Federal Communications Commission DA 96-1815
Before the
Federal Communications Commission 
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
) ALASKA NORTHSTAR )
COMMUNICATIONS, L.L.C. )
) File No. SCL-96-002 
Application for a license to land and ) 
operate a submarine fiber optic cable ) 
extending between two cable landing points ) 
in South Central Alaska, United States )
CABLE LANDING LICENSE
Adopted: November 1, 1996 Released: November 5, 1996
By the Chief, Telecommunications Division:
1. In this Order, we grant the application of Alaska Northstar Communications, L.L.C., 
(Alaska Northstar) under the Cable Landing License Act1 for authority to land and operate hi the 
United States a coastal submarine fiber optic cable system, to be named the "Northstar Cable 
System - Extension," between two points hi South Central Alaska. The capacity of the Northstar 
Cable System - Extension will be sold or leased to users on a non-common carrier basis. We 
find that Alaska Northstar has provided sufficient information under our rules to comply with the 
Cable Landing License Act and therefore grant the cable landing license, subject to the conditions 
listed below.
The Application
2. Alaska Northstar is a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws 
of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The company is owned by its two officers, both of whom are 
U.S. citizens. Alaska Northstar will own and operate the entire cable system.
3. The exact landing points for the Northstar Cable System - Extension have yet to be 
determined. One landing station will be at or near Whittier or Seward, and the other will be at 
or near Valdez. The applicant states that the landing points will be chosen to ensure secure 
submarine and land routes and to facilitate connection to U.S. domestic private and interexchange 
systems. The sites will conform to plans approved by the Secretary of the Army.
An Act Relating to the Landing and Operation of Submarine Cables in the United States, 47 U.S.C.
§§ 34-39 (1995) (Cable Landing License Act).16842
Federal Communications Commission DA 96-1815
4. The planning and development of the Northstar Cable System - Extension will be 
based upon the use of submarine fiber optic technology judged suitable for implementation at the 
projected ready for commercial service date, employing the appropriate transmission rate to meet 
the capacity requirements of the users of the system. The applicant expects that the system 
capacity will be a minimum of 1.244 gigabits per second (Gbps). The cable system will employ 
1.55-micrometer wavelength technology and will be designed to include a minimum of two fiber 
pairs. Each fiber pair will operate at a minimum of 622 megabits per second (Mbps) per fiber 
pair. The capacity on each fiber pair will be provided in a minimum of four 155-Mbps streams, 
with each 155-Mbps stream containing 84 minimum investment units (MIUs) and with each MIU 
consisting of a 1.544-Mbps bit stream. Alaska Northstar may choose to deploy more than two 
fiber pairs or to increase the operating bit rate per fiber pair. With two fiber pairs at 622 Mbps, 
the minimum design capacity would be 336 MIUs per fiber pair. Alaska Northstar will ensure 
system reliability through the deployment of the appropriate cable system design.
5. Alaska Northstar states that it will sell or lease bulk capacity of the cable system to 
large users and telecommunications providers on a long-term, highly individualized basis.2 Thus, 
the applicant states, it will make '"individualized decisions, in particular cases, whether and on 
what terms to deal' and does not intend to undertake 'to carry for all people indifferently.'"3 
Alaska Northstar also states that there are existing common carrier transmission facilities serving 
Whittier, Valdez, and Seward. It states that it is therefore not required to apply for authority 
under section 214 of the Communications Act of 1934,4 and it urges us to consider its application 
pursuant only to the Cable Landing License Act.
6. Alaska Northstar states that the Northstar Cable System - Extension will provide 
needed additional voice, video and high-speed data transmission capacity and will offer secure, 
high-quality, high-speed communications to a variety of users by interconnecting with existing 
and planned Alaskan and U.S. domestic interexchange telecommunications networks.5 The 
introduction of high-quality, reliable, redundant, and cost-effective facilities, the applicant asserts, 
will cause an immediate and significant increase in demand for and usage of improved 
telecommunications capabilities. As the first non-common carrier cable along its route, it will 
facilitate the introduction and expansion of new and improved telecommunicaions service 
offerings.
2 Application at 10.
3 Id. (quoting National Ass'n of Regulatory Util. Comm'rs v. FCC, 525 F.2d 630, 641 (D.C. Cir.), cert, 
denied, 425 U.S. 992 (1976)).
4 47 U.S.C. § 214 (1994), as amended by Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 
56 (1996) (requiring "carrier[s]" to obtain Commission approval before undertaking construction of a new 
line or of an extension of any line); see 47 U.S.C. § 153(10) (defining "common carrier" or "carrier" as "any 
person engaged as a common carrier for hire . . .").
5 Id. at 5-6.
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Federal Communications Commission DA 96-1815
Comments
7. The Alaska Northstar application was placed on public notice on March 15, 1996. 
No comments were received. Pursuant to Section 1.767(b) of the Commission's rules,6 the Cable 
Landing License Act, and Executive Order No. 10530,7 we informed the Department of State of 
Alaska Northstar's application.8 The Department of State, after coordinating with the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of Defense, stated that 
it has no objection to the issuance of the requested cable landing license.9
Discussion
8. Alaska Northstar requests a license under the Commission's private submarine cable 
policy to promote competition in the provision of international transmission facilities. 10 Pursuant 
to this policy, the Commission has authorized non-common carrier cables where there is no legal 
compulsion to serve the public indifferently and no reason implicit in the nature of the operations 
to expect an indifferent holding-out to the eligible user public."
9. South Central Alaska is served by the NPC cable system,12 circuits on the Telstar 303 
and Aurora 2 satellites, and terrestrial microwave service. Because of the sufficient availability 
of common carrier circuits along the proposed route of the Northstar Cable System - Extension, 
there is no public-interest reason to require that it be operated on a common carrier basis. 13 Also, 
in light of the sizable present and anticipated future demand for telecommunications facilities, we 
see no prospect of creating significant overcapacity by the introduction of non-common carrier 
facilities so as to threaten the economic viability of existing common carrier cable or satellite
6 47C.F.R. § 1.767(b)(1995).
7 Exec. Order No. 10,530, reprinted as amended in 3 U.S.C.A. § 301 at 1052 (1985).
8 Letter from Diane J. Cornell, Chief, Telecommunications Division, International Bureau, Federal 
Communications Commission, to Michael T.N. Fitch, Deputy U.S. Coordinator, Office of International 
Communications and Information Policy, U.S. Department of State (Apr. 2, 1996).
9 Letter from Richard C. Beaird, Senior Deputy U.S. Coordinator, International Communications and 
Information Policy, U.S. Department of State, to Donald H. Gips, Chief, International Bureau, Federal 
Communications Commission (Aug. 22, 1996).
10 See Tel-Optik, Ltd, 100 F.C.C.2d 1033, 1041 (1985).
11 See Optel Communications, Inc., 8 FCC Red 2267 (1993) (conditional license); see also National Ass'n of 
Regulatory Util. Comm 'rs v. FCC, 525 F.2d 630 (D.C. Cir.) (NARUC I), cert, denied, 425 U.S. 992 (1976).
12 See Pacific Telecom Cable. Inc., 4 FCC Red 8061 (1989) (NPC). We have also granted a license to the 
Northstar Cable System. See Alaska Telecom Ltd, L.C., 10 FCC Red 6072 (1995).
13 See Optel, 8 FCC Red at 2268.
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Federal Communications Commission DA 96-1815
facilities. 14 Thus, there is no reason to require Alaska Northstar to operate the proposed cable 
system on a common carrier basis.
10. In addition, because Alaska Northstar will make "individualized decisions, whether 
and on what terms to deal" and does not undertake to "carry for all people indifferently," 15 there 
is no reason to expect that the proposed cable circuits would be held out to the public 
indifferently. 16 We thus conclude that Alaska Northstar will not offer capacity in Northstar Cable 
System - Extension lo the public on a common carrier basis and thus is not subject to regulation 
under Title II of the Communications Act. 17
11. Consistent with prior decisions, we find that Alaska Northstar's descriptions that the 
Northstar Cable System - Extension will land at or near Whittier or Seward, Alaska, and at or 
near Valdez, Alaska, to be sufficient to determine whether the proposed cable would comply with 
the provisions of the Cable Landing License Act and Commission rules. 18 Pursuant to Section 
1.767(a)(5) of the Commission's rules, Alaska Northstar must provide a specific description of 
the landing locations, including a map, no later than ninety days prior to construction, and we 
condition this license upon final approval of the landing points. The Commission will give public 
notice of this description, and grant of the license will be considered final unless we issue a 
public notice to the contrary no later than sixty days after receipt of the specific description of 
the landing points.
12. Based on the information provided by Alaska Northstar and pursuant to the 
Commission's procedures implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,19 we 
conclude that a grant of the requested license would not significantly affect the environment. 
Consequently, Alaska Northstar is not required to submit an environmental assessment, and this 
application is categorically excluded from environmental processing.
13. Accordingly, we conclude that U.S. interests under the Cable Landing License Act 
will be served by grant of the license to Alaska Northstar, as conditioned below.
14 See id. at 2268-69.
15 See NARUC I, 525 F.2d at 641.
16 See id. at 630; see also Transgulf Communications Ltd., 6 FCC Red 2335 (1991); Transnational Telecom 
Ltd., 5 FCC Red 598 (1990); Pacific Telecom Cable, Inc., 2 FCC Red 2686 (1987) (conditional license); 
4 FCC Red 8061 (1989) (final license).
:7 Communications Act of 1934 tit. 2,47 U.S.C. §§ 201-229 (1994), as amended by TelecommunicationsAct 
of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996) (to be codified at 47 U.S.C. §§ 201-276).
1 " See, e.g., Guam Telecom Ltd., 10 FCC Red 12,104 (1995); Alaska Telecom Ltd., 10 FCC Red 6072 (1995); 
Transnational Telecom Ltd., 5 FCC Red at 600; Pacific Telecom Cable, Inc., 2 FCC Red at 2688.
19 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.1301-.1319 (1995).
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Federal Communications Commission DA 96-1815
Ordering Clauses
14. Consistent with the foregoing, we hereby GRANT AND ISSUE, under the provisions 
of the Cable Landing License Act and Executive Order 10530, Alaska Northstar Communications, 
L.L.C., a license to land and operate a high-capacity fiber optic digital submarine cable (two or 
more fiber pairs operating at a minimum of 622 Mbps per fiber pair) extending between two 
points in South Central Alaska, one of which will be at or near Whittier or Seward and the other 
one of which will be at or near Valdez. This grant is subject to all rules and regulations of the 
Federal Communications Commission; any treaties or conventions relating to communications to 
which the United States is or hereafter may become a party; any action by the Commission or 
the Congress of the United States rescinding, changing, modifying, or amending any rights 
accruing to any person hereunder; and the following conditions:
(1) The location of the cable system within the territorial waters of the United States of 
America, its territories and possessions, and upon its shore shall be in conformity with 
plans approved by the Secretary of the Army, and the cable shall be moved or shifted by 
the Licensee at its expense upon the request of the Secretary of the Army whenever he 
or she considers such course necessary in the public interest, for reasons of national 
defense, or for the maintenance or improvement of harbors for navigational purposes;
(2) The Licensee shall at all times comply with any requirements of United States 
government authorities regarding the location and concealment of the cable facilities, 
buildings, and apparatus for the purpose of protecting and safeguarding the cables from 
injury or destruction by enemies of the United States of America;
(3) The Licensee or any persons or companies directly or indirectly controlling it or 
controlled by it or under direct or indirect common control with it shall not acquire or 
enjoy any right, for the purpose of handling or interchanging traffic to or from the United 
States, its territories or possessions, to land, connect, or operate cables or landlines, to 
construct or operate radio stations, or to interchange traffic, that is denied to any other 
United States carrier by reason of any concession, contract, understanding, or working 
arrangement to which the Licensee or any persons controlling it or controlled by it are 
parties;
(4) Neither this license nor the rights granted herein shall be transferred, assigned, or in 
any manner either voluntarily or involuntarily disposed of or disposed of indirectly by 
transfer of control of the Licensee to any persons, unless the Federal Communications 
Commission shall give prior consent in writing;
(5) The Licensee shall notify the Commission in writing of the precise locations at which 
the cable will land no later than ninety days prior to commencing construction of cable 
landing stations at those locations. The Commission will give public notice of the filing 
of these descriptions, and grant of this license will be considered final unless the 
Commission issues a notice to the contrary no later than sixty days after receipt of the
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Federal Communications Commission DA 96-1815
specific descriptions of landing points;
(6) The Commission reserves the right to require the Licensee to file an environmental 
assessment or environmental impact statement should it determine that the landing of the 
cable at those locations and construction of necessary cable landing stations would 
significantly affect the environment within the meaning of Section 1.1307 of the 
Commission's procedures implementing the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969; 
this license is subject to modification by the Commission upon its review of any 
environmental assessment or environmental impact statement that it may require pursuant 
to its rules;
(7) The Licensee shall maintain no less than a 50-percent ownership interest and voting 
control share in the cable, including 100-percent ownership in the cable stations and in 
the land portion of the cables from the stations to the beach joint of the submerged 
portion of the cable;
(8) The Licensee shall, by application, obtain Commission approval prior to the sale or 
transfer to a foreign entity of five percent or more in the aggregate of U.S.-owned and - 
controlled stock;
(9) This license is revocable by the Commission after due notice and opportunity for 
hearing pursuant to section 2 of "An Act Relating to the Landing and Operation of 
Submarine Cables in the United States," 47 U.S.C. § 35, or for failure to comply with the 
terms of the authorizations:
(10) The Licensee shall notify the Commission in writing of the date on which the cable 
is placed in service, and this license shall expire 25 years from such date, unless renewed 
or extended upon proper application, and, upon expiration of this license, all rights 
granted under it shall be terminated; and
(11) The terms and conditions upon which this license is given shall be accepted by the 
Licensee by filing a letter with the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, 
Washington, D.C. 20554, within 30 days of the release of the cable landing license.
15. This Order is issued under Section 0.261 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. 
§ 0.261, anJ is effective upon release. Petitions for reconsideration under Section 1.106 or 
applications for review under Section 1.115 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.106,
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Federal Communications Commission DA 96-1815
1.115, may be filed within 30 days of the date of public notice of this order (see 47 C.F.R. 
§ l-4(b)(2)).
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Diane Cornell
Chief, Telecommunications Division
International Bureau
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