Pacific Telecom Inc. And Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings, Inc.

This page provides information on applications filed by Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings, Inc. (“BANZHI”) and Pacific Telecom Inc. (“PTI” and, together with BANZHI, the “Applicants”) pursuant to sections 214 and 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the “Act”), seeking Commission approval of the proposed transfer of control from BANZHI to PTI of certain Commission licenses and authorizations held by Micronesian Telecommunications Corporation (“MTC”) and its wholly owned subsidiary GTE Pacifica Inc. (“GTE Pacifica”).

These applications have been consolidated under IB Docket No. 03-115, and most of the record in the proceeding is accessible through the Electronic Comment Filing System. Copies of documents in the record may also be obtained for a fee from FCC's duplicating contractor Qualex International, or may be viewed and/or copied at the FCC Reference Center.

Timeline

Record Documents

Below is a list of record documents in reverse chronological order.

11/6/03
FCC Conditionally Grants Applications for Approval to Transfer Control.
Order & Authorization: Word | Acrobat

10/31/03
Letter filed by the Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

10/23/03
Opposition To Extension Of Time Request filed by Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings .

10/20/03
Request for Extension of Time filed by Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Island.

10/10/03
Declaration of Confidentiality filed by Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Island.

10/10/03
Petition to Adopt Conditions filed by the U.S. Dept. of Defense, the U.S. Dept.of Homeland Security, the U.S. Dept. of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]

9/24/03
Letter filed by Pacific Telecom Inc.

9/12/03
Letter filed by the Governor of the Northern Mariana Islands

9/9/03
Letter filed by Pacific Telecom Inc.

8/27/03
Response to Commission's Information Request filed by Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings, Inc.

08/15/03
Letter, filed on behalf of Pacific Telecom and Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings, Inc.. Response to the August 1, 2003 "Response" of the Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to July 18, 2003 Letter of Pacific Telecom Inc. and Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings, Inc.

08/07/03
Letter, filed on behalf of Pacific Telecom. August 1, 2003, "Response" of the Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to July 18, 2003 Letter of pacific Telecom Inc. and Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings.

08/07/03
Letter, filed on behalf of Pacific Telecom. Pacific Telecom Inc. has submitted the four letter identified in this document to the Commission under the request for confidential treatment pursuant to Sections 0.451 and 0.459 of the Commission

08/01/03
Letter, filed on behalf of Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. to ensure that neither national security nor public safety in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is compromised, the Office of the Governor provides the enclosed new information in order to update the record in the above-referenced proceeding.

8/1/03
Reply filed by Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

08/01/03
Letter, filed on behalf of Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Response to July 18, 2003 Letter of Pacific Telecom and Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings.

6/24/03
Opposition of Applicants to Petitions to Deny.

6/9/03
Petition to Deny of the Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]

6/9/03
Comment on behalf of the Governor of Guam, on the referenced applications and petition filed by Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings, Inc. and Pacific Telecom Inc.

4/22/03
Petition on behalf of Pacific Telecom Inc. Petition of Pacific Telecom, Inc. for Declatory Ruling under Section 310(b)(4) of The Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

4/18/03
Application on behalf of Pacific Telecom, Inc. Joint Application for Transfer of Control of Cable Landing License.

4/18/03
Application on behalf of Pacific Telecom, Inc. Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holding, Inc. and Pacific Telecom Inc. request authority for a transfer of control of two international Section 214 authorizations held by GTE Pacifica Inc. from BANZHI to Pacific Telecom.

Public Notices

5/09/03
Commission Seeks Comment on Applications For Consent to Transfer Control filed by Bell Atlantic New Zealand Holdings, Inc. and Pacific Telecom Inc. (DA No. 03-1352) IB Acrobat | Word

Applications

4/18/03
Section 310 Applications, Part 25 - Satellite Communications

File Number SES-T/C-20030418-00502, Licensee GTE Pacifica Inc., Call Sign E000164 (Common carrier), License Number SES-LIC-20000414-00563
File Number SES-T/C-20030418-00501, Licensee GTE Pacifica Inc., Call Sign KA-34 (Non-common carrier), License Number SES-RWL-20001006-01900

Section 310 Applications, Part 22 – Public Mobile Services

File Number 0001236852, Licensee GTE Pacifica Inc., Call Sign KNKN616

Cable Landing License Application, Part 1 - Cable Landing Licenses

File No. SCL-T/C-20030418-00008, Licensee GTE Pacifica Inc., License SCL-92-003-AL

International Section 214 Applications, Part 63 – International Service

File No. ITC-T/C-20030418-00204, Authorization Holder GTE Pacifica Inc., Authorizations ITC-214-19970502-00247 (formerly ITC-97-288); ITC-ASG-19971211-00776 (formerly ITC-97-779-AL); ITC-ASG-19971211-00778 (formerly ITC-97-778-AL)

Domestic Section 214 Applications, Part 63 – Domestic Service

Consent to transfer control from BANZHI to PTI of blanket domestic section 214 authority held by GTE Pacifica (for domestic interstate, interexchange operations) and by MTC (for local exchange carrier operations).

Background

These licenses and authorizations include a cellular radiotelephone service license, a non-common carrier earth station license, a common carrier earth station license, a cable landing license, and two international section 214 authorizations held by GTE Pacifica, as well as blanket domestic section 214 authorizations held by GTE Pacifica and MTC. BANZHI owns all of the shares of MTC and proposes to sell to PTI its entire stock holding of MTC. After the proposed transaction, PTI would control all of the Commission licenses and authorizations held by GTE Pacifica and MTC, which would continue to offer the services they currently offer under existing service arrangements. PTI also petitions the Commission to issue a declaratory ruling that the indirect foreign ownership of GTE Pacifica that would result from PTI’s proposed acquisition is consistent with the public interest pursuant to section 310(b)(4) of the Act.

According to the Applicants, PTI, the proposed transferee, is a privately held corporation organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (“CNMI”), a U.S. overseas territory. Applicants state that PTI was formed as the vehicle to purchase the assets of MTC and GTE Pacifica. PTI is wholly owned by Prospector Investment Holdings Inc. (“Prospector”), a corporation of the Cayman Islands, British West Indies. The common stock of Prospector is owned 60 percent by Richard C. Delgado and 40 percent by Jose Ricardo Delgado, both of whom are citizens of the Philippines. Applicants therefore state that the total ultimate foreign ownership of PTI would be 100 percent.

MTC is the incumbent local exchange carrier in the CNMI and wholly owns GTE Pacifica, doing business as Verizon Pacifica, which provides domestic and international telecommunications services in the CNMI through the use of cellular radiotelephone, satellite and cable facilities. BANZHI, a Delaware corporation, wholly owns MTC. Verizon Communications Inc., a publicly held corporation organized under the laws of Delaware, indirectly owns 100 percent of the outstanding common stock of BANZHI.

Petition For Declaratory Ruling Allowing Indirect Foreign Ownership

PTI has filed a petition pursuant to section 310(b)(4) of the Act for a declaratory ruling that it would not serve the public interest to prohibit 100 percent indirect foreign ownership of common carrier licensee GTE Pacifica by investors from World Trade Organization (“WTO”) Member countries. PTI also seeks advanced authorization for two percent indirect foreign ownership by unidentified individuals who may acquire attributable foreign ownership interests in PTI via a proposed trust arrangement to be established for the benefit of the employees of MTC after acquisition by PTI.

The petition for declaratory ruling under section 310(b)(4) of the Act has been assigned File No. ISP-PDR-20030418-00012.

Clock History

Day 1 was on: 5/9/03
This information was last updated on: 11/7/03

Clock Stopped		Clock Restarted	Days Stopped	Reason for Stop
Day	Date
182	11/6/03			FCC Conditionally Grants Applications for Approval to Transfer Control Order & Authorization: Word | Acrobat