*Pages 1--3 from Microsoft Word - 5110.doc* PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S. W. Washington, D. C. 20554 DA 00- 2693 November 29, 2000 COMMENTS INVITED ON APPLICATION OF GST TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES TO DISCONTINUE DOMESTIC SERVICES NSD File No. W- P- D- 472 Section 214 Application Applicant: GST TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC. On November 14, 2000, GST Telecommunications, Inc. and its subsidiaries (“ GST” or “Applicant”) filed an application requesting authority under section 214( a) of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U. S. C. § 214( a), and section 63.71 of the Federal Communications Commission's rules, 47 C. F. R. § 63. 71, to discont inue provision of cert ain U. S. domest ic telecommunicat ions services wit h respect t o its customers and assets acquired by Time Warner Telecom Inc. (“ Time Warner Telecom”) on or about December 15, 2000 (“ Application”). GST’s application states that on May 17, 2000, GST filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U. S. Bankruptcy Laws in the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and received approval to proceed with open bidding for the auction of substantially all of GST’s assets. The auction was conducted between August 22 – 25, 2000, and Time Warner Telecom’s bid to acquire most of GST’s assets was successful. At the completion of the auction process, GST received approval to proceed toward a sale of the assets to Time Warner Telecom. GST and Time Warner Telecom have entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”), which was approved by the Bankruptcy Court. Pursuant to the Agreement , Time Warner Telecom will acquire cert ain asset s associat ed wit h GST’s telecommunications operations, including telecommunications equipment, portions of GST’s customer base, and the federal and state certifications authorizing those operations. Accordingly, GST seeks authority to discontinue providing U. S. domestic local, long distance and data/ Internet services on or about December 15, 2000, to the former GST customers Time Warner Telecom will serve. In addit ion, GST seeks aut horit y to discont inue providing Frame Relay, ISDN, DSL, Conference Calling and Basic Business Line services (wit h mont hly billing less t han $400) to the GST cust omers being transferred to Time Warner Telecom, and not es that these services will not be provided by Time Warner telecom. News media information 202 / 418- 0500 Fax- On- Demand 202 / 418- 2830 Internet: http:// www. fcc. gov TTY 202 / 418- 2555 1 The application states that Time Warner Telecom does not plan to take over all of GST’s assets and customer accounts. GST will cont inue to hold cert ain asset s in Hawaii. In addit ion. GST will cont inue to provide the following services to the customers not acquired by Time Warner Telecom until it can find a buyer to purchase these customer accounts: stand alone long distance, Centrex, Centrex resale, business line resale, GST Home (bundled cable/ telephony), paging, CPE Maintenance, stand alone calling card service, tandem services, hospit alit y (operat or services) and cust omer agreement wit h awareness. 1 The application states that, in letters distributed November 3 and November 6- 10, 2000, GST provided the notice to affected customers required by section 63.71( a) of the Commission’s regulation, 47 C. F. R. § 63. 71( a). GST certifies that, concurrent with the filing of this Application, GST is submitting a copy of its Application to the Secretary of Defense and the Governor and Public Utilities Commission of each state in which the discontinuance is proposed, in accordance with section 214( b) of the Act, 47 U. S. C. § 214( b), and section 63.71( a) of the Commission’s regulation, 47 C. F. R. § 63.71( a). The application also states that GST is regulated as a non- dominant carrier with respect to each domestic telecommunications service for which it seeks discontinuance authority. In accordance with 47 C. F. R. § 63.71( c), the application will be deemed to be aut omat ically grant ed on the 31st day after the release date of this notice without any Commission notification to the applicant, unless the Commission has notified the applicant that the grant will not be automatically effective. The FCC will normally authorize proposed discontinuances of service unless it is shown that customers or other end users would be unable to receive service or a reasonable substitute from another carrier, or that the public convenience and necessity is otherwise adversely affected. Comment s object ing to this applicat ion must be filed wit h the Commission by December 6, 2000. Such comments should refer to application file number W- P- D- 472. Comment s should include specific information about the impact of this proposed discontinuance on the commenter, including any inabilit y t o acquire reasonable subst it ut e service. Comment s should be sent to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW- A325, Washington, DC 20554. Two copies of the comments should also be sent to the Network Services Division, 445 12th Street, SW, Room 6- A207, Washington, DC 20554. The application will be available for review and copying during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY- A257, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 418- 0270. The application may also be purchased from the Commission’s copy contractor, International Transcription Service, Inc. (ITS), 1231 20 TH Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036, telephone 202- 857- 3800, facsimile 202- 857- 3805, TTY 202- 293- 8810. For further information, contact Carmell Weathers, (202) 418- 2325 (voice), cweather@ fcc. gov, or Mart y Schwimmer, (202) 418- 2320 (voice), mschwimm@ fcc. gov, of the Network Services Division, Common Carrier Bureau. The TTY number is (202) 418- 0484. 1 The application states that, if GST cannot find a buyer, it may be forced to discontinue these services as well. Once GST secures a buyer to take over its other active customer accounts, or determines that no buyer will be forthcoming, GST will file another application Commission to discontinue providing domestic telecommunications services with respect to those services. 2 For further information on Section 214s please visit our web site at: http:// www. fcc. gov/ ccb/ nsd/ documents/ 214. html. -FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION- 3