2 DA 20-602 June 8, 2020 DOMESTIC SECTION 214 APPLICATION FILED FOR THE TRANSFER OF CONTROL OF CITIZENS TELEPHONE COMPANY OF HIGGINSVILLE, MISSOURI AND CITIZENS LONG DISTANCE COMPANY TO GREEN HILLS TELEPHONE CORPORATION STREAMLINED PLEADING CYCLE ESTABLISHED WC Docket No. 20-147 Comments Due: June 22, 2020 Reply Comments Due: June 29, 2020 By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment from interested parties on an application filed by Citizens Communications Corporation (CCC), Citizens Telephone Company of Higginsville, Missouri (CTC), Citizens Long Distance Company (CLD) and Green Hills Telephone Corporation (Green Hills) (collectively, Applicants), pursuant to section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and sections 63.03-04 of the Commission’s rules, requesting consent to transfer control of CTC and CLD to Green Hills. See 47 U.S.C. § 214; 47 CFR §§ 63.03-04. Applicants filed a supplement to their application on May 21, 2020. Applicants also filed an application for the transfer of authorizations associated with international authorizations. Any action on this domestic section 214 application is without prejudice to Commission action on other related, pending applications. CCC, a Missouri corporation, is the parent holding company of CTC and CLD. Citizens Cablevision, Inc., a cable service provider with headquarters in Higginsville, Missouri, is also a wholly owned subsidiary of CCC, and will also be acquired by Green Hills in the proposed transaction. CTC provides services as a rural incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC) to approximately 2,300 access lines in west central Missouri. CLD provides resold domestic long distance services. Green Hills, a Missouri corporation, is a rural telephone cooperative and provides service as an incumbent LEC to approximately 2,400 access lines in north central Missouri. Green Hills is wholly owned by its members and no member has a 10% or greater ownership. The following U.S. citizens are directors of Green Hills: William Gilliland, Philip Griffith, Willard Wood, Howard Baker, Steve Tarr, Carolyn Shaffer, and Jeff Riley. Green Hills offers resold domestic and long distance services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Green Hills Communications, Inc. (GH Communications), an interexchange service provider. Green Hills Area Cellular Telephone, Inc. (GH Cellular), a wholly owned subsidiary of Green Hills, operates under the business name of Green Hills Telecommunications Services (GH Telecom), which is a competitive LEC providing local exchange services in north central Missouri. GH Communications offers resold domestic long distance services to GH Telecom subscribers. Pursuant to the terms of the proposed Agreement, Green Hills will acquire all of the stock of CTC and CLD from CCC. Green Hills will then wholly own the stock of CTC and CLD. Applicants state that the service areas of CTC and CLD do not overlap with, nor are they adjacent to, the service areas of Green Hills and its wholly owned subsidiaries. Applicants request streamlined treatment of the proposed transaction under the Commission’s rules and assert that a grant of the application would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. We accept this application for filing under section 63.03(b)(2)(iii) of the Commission’s rules. 47 CFR § 63.03(b)(2)(iii). Domestic Section 214 Application Filed for the Transfer of Control of Citizens Communications Corporation, Citizens Telephone Company of Higginsville, Missouri and Citizens Long Distance Company to Green Hills Telephone Corporation, WC Docket No. 20-147 (filed May. 18, 2020). GENERAL INFORMATION The transfer of control identified herein has been found, upon initial review, to be acceptable for filing as a streamlined application. The Commission reserves the right to return any transfer application if, upon further examination, it is determined to be defective and not in conformance with the Commission’s rules and policies. Pursuant to section 63.03(a) of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR § 63.03(a), interested parties may file comments on or before June 22, 2020, and reply comments on or before June 29, 2020. Pursuant to section 63.52 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR § 63.52, commenters must serve a copy of comments on the Applicants no later than the above comment filing date. Unless otherwise notified by the Commission, the Applicants may transfer control on the 31st day after the date of this notice. Pursuant to section 63.03 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR § 63.03, parties to this proceeding should file any documents using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS): http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/. In addition, e-mail one copy of each pleading to each of the following: 1) Tracey Wilson, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, tracey.wilson@fcc.gov; 2) Dennis Johnson, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, dennis.johnson@fcc.gov; 3) David Krech, Policy Division, International Bureau, david.krech@fcc.gov; and 4) Jim Bird, Office of General Counsel, jim.bird@fcc.gov. 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), 1-888-835-5322 (tty). The proceeding in this Notice shall be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in accordance with the Commission’s ex parte rules. Persons making ex parte presentations must file a copy of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Persons making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at which the ex parte presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already reflected in the presenter’s written comments, memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during ex parte meetings are deemed to be written ex parte presentations and must be filed consistent with rule 1.1206(b), 47 CFR § 1.1206(b). Participants in this proceeding should familiarize themselves with the Commission’s ex parte rules. To allow the Commission to consider fully all substantive issues regarding the application in as timely and efficient a manner as possible, petitioners and commenters should raise all issues in their initial filings. New issues may not be raised in responses or replies. See 47 CFR § 1.45(c). A party or interested person seeking to raise a new issue after the pleading cycle has closed must show good cause why it was not possible for it to have raised the issue previously. Submissions after the pleading cycle has closed that seek to raise new issues based on new facts or newly discovered facts should be filed within 15 days after such facts are discovered. Absent such a showing of good cause, any issues not timely raised may be disregarded by the Commission. For further information, please contact Tracey Wilson at (202) 418-1394 or Dennis Johnson at (202) 418-0809. FCC 3