Cincinnati Bell got an offer Wednesday from an infrastructure fund that it didn't identify to buy it for $12 a share in cash, the telco said Friday. The stock rose above that offer price, indicating investors expect a richer deal. Last month, the ILEC got a buy-out bid from Brookfield Infrastructure at $10.50 (see 1912230014). Cincinnati Bell said there are no assurances that discussions with the infrastructure fund will result in a binding proposal or that such a transaction would be approved, but discussions have begun. The Brookfield deal remains and Cincinnati Bell's board "reaffirms its existing recommendation in support of the transaction with Brookfield at this time." Wells Fargo's Jennifer Fritzsche said the recent bids "should shine the light on the value of the [rural LEC] space." The analyst favors RLECs and ILECs that "continue to invest more capital in fiber," such as Cincinnati Bell, Consolidated Communications and CenturyLink. Cincinnati Bell closed up 22 percent at $13.75, while Consolidated gained 17 percent to $5. Cincinnati Bell reports Q4 results Feb. 13 but won't have a call. A spokesperson declined additional comment.
Clarity Products seeks exclusion from tariffs it pays on the amplified cordless phones imported from China under the 8517.11.00.00 subheading, posted the Tennessee vendor Thursday in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative docket. The phones’ audio systems also have “frequency adjustment, noise suppression and multiband compression to help those with hearing loss,” said Clarity. Chinese manufacturers of “regular” cordless phones could do “small production runs” for Clarity at “economical prices,” it said. Clarity is “researching moving production to Malaysia and Vietnam, but this is unviable at this time given the company’s small volumes,” it said. It “explored” making amplified phones in a production facility it runs in Chattanooga, “but it is not economical,” it said. If Clarity lands the exemption, it would be entitled to refunds of the 15 percent tariffs retroactive to Sept. 1 when List 4A took effect. USTR is scheduled to roll back List 4A to 7.5 percent Feb. 14 (see 2001160022).
The FCC Wireline Bureau OK'd transferring U.S. TelePacific Holdings and subsidiaries to Tango (see 1909300071), said a public notice Wednesday on docket 19-248.
Allband Communications Cooperative is talking with the Rural Utility Service on options to restructure a loan that "may contribute toward resolution of financial issues faced by Allband and to a resolution with the FCC," said (in Pacer) a status report Tuesday for Allband v. FCC, No. 16-4059 before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Dec. 9 Allband filed a formal loan modification request with the RUS, which is pending, the company said. In 2017, Allband asked the FCC for heftier USF support partly to help repay its RUS loan (see 1707280028).
DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security petitioned the FCC Wednesday to require Zayo and subsidiaries to abide by Tuesday's letter of agreement on national security and public safety. If Zayo complies, the agencies wouldn't object to the FCC granting the CLEC's request for an asset sale and license transfer. Zayo wants to transfer telecom licenses to Front Range (see 1907080014).
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an item on the Connect America Fund Alaska Plan last week, the agency posted Friday. Commissioners are expected to vote on an order about an April 1 application for review by GCI Communications of an FCC waiver denial order in broadband network mapping reporting deemed insufficient (see 1904170058), agency officials told us. GCI argued in the application "no valid purpose has ever been presented for a location accuracy standard as strict as 7.6 meters." The Alaska Plan directs USF dollars for broadband networks.
Groups asked the FCC to seek additional information before accepting applications on automatic speech recognition for IP captioned telephone service (IP CTS), in meetings Friday and posted Tuesday to docket 13-24. Representatives from the Hearing Loss Association of America, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, National Association of the Deaf and Technology Access Program met with staff from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau and the Office of Economics and Analytics. They said pending applications from Clarity, MachineGenius and VTCSecure for ASR-based IP CTS services "lack sufficient information about the applicants proposed services on dimensions of quality, privacy and 911 connectivity."
The FCC Wireline Bureau defended access stimulation decisions in a response on intercarrier compensation litigation the FCC posted Tuesday. Friday's filing addresses petitions for review of AT&T v. FCC (see 1905200010) and Aureon Network Services v. FCC before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The FCC found "'Aureon indisputably provided switched access service in the manner delineated in the tariff when it routed the calls AT&T sent to the LECs that subtend Aureon's network,'" said the filing. The agency asked the court to reject AT&T argument the FCC misinterpreted the tariff.
The FCC Wireline Bureau will open its competitive bidding funding window for the 2020 Rural Health Care program Feb. 1, said Friday's Federal Register. The funding year starts July 1, said the order, outlining the schedule.
The FCC gave Frontier Communications waiver of rules requiring Connect America Fund phase II recipients to deploy broadband to 80 percent of locations in a winning bid by Dec. 31, 2019, in an order in docket 10-90 and in Wednesday's Daily Digest. The Wireline Bureau found "good cause to waive its interim milestone deadline" and support reductions for missing it. The telco missed deadlines due to a dispute with the Navajo Nation over right-of-way agreements in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. "We expect Frontier will continue to work diligently to reach a resolution on this issue with both [the Bureau of Indian Affairs] and the Navajo Nation and anticipate that the locations in question here will be served" in 2020, staff said.