, GCI is unable to interconnect with these LECs in order to originate and terminate competitive state and interstate toll service provided over GCI's DAMA satellite facilities. 3. After reviewing the record in this proceeding and meeting with the parties, we conclude that the public interest requires that we condition the grant of this Section 214 authorization in light of the unresolved interconnection disputes between GCI and Mukluk and ASTAC. We believe that unconditional grant of the present application would not serve the public interest in the face of unresolved contentions that Mukluk and ASTAC are using control of bottleneck local exchange facilities to thwart the provision of competitive toll services to customers in their service areas. We conclude that these matters must be resolved to the satisfaction of the Division before ANS can provide originating international toll service to customers in the Mukluk and ASTAC exchanges where GCI has requested and not received interconnection. ANS may terminate international switched toll services in these exchanges, but this order does not authorize it to provide any international private line service to or from these exchanges. 4 Upon consideration of the application and in view of the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that the present and future public convenience and necessity require a grant thereof. 5 Accordingly, it is ordered that application File No. ITC-97-099 IS GRANTED, and ANS is authorized to provide international switched and private line services by the resale of international switched and private line services of other authorized international carriers, pursuant to Section 63.18(e)(2) of the Commission's Rules, 47 U.S.C. 63.18(e)(2). 6 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that authorization of ANS to provide switched basic services over resold international private lines as part of its authorized services is limited to the resale of such private lines only between the United States and countries determined to afford resale opportunities equivalent to those available under U.S. law. See 47 C.F.R. Sections 63.18(e)(2)(ii)(3) and (e)(3). In addition, ANS's tariff must state that its customers may not connect private lines provided over these authorized facilities to the public switched network at either the U.S. or foreign end other than Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden or New Zealand for the provision of international switched basic services, unless authorized to do so by the Commission upon finding that the foreign country affords resale opportunities equivalent to those available under U.S. law. The limitations in this paragraph are subject to the exception that ANS may engage in "switched hubbing" consistent with Section 63.17(b) of the Commission's Rules. 7 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that ANS shall report its provision of switched services over resold private lines on a semi-annual basis to the Commission in the manner required by Section 43.61 of the Commission's Rules. This reporting requirement applies to traffic carried through December 1997 for the United Kingdom; December 1998 for Sweden; and December 1999 for New Zealand. These semi-annual reports shall be filed with the Commission not later than September 30 for the first six-month calendar period, and March 31 for the second six-month calendar period. 8 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pending further action by this Division, this order does not authorize ANS to provide originating international switched toll service to customers in the Mukluk and ASTAC local exchanges in which GCI has requested and not yet received operational interconnection which permits the provision of competitive toll service by GCI. ANS may terminate international switched toll services in these exchanges, but this order does not authorize it to provide any international private line service to or from these exchanges. 9. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the applicant shall file annual circuit addition reports in accordance with the requirements set forth in 43.82 of the Commission's Rules and Rules for Filing of International Circuit Status Reports, CC Docket No. 93-157, Report and Order, 10 FCC Rcd 8605 (1995). 10. 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. 11. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that if the applicant intends to provide international call-back services through the use of uncompleted call signaling, its authorization to resell international switched voice and/or data services to provide these services is expressly subject to the conditions listed in VIA USA Ltd., et al., 9 FCC 2288(1994), and in Order on Reconsideration, 10 FCC Rcd 9540 (1995). 12. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the applicant shall provide the authorized services in compliance with the requirements of Section 64.1903 of the Commission's Rules. See Regulatory Treatment of LEC Provision of Interexchange Services Originating 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), recon., FCC 97-229 (released June 27, 1997). 13. The Petition To Deny Or In the Alternative, To Condition the Application, filed by GCI, is hereby granted as set forth herein. 14. 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