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South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Meeting
September 16, 2014, at 9:00 A.M. CDT
Room 413, Capitol Building
Pierre, South Dakota
NOTE: If you wish to join this meeting by conference call, please contact the Commission at 605-773-3201 by 5:00 p.m. CDT on Monday, September 15, 2014. Lines are limited and are given out on a first come, first served basis, subject to possible reassignment to accommodate persons who must appear in a proceeding. Ultimately, if you wish to participate in the Commission Meeting and a line is not available, you may have to appear in person.
NOTE: To listen to the Commission Meeting live please go to the PUC's website www.puc.sd.gov and click on the LIVE link on the home page. The Commission requests persons who will only be listening to proceedings and not actively appearing in a case listen via the web cast to free phone lines for those who have to appear. The Commission meetings are archived on the PUC's website under the Commission Actions tab, Click on “Commission Meeting Archives,” to access the recordings.
NOTE: Notice is further given to persons with disabilities that this Commission meeting is being held in a physically accessible place. If you have special needs, please notify the Commission and we will make all necessary arrangements.
ADDENDUM TO THE AGENDA OF COMMISSION MEETING
Items added to the original agenda are highlighted in yellow below. |
Telecom
On July 15, 2014, the Commission received a joint application to approve the sale of certain local telephone exchanges from Kite Parent Corp. (a subsidiary of WideOpenWest Finance, LLC, (WOW!), on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries Knology of the Plains, Inc.; Knology of the Black Hills, LLC; Knology Community Telephone, Inc.; Knology of South Dakota, Inc.; and Black Hills Fiber Systems, Inc. (collectively referred to as WOW! South Dakota) and Clarity Telecom, LLC (Clarity). WOW! South Dakota proposes to sell its local telephone exchanges to Clarity. The proposed sale affects a number of local telephone exchanges and includes the following communities: Alsen, Belle Fourche, rural Beresford, Black Hawk, Box Elder, Canton, Centerville, Central City, Chancellor, Colman, Davis, Deadwood, Elk Point, Flandreau, Flyger, Gayville, Harrisburg, Hurley, Irene, Lead, Lennox, Madison, Monroe, North Sioux City, Parker, Piedmont, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Spearfish, St. Onge, Sturgis, Summerset, Tea, Vermillion, Viborg, Volin, Wakonda, Watertown, Whitewood, Worthing, and Yankton. The application states that the sale is in the public interest for the following reasons: 1) while under the previous two owners many operational functions were completed out of state, Clarity's focus will solely be the operation and expansion of the networks located in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa; 2) Clarity plans to upgrade the network infrastructure; 3) there will be no change in rates for local telephone services offered in the telephone exchanges resulting from the purchase; 4) Clarity will continue to provide enhanced 911; 5) there will be no reduction in tax revenues to the state of South Dakota resulting solely from the purchase and sale of the telephone exchanges; 6) Clarity is committed to providing modern state-of-the-art telecommunications services; and 7) and there will be no discontinuance, reduction, or impairment of any of the services presently offered. On September 2, 2014, the Commission considered this matter. The Commission approved the sale of the local telephone exchanges to Clarity. The Commission also approved the transfer of the local exchange and interexchange certificates of authority currently held by WOW! South Dakota to Clarity, subject to the filing of a bond by Clarity. The Commission deferred action on Clarity's request for designation as an ETC and on Knology CT and Knology Black Hills' request for relinquishment of its ETC designation.On September 10, 2014, Clarity filed a Supplemental Filing. In the Supplemental Filing, Clarity provided additional information and requested that the Commission certify "to the FCC that Clarity will use the support for its intended purpose" and requested a "waiver of the requirement to submit a five year plan for this year." |
TODAY, shall the Commission approve the requested service rights exception and Service Territory Exception Agreement?
AND, shall the Commission provide a certification to the Federal Communications Commission and to the Universal Service Administration Company regarding the use of Federal Universal Service Support to Clarity? And, shall the Commission grant any requested waivers? |
/s/Cindy Kemnitz
Cindy Kemnitz
Finance Manager
PUC Email
September 11, 2014
