Federal Communications Commission DA 25-1066 DA 25-1066 Released: December 16, 2025 DOMESTIC SECTION 214 APPLICATION FILED FOR THE TRANSFER OF CONTROL OF LORETTO TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC. TO UNITED COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, LLC NON-STREAMLINED PLEADING CYCLE ESTABLISHED WC Docket No. 25-310 Comments Due: December 30, 2025 Reply Comments Due: January 6, 2026 By this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment from interested parties on an application filed by SkyBest Communications, Inc. (SkyBest) and United Communications Holdings, LLC (UCH) (together, Applicants), pursuant to section 214(a) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and section 63.04 of the Commission’s rules, See 47 U.S.C. § 214(a); 47 CFR § 63.04. requesting Commission consent for the transfer of control of Loretto Telephone Company, Inc. (Loretto Telephone) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Loretto Communications Services, Inc. (Loretto Communications), from SkyBest to UCH. Domestic Section 214 Application for the Transfer of Control of Loretto Telephone Company, Inc. and Loretto Communications Services, Inc. to United Communications Holdings, LLC, WC Docket No. 25-310 (filed Nov. 13, 2025) (Application). On December 10, 2025, UCH filed a supplement to their domestic section 214 application. See Letter from Marjorie Spivak, Counsel to United Communications Holdings, Inc., to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, WC Docket No. 25-310 (filed Dec. 9, 2025) (Supplement). Applicants also filed applications for the transfer of international authorizations. Any action on the domestic section 214 application is without prejudice to Commission action on other related applications. Loretto Telephone provides service as a rural incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC), and Loretto Communications provides service as a competitive LEC. Both are Tennessee corporations providing service to portions of Lawrence, Giles, and Wayne Counties, Tennessee. Application at 2. Applicants state that Loretto Telephone, an average schedule carrier, receives high cost Connect America Fund Broadband Loop Support (CAF BLS), High-Cost Loop (HCL), and Intercarrier Compensation Recovery (ICC) in Study Area Code (SAC) 290570. Id. at 12. Applicants further state that Loretto Telephone is designated an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) in Tennessee. Id. SkyBest, a North Carolina corporation, provides service as a competitive LEC in Johnson County Tennessee and wholly owns Loretto Telephone. Id. at 2-3. UCH, a Delaware limited liability holding company, UCH is majority owned by MTE Holdings, LLC (MTEH), a Tennessee limited liability company, which, in turn, is wholly owned by Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation (MTEMC), an electric utility that is organized as a Tennessee non-profit corporation that is a member-owned cooperative in which no member-owner holds a 10% or greater interest. Id. at 4. MTEMC is governed by a Board of Directors, each U.S. citizens, elected by its member owners. Id.; see also Supplement at 1-2 (listing each of the Board Members and Officers of MTEH and MTEMC). Applicants state that neither MTEH nor any of the Board Members or Officers of MTEMC hold a 10% or greater interest in any other provider of domestic telecommunications services. Supplement at 1-2. wholly owns United Telephone Company (UTC), a Tennessee corporation, that provides service as a rural incumbent LEC in portions of Bedford, Davidson, Marshall, Franklin, Rutherford, Williamson, and Moore Counties, Tennessee. Id. at 3. Applicants state that UTC, a rate-of-return carrier, receives CAF BLS, HCL, and ICC in SAC number 290581, and is designated as an ETC in Tennessee. Id. at 12. Applicants state that UCH also wholly owns UTC Long Distance, LLC (UTC Long Distance), a Tennessee limited liability company and provider of resold interstate and intrastate long-distance services in the State of Tennessee. Id. at 4. UTC’s wholly owned subsidiary, United Communications, Inc. (UCI), also a Tennessee corporation, provides service as a competitive LEC and cable operator in portions of Bedford, Davidson, Franklin, Giles, Lincoln, Marshall, Moore, Maury, Rutherford, Williamson, and Wilson counties, Tennessee. Id. at 3-4. Applicants state that UCI receives Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) funding in SAC number 299040, and is designated as an ETC in the counties of Bedford, Rutherford, and Williamson, Tennessee. Id. at 12. Applicants provide pre- and post-transaction ownership charts. Id. at Attach. B (FCC Rule Section 63.18(h)(2) Ownership Diagrams); Supplement at Amended Attach. B (replacing United Long Distance with UTC Long Distance, LLC). Pursuant to the terms of the proposed transaction, UCH will purchase all the shares in Loretto Telephone. Id. at 4. Upon consummation, Loretto Telephone will become a wholly owned subsidiary of UCH, and Loretto Communications will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Loretto Telephone (and an indirect subsidiary of UCH). Id. Applicants state that their service territories do not overlap. See id. at Attachment D (Map of Geographic Operations) at n.11. Applicants assert that a grant of the Application would serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. Id. at 13-14 and Attach. A at 16-17. Because the proposed transaction is more complex than those accepted for streamlined treatment, and in order to analyze whether the proposed transaction would serve the public interest, we accept the Application for non-streamlined processing. 47 CFR § 63.03(c)(1)(v). Domestic Section 214 Application Filed for the Transfer of Control of Loretto Telephone Company, Inc. and Loretto Communications Services, Inc. to United Communications Holdings, LLC, WC Docket No. 25-310 (filed Nov. 13, 2025). GENERAL INFORMATION The application identified herein has been found, upon initial review, to be acceptable for filing. The Commission reserves the right to return any application if, upon further examination, it is determined to be defective and not in conformance with the Commission’s rules and policies. Interested parties may file comments and reply comments on or before the dates indicated on the first page of this document. Comments may be filed using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). § Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing the ECFS: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/. § Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. § Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial courier, or by the U.S. Postal Service. All filings must be addressed to the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. § Hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary are accepted between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. by the FCC’s mailing contractor at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. § Commercial courier deliveries (any deliveries not by the U.S. Postal Service) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. § Filings sent by U.S. Postal Service First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express must be sent to 45 L Street NE, 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. In addition, e-mail one copy of each pleading to each of the following: 1) Gregory Kwan, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, Gregory.Kwan@fcc.gov; 2) David Krech, Office of International Affairs, david.krech@fcc.gov; and 3) Jim Bird, Office of General Counsel, jim.bird@fcc.gov. 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 Gregory Kwan, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-1191 or gregory.kwan@fcc.gov. -FCC- 2