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Before the 
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of 					)
							)
AT&T CORP.						)
							)
BELLSOUTH INTERNATIONAL, INC.		)
							)
MCI WORLDCOM, INC.				)
							)
RSL COM U.S.A., INC.				)
							)
SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY L.P.	)
							)
STAR TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.		)
							)
TELEGLOBE USA, INC.				)
							)
TRICOM USA, INC.					)
							)
WORLDxCHANGE COMMUNICATIONS		)
							)
Joint Application for Authorization			)	File No. ITC-214-19990325-00153
Pursuant to Section 214 of the		 		)
Communications Act of 1934, as Amended,		)
to Construct, Acquire, and Operate			)
Capacity in a Digital Submarine Cable			)
Network, the MAYA-1 Cable Network			)

MEMORANDUM OPINION, ORDER AND AUTHORIZATION

Adopted:  November 18, 1999                                Released: November 18, 1999

By the Chief, Telecommunications Division:

	I. Introduction

	1.	In this Order, we grant the joint application of AT&T Corp. (AT&T), BellSouth International, Inc. (BSI), MCI WorldCom, Inc. (MCI WorldCom), RSL COM U.S.A. (RSL), Sprint Communications Company L.P. (Sprint), Star Telecommunications, Inc. (Star), Teleglobe USA, Inc. (Teleglobe USA), Tricom USA, Inc. (Tricom) and WorldxChange Communications (WorldxChange ) (collectively Joint Applicants) for authority, pursuant to Section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Communications Act)1, to:  (1) construct, acquire, and operate capacity in a digital 

submarine cable network, the MAYA-1 Cable Network (MAYA-1), extending between the United States, the Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama; (2) acquire by lease or other comparable means such extension facilities as may be required to extend the capacity of MAYA-1; and (3) activate capacity in MAYA-1 and in the aforementioned facilities for the provision of the Joint Applicants' authorized services.  We find that the Joint Applicants demonstrated that the public convenience and necessity will be served by the construction and operation of MAYA-1, as required by  Section 214 of the Communications Act, and therefore grant the authority to construct, acquire, and operate capacity in MAYA-1, subject to the conditions discussed below.2

	II. Application

	2.	On March 25, 1999, the Joint Applicants filed this application for Section 214 Authorization.  We placed their application on public notice on March 31, 1999.  On April 21, 1999, the Joint Applicants amended the application to clarify the initial capacity of MAYA-1 and to supplement certain of the Joint Applicant's certifications.  MCI WorldCom and AT&T filed supplemental certifications on November 15, 1999, and November 17, 1999, respectively.3
 
	3.	AT&T is a corporation organized under the laws of the state of New York.  RSL, Star, Tricom, and Teleglobe USA are corporations organized under the laws of the state of Delaware.  BSI and MCI WorldCom are corporations organized under the laws of the state of Georgia.  Sprint is a limited partnership organized under the laws of Delaware. WorldxChange is the doing business name of Communications TeleSystems International, a corporation organized under the laws of the state of California.  Each of the Joint Applicants is a common carrier subject to the Communications Act.

	4.	The Joint Applicants propose to land and operate MAYA-1 as a common carrier system owned by the Joint Applicants and by entities authorized to land and operate an international submarine fiber optic cable system in the Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama.  MAYA-1 will consist of two optical fiber pairs operating at 2.5 Gbps per wavelength in one interconnected collapsed ring configuration.  The initial design capacity of each fiber pair is equivalent to 48 Basic System Modules (BSMs),4 with a maximum upgrade capacity equivalent to 128 BSMs.  Each fiber pair with be equipped at the outset with a capacity of 3024 Ring-MIUs.5  Each fiber pair operating 

at 2.5 Gbps with one wavelength will have a capacity of 1008 Minimum Investment Units (MIUs).6  The proposed MAYA-1 system will extend between landing points at cable stations in Hollywood, Florida; Cancun, Mexico; Half Moon Bay, Cayman Islands; Puerto Cortes, Honduras; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; Colon, Panama; and Tolu, Colombia and will be connected with the domestic networks in those countries.  Shareholder voting interest in MAYA-1 will be divided among the Joint Applicants.7

	5.	The Joint Applicants plan to use the facilities covered by this application to supplement their existing cable and satellite facilities in providing the services that they are presently furnishing or may subsequently furnish.  In addition, Joint Applicants state that other telecommunications entities, including non-owners, may acquire capacity in MAYA-1 by lease, indefeasible rights of user (IRU), or other arrangements.  The number of minimum investment units (MIU) assigned to each initial party in MAYA-1, including the Joint Applicants, is identified in the attachments to this Order.

	III. Discussion

	6.	Section 214 of the Communications Act requires the Commission to determine that the authorization of the MAYA-1 facilities will serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity.8  The proposed Section 214 authorization will improve the telecommunications infrastructure on the routes served by MAYA-1.  The Commission has previously stressed the importance of making advanced telecommunications available to further economic development of the Caribbean region.9  The improvement in telecommunications systems would also improve services to areas in South and Central America.  The Joint Applicants have also stated that other telecommunications entities, including non-owners, may acquire capacity in MAYA-1, so the pro-competitive goals of the Commission are met by granting the Section 214 authorization.

	7.	The Joint Applicants certify that any affiliated foreign carriers do not have market power or the ability to discriminate against unaffiliated carriers through control of bottleneck services and facilities on any of the routes served by MAYA-1.10  Further, the Joint Applicants all certify that they have not agreed and will not agree to accept special concessions from any foreign carrier with market


power.11  Thus, the Joint Applicants' foreign affiliations do not raise competitive concerns requiring further scrutiny.12

	8.	Accordingly, we conclude that the public interest will be served by granting the Joint Applicants authority to construct, acquire and operate capacity in MAYA-1.  Therefore, we find that the present and future public convenience and necessity require a grant of the application, as conditioned below.

	IV. Ordering Clauses

	9.	IT IS ORDERED that application File No. ITC-214-19990325-00153 IS GRANTED and the Joint Applicants, AT&T, BSI, MCI WorldCom, RSL, Sprint, Star, Teleglobe USA, Tricom and WorldxChange, are authorized, pursuant to Section 214 of the Communications Act, as amended, to:  (1) construct, acquire, and operate capacity in a digital submarine cable system known as the MAYA-1 Cable System between the United States, the Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, and Panama in accordance with the interests indicated in the Attachments; (2) acquire by lease or other comparable means such extension facilities as may be required to extend the capacity of MAYA-1; and (3) activate capacity in MAYA-1 and in the aforementioned facilities for the provision of their authorized services. 

	10.	IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Joint Applicants' tariffs must state that their customers may not resell international private lines or connect them to the public switched network for the provision of international basic telecommunications services, unless authorized to do so by the Commission upon a country-specific finding that the Commission will permit the provision of switched services over private lines between the United States and that country.  See Market Entry and Regulation of Foreign-Affiliated Entities, IB Docket No. 95-22, Report and Order, 11 FCC Rcd 3873 (1995); Rules and Policies on Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Market, IB Docket Nos. 97-142, 95-22, Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, 12 FCC Rcd 23,890 (1997) recon. pending.  The limitations in this paragraph are subject to the exceptions contained in Section 63.18(e)(4)(ii) of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 63.18(e)(4)(ii).

	11.	IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Joint Applicants shall make available half-interests in MAYA-1 capacity to such present and future U.S. carriers as may be authorized by the Commission to acquire such capacity.


	12.	IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Commission retains jurisdiction to reallocate U.S. carriers' interests in capacity herein authorized, as the public interest may require and with any requisite concurrence of the foreign administration or carriers concerned, in order to accommodate additional carriers or for other reasons.

	13.	IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Commission retains jurisdiction over all matters relating to the Joint Applicants' ownership, management, maintenance, and operation of the cable system as authorized herein to ensure the most efficient use not only of this cable system but of all means of communications between the United States and the Caribbean and Central and South American region. 

	14.	IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Joint Applicants shall include MAYA-1 facility use in all circuit reports that may be required by the Commission's rules.

	15.	This Order is issued under Section 0.261 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. § 0.261, and is effective upon release.  Petitions for reconsideration under Section 1.106 or applications for review under Section 1.115 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.106, 1.115, may be filed within 30 days of the date of public notice of this order (see 47 C.F.R. § 1.4(b)(2)).


						FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION



						Rebecca Arbogast
						Chief, Telecommunications Division
						International Bureau





    1	47 U.S.C. § 214.
    2	In a companion order, we grant the Joint Applicants' application for a cable landing license (File No. SCL-19990325-00006, DA 99-2579 (rel. Nov. 18, 1999).
   3	Tyco Submarine Systems Ltd. filed comments in support of the application.  We received no other comments on the application. 
    4	A BSM is defined in the Construction and Maintenance Agreement (C&MA) (Attachment A of the application) as an STM-1 (155.52 Mbps) digital line section with interfaces provided in accordance with the appropriate ITU-T Recommendations.
    5	A ring-MIU is defined in the C&MA as a "nominal 2 Mbps bearer and all the additional overheat bits per second recommended by ITU-T standards for multiplexing in a Collapsed Ring configuration with the capability of bi-directional operation."  It is the equivalent of 30 uncompressed digital channels, each operating at 64 kilobits per second (Kbps).
    6	For a complete description of the cable system see the companion order, supra note 2.  See also attached Exhibit 1.
    7	See the attached Appendix for a table outlining the percentage of voting interests for each applicant.
    8	See 47 C.F.R. § 63.18.
    9	Inquiry into Policies to be Followed in the Authorization of Common Carrier Facilities to Meet Caribbean Region Telecommunications Needs During the 1985-1995 Period, CC Docket No. 83-525, Report and Order, 3 FCC Rcd 97, 105 (1988).
    10	47 C.F.R. § 63.18(k)(2); see Joint Application at Attachment B, Amendment thereto dated April 21, 1999, MCI WorldCom supplemental certification dated November 15, 1999, and AT&T supplemental certification dated November 17, 1999.
    11	47 C.F.R. § 63.18(n).
    12	See Rules and Policies on Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Market, 12 FCC Rcd 23,891, 23,932-35, 23,945-46 (1997) ("Foreign Participation Order"); Market Entry and Regulation of Foreign-affiliated Entities, 11 FCC Rcd 3873, 3887 (1995) ("Foreign Carrier Entry Order") ("The [ECO] test adopted here applies only to carriers with market power."). 
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	Federal Communications Commission	DA 99-2578






	Federal Communications Commission	DA 99-2578