PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12 th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 15-106 Released: January 23, 2015 WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON THE NATIONAL RURAL UTILITIES COOPERATIVE FINANCE CORPORATION AND THE RURAL TELEPHONE FINANCE COOPERATIVE’S PETITION FOR WAIVER OF THE RURAL BROADBAND EXPERIMENTS LETTER OF CREDIT BANK ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS WC Docket No. 10-90 WC Docket No. 14-259 Oppositions Due: February 2, 2015 Replies Due: February 9, 2015 On January 21, 2015, the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) and its affiliate, the Rural Telephone Finance Cooperative (RTFC), filed a petition for waiver of one aspect of the Commission’s letter of credit bank eligibility requirements for the rural broadband experiments. 1 Pursuant to section 1.45 of the Commission’s rules, oppositions are due ten (10) days after the petition for waiver is filed, and replies are due five (5) days later. 2 Therefore, interested parties may file oppositions by Monday, February 2, 2015, and reply comments by Monday, February 9, 2015. We remind provisionally selected winning bidders that, by Tuesday, February 3, 2015, they must submit to the Commission, through Form 5620, a letter from an acceptable bank committing to issue a LOC. 3 1 National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation and Rural Telephone Finance Cooperative Petition for Waiver, WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 14-58 (filed Jan. 21, 2015). Entities provisionally selected as winning bidders for the rural broadband experiments are required to obtain an irrevocable stand-by original letter of credit (LOC) from a bank. Connect America Fund, ETC Annual Reports and Certifications, WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 14-58, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 29 FCC Rcd 8769, 8787-93, paras. 54-71 (2014). 2 47 C.F.R. § 1.45. 3 See Wireline Competition Bureau Announces Entities Provisionally Selected for Rural Broadband Experiments; Sets Deadlines for Submission of Additional Information, WC Docket No. 10-90, Public Notice, DA 14-1772, Attach. B (Wireline Comp. Bur. rel. Dec. 5, 2014). 2In order to develop a complete record on the issue presented in the waiver petition, the waiver request will be treated, for ex parte purposes, as “permit-but-disclose” in accordance with section 1.1200(a) of the Commission's rules, subject to the requirements under section 1.1206(b). 4 Comments may be filed by paper or by using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). ? Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/ecfs2/. ? Paper Filers: Parties that choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. Because more than one docket number appears in the caption of this proceeding, filers must submit two additional copies for the additional docket number. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. ? All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12 th St., SW, Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering the building. ? Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. ? U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12 th Street, SW, Washington DC 20554. People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (tty). All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Marlene H. Dortch, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. Parties should also send a copy of their filings to Heidi Lankau, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, 445 12 th Street, S.W., Room 5-B511, Washington D.C. 20554, or by e-mail to Heidi.Lankau@fcc.gov. Parties must also serve one copy with the Commission’s copy contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. (BCPI), Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, (202) 488-5300, or via e-mail to fcc@bcpiweb.com. Documents are available for public inspection and copying during business hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. The documents may also be purchased from BCPI, telephone (202) 488-5300, facsimile (202) 488-5563, TTY (202) 488-5562, e-mail fcc@bcpiweb.com. Furthermore, the documents may be viewed in and downloaded from ECFS. For additional information on this proceeding, contact Heidi Lankau (Heidi.Lankau@fcc.gov) of the Wireline Competition Bureau, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, (202) 418-7400. – FCC – 4 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.1200(a), 1.1206(b).