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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** DA 96-952 Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Applications of Southern Telecom Holding ) Company, Inc., Southern Telecom 1, Inc., ) and Southern Telecom 2, Inc., for ) File No. ETC-96-8 Determination of Exempt Telecommunication ) File No. ETC-96-9 Company Status under Section 34 of the ) File No. ETC-96-10 Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, ) as added by Section 103 of the Telecommunications ) Act of 1996 ) ORDER Adopted: June 14, 1996 Released: June 14, 1996 By the General Counsel: 1. This Order grants the applications of Southern Telecom Holding Company, Inc. ("Southern Holding"), Southern Telecom 1, Inc. ("Telecom 1"), and Southern Telecom 2, Inc. ("Telecom 2") for a determination as to each that it is an "exempt telecommunication company" pursuant to section 34(a)(1) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 ("PUHCA"), as added by section 103 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The three companies will become direct or indirect subsidiaries of The Southern Company, a registered public utility holding company under PUHCA. All three applications were filed on April 16, 1996, and were placed on public notice on April 17 for comments on their adequacy and accuracy. No comments were filed as to any of the applications. 2. Three respective applications were filed by Southern Telecom Holding Company, Inc., Southern Telecom 1, Inc., and Southern Telecom 2, Inc. According to these applications, these companies will engage exclusively in the three following activities: the acquisition, building or leasing of an extensive fiber network for the purpose of providing or engaging in sales or lease of long-haul fiber capacity on a wholesale basis to a wide range of customers; the sale of local exchange, long distance, video services, wireless, and information services on a wholesale or retail basis; and the sale, leasing and repair of telecommunications equipment and products (e.g., wire and wireless telephones and physical plant of carriers such as telephone lines). 3. Specifically, Southern Holding states that it will have two separate affiliates. The first affiliate, Southern Telecom 1, will acquire, build or lease an extensive fiber network for the purpose of providing or engaging in sales or lease of long-haul fiber capacity on a wholesale basis to a wide range of customers. These sales will involve the provision of bulk communications capacity to other carriers, who in turn will resell the capacity to third parties. The long-haul capacity to be offered would be used for routing for fiber-based or wireless communications, or to create backup or other redundancy for carriers' communications networks. Moreover, these services will be marketed to interexchange carriers, local exchange carriers, competitive access providers, cable television providers, wireless providers (for backhaul traffic), data networks, and other users of bulk telecommunications services such as banks, corporations, utilities, hospitals, universities and schools. 4. The second affiliate, Southern Telecom 2, will provide or engage in sales of local exchange, long distance, video services, wireless, and information services on a wholesale or retail basis. These services will be offered primarily through resale or other carriers' services, but in the future could be facilities-based. The wireless service will initially include resale of cellular and/or Personal Communications Services ("PCS"), and the subsidiary will also provide data transmission services via wireless or wired technology such as automatic meter reading and other information services incidental to efficient energy management. Finally, the subsidiary will engage in the sale, lease and repair of telecommunications equipment and products (e.g., wire and wireless telephones and physical plant of carriers such as telephone lines). 5. Each of the activities described in the foregoing paragraph fits within at least one of the following categories, within the meaning of PUHCA section 34(a)(1): (A) telecommunications services; (B) information services; (C) other services or products subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission; or (D) products or services that are related or incidental to the provision of a product or service described in (A), (B), or (C). 6. Therefore, based upon the representations contained in the above-referenced applications, the Commission determines that Southern Telecom Holding Company, Inc., Southern Telecom 1, Inc., and Southern Telecom 2, Inc., is each an exempt telecommunication company as that term is defined in PUHCA section 34(a)(1), as amended. 7. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the applications of Southern Telecom Holding Company, Inc., Southern Telecom 1, Inc., and Southern Telecom 2, Inc., ARE GRANTED. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Securities and Exchange Commission SHALL BE NOTIFIED of these determinations. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION William E. Kennard General Counsel