*Pages 1--5 from Microsoft Word - 57452.doc* PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12 th Street, S. W. Washington, D. C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418- 0500 Fax- On- Demand 202 / 418- 2830 TTY 202 / 418- 2555 Internet: http:// www. fcc. gov ftp. fcc. gov DA 06- 1181 Released: June 1, 2006 DOMESTIC SECTION 214 APPLICATION FILED FOR THE ACQUISITION OF ASSETS OF COUNTY TELEPHONE COMPANY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP AND LEC LONG DISTANCE, INC. D/ B/ A CASSTEL LONG DISTANCE BY FAIRPOINT COMMUNICATIONS MISSOURI, INC., FAIRPOINT COMMUNICATIONS, INC., AND ST LONG DISTANCE, INC. D/ B/ A FAIRPOINT COMMUNICATIONS LONG DISTANCE STREAMLINED PLEADING CYCLE ESTABLISHED WC Docket No. 06- 64 Comments Due: June 15, 2006 Reply Comments Due: June 22, 2006 On March 13, 2006, Cass County Telephone Company, Limited Partnership (“ CassTel”) and LEC Long Distance, Inc. d/ b/ a CassTel Long Distance (“ CassTel LD”) (collectively, “Transferors”), FairPoint Communications Missouri, Inc. (“ FairPoint”), FairPoint Communications, Inc., and ST Long Distance, Inc. d/ b/ a FairPoint Communications Long Distance (“ FairPoint LD”) (collectively, “Transferees”), filed an application, pursuant to sections 63.03 and 63.04 of the Commission’s rules, 1 to transfer certain telecommunications assets from Transferors to Transferees. 2 Applicants assert that this transaction is entitled to presumptive streamlined treatment under section 63.03( b)( 2)( iii) of the rules. 3 With regard to 63.03( b)( 2), Applicants assert that the proposed transaction would result in: (1) the Transferees having a market share in the interstate, interexchange market of less than 10 percent; and (2) the Transferees providing competitive 1 47 C. F. R.§§ 63.03, 63.04; see 47 U. S. C. § 214. 2 Transferors and Transferees will be referred to as “Applicants.” On March 15, 2006, the Applicants filed a supplement to the application providing an exhibit of exchange boundary maps referenced in the application. On March 29, 2006, the Applicants filed a letter supplementing their application with additional information relating to the ownership of FairPoint. 3 47 C. F. R. § 63. 03( b)( 2)( iii). 1 2 telephone exchange services or exchange access services (if at all) exclusively in geographic areas served by a dominant local exchange carrier that is not a party to the transaction. 4 With respect to section 63.03( b)( 2)( iii), the Applicants are affiliates of incumbent independent LECs that have, in combination, fewer than 2 percent of the nation’s subscriber lines, and no overlapping or adjacent service areas. 5 CassTel, a Maryland limited partnership, provides wireline telecommunications and related services, such as CLASS, voice- mail, Internet, 911, transport, billing and collection, and directory services in Kansas and Missouri. 6 CassTel LD, a Missouri corporation, provides domestic interstate and intrastate long distance services in Kansas and Missouri. Local Exchange Company LLC, a Maryland limited liability company, is the sole general partner of Transferor CassTel, holding 99 percent ownership interest thereof, and is the sole shareholder of CassTel LD. Norman Chanes, a U. S. citizen, owns a 12.97 percent equity interest in Local Exchange Company LLC. No other individual or entity directly or indirectly owns 10 percent or more equity of Local Exchange Company LLC. FairPoint Communications, Inc., a Delaware corporation, owns 28 local telephone companies in 17 states with approximately 289,000 access line equivalents in service 7 and provides local exchange and exchange access services, long distance voice, data, Internet and broadband offerings, and enhanced calling features, digital subscriber line services, Internet access, advanced data services, and cable television services. FairPoint Communications Missouri, Inc., a Missouri corporation, is wholly- owned by MJD Services Corp., a Delaware corporation, which in turn is wholly- owned by FairPoint Communications, Inc., a Delaware corporation. ST Long Distance, Inc. d/ b/ a FairPoint Communications Long Distance, a Delaware corporation, is wholly- owned by ST Enterprises, Ltd., a Kansas corporation, which in turn, is wholly- owned by FairPoint Communications, Inc., a Delaware corporation. The following entities own a 10 percent or greater equity interest in FairPoint Communications, Inc.: Thomas H. Lee Equity Fund IV, L. P., a Delaware limited partnership (11.35%); and Wellington Management Company, L. L. P, a Massachusetts limited liability partnership (14%). The general partner of Thomas H. Lee Equity Fund IV, L. P. is THL Equity Advisors, IV, LLC. THL Equity 4 47 C. F. R. § 63.03( b)( 2). 5 47 C. F. R. § 63. 03( b)( 2)( iii). 6 CassTel offers wireline telecommunications and related services to approximately 8,000 access lines in the exchanges of Peculiar, Garden City, Drexel, Cleveland, East Lynn and Creighton, in rural Missouri, as well as adjoining portions of the West Drexel and West Cleveland exchanges in neighboring Kansas. The CassTel service territory is located approximately 30 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri and covers approximately 439 miles in Cass County, Missouri and Miami County, Kansas. 7 The Applicants provided the names, states of incorporation, and areas served for the 28 local telephone companies owned by FairPoint Communications, Inc. in their March 29, 2006 letter. See Letter from Randall B. Lowe, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Counsel for Transferors, and Stephen G. Kraskin, Communications Advisory Counsel, LLC, Counsel for Transferees, to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, WC Docket No. 06- 64, (Mar. 29, 2006). 2