20230620Application.pdf

Suite 500 East
1301 K Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20005-3317

K.C. Halm
John C. Nelson, Jr.
202-973-4287 tel
202-973-4487 fax
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

June 20, 2023
Jan Noriyuki
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
13311 W. Chinden Boulevard
Building 8, Suite 201-A
Boise, Idaho 83714
[e-mail]

Re: Order No. 35038, Case No. SUD-T-21-01, In the Matter of Cebridge Telecom ID, LLC
d/b/a Suddenlink Communications’ Application for Designation as an Eligible
Telecommunications Carrier – Notification of Relinquishment of Eligible
Telecommunications Carrier Designation
Dear Secretary Noriyuki:
On behalf of Cebridge Telecom ID, LLC d/b/a Optimum f/k/a Suddenlink
Communications (“Optimum” or the “Company”), and in accordance with 47 U.S.C. § 214(e)(4),
47 C.F.R. § 54.205, and Idaho Code § 62-610D(4), the Company hereby notifies the Idaho Public
Utilities Commission (“Commission”) of the Company’s intent to relinquish its eligible
telecommunications carrier (“ETC”) designation in the state of Idaho.
Background
On February 7, 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued a Report
and Order adopting the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (“RDOF”), in which service providers
competed to receive up to $20.4 billion to offer voice and broadband service in unserved high-cost
areas.1 The Company participated in Phase I of the RDOF auction (Auction 904) and was a
successful winning bidder in several states, including Idaho, as set forth in the FCC’s December
7, 2020 public notice announcing Auction 904 results (the “Auction 904 Results Notice”).2
Specifically, the FCC designated the Company as a winning bidder of $10,556.00 in nineteen
census blocks in Idaho, which are located within the certificated territories of the Blackfoot

1 See In re Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, et al., Report and Order, 35 FCC Rcd. 686 (2020).
2 See Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I Auction (Auction 904) Closes, Public Notice, 35 FCC Rcd.
13888 (2020). The designated winning bidder, Altice USA, Inc., formally assigned its winning bids to its
subsidiary, the Company, on December 22, 2020, consistent with FCC procedures.
RECEIVED
2023 June 20, AM 8:06
IDAHO PUBLIC
UTILITIES COMMISSION
CASE NO. SUD-T-23-01
June 15, 2023
Page 2

Telephone Cooperative (“Blackfoot”) as well as the territories of certain affiliates of Frontier
Communications Corp. (“Frontier”) and Lumen Technologies, Inc. f/k/a CenturyLink
(“CenturyLink”).3

To receive RDOF support, the FCC required the Company (and other RDOF winning
bidders) to secure designation as an ETC in the areas where it was identified as a winning bidder
in the RDOF proceeding. On May 7, 2021, in Case No. SUD-T-21-01, the Commission designated
the Company as an ETC in the census blocks where the Company was deemed a winning bidder.4

On July 26, 2021, the Company, along with numerous other winning bidders in Auction
904, received correspondence from FCC Staff identifying census blocks awarded in Auction 904
that may be either already served by one or more broadband providers offering speeds of 25/3
Mbps or better, or that may not have any serviceable households – therefore rendering the census
blocks ineligible for RDOF support. In the July 2021 correspondence FCC Staff requested that
winning bidders review the census blocks they were awarded and consider withdrawing their bids
to the extent the census blocks were actually served or lacked serviceable households. In response
to this request, the Company performed its own review and/or walkout of all nineteen awarded
census blocks in Idaho, which was the entirety of its awarded bid in the state, and determined that
they were all already served or lacked serviceable households.

On August 30, 2021, the Company informed the FCC that it would no longer seek RDOF
support in the nineteen Idaho census blocks where it was designated the winning bidder and
requested to default on the Company’s winning bid in these areas (the “Default Request”).5 On
October 6, 2021, the Company filed in Case No. SUD-T-21-01 a letter notifying the Commission
of its Default Request, that it anticipated the FCC would grant its Default Request, and that it
anticipated filing with the Commission a notice regarding the relinquishment of its ETC
designation in Idaho following the FCC’s action to grant its Default Request.6 On May 3, 2022,
the FCC issued a public notice identifying a number of entities that were defaulting on their RDOF
winning bids (the “Default Notice”), which included the Company and the nineteen census blocks
in Idaho where it was deemed a winning bidder.7

3 See IDAHO PUB. UTILS. COMM’N, Idaho Telephone Exchanges and Company Areas, available at
https://puc.idaho.gov/FileRoom/PublicFiles/maps/exchanges.pdf (last visited Feb. 17, 2023).
4 See In re Cebridge Telecom ID, LLC d/b/a Suddenlink Communications’ Application for Designation as
an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier, Case No. SUD-T-21-01, Order No. 35038 (May 7, 2021).
5 See Petition for Waiver of Altice USA, Inc., AU Docket No. 20-34, WC Docket Nos. 19-126, 10-90
(filed Aug. 30, 2021).
6 See Letter from P. Richardson, Counsel, Cebridge Telecom ID, LLC, to J. Noriyuki, Secretary, Idaho
Public Utilities Commission, Case No. SUD-T-21-01 (filed Oct. 6, 2021).
7 See Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Support for 2,324 Winning Bids Ready to Be Authorized; Bid
Defaults Announced, Public Notice, DA 220483, 2022 WL 1442704, at *5 (May 3, 2022). See also id. at
Att. B (identifying winning bidders that have notified the FCC that they intend to default on all or some
of their winning bids in one or more states).
June 15, 2023
Page 3

Federal law provides an objective standard for ETC relinquishment – that a state
commission “shall permit” an ETC to relinquish its ETC designation “in any area” so long as that
area is served by more than one ETC – and the FCC’s rules require an ETC to “give advance notice
to the state commission of such relinquishment.”8 Echoing these rules, Idaho Code § 62-610D(4)
permits ETCs to relinquish their ETC designation so long as the ETC “give[s] no less than thirty
(30) days notice to the commission of its intent to relinquish such designation.”

By this letter, the Company notifies the Commission that it intends to relinquish its ETC
designation in the state of Idaho because it will not receive RDOF support in the aforementioned
nineteen Idaho census blocks, and will therefore not be providing any federally-supported services
in Idaho. As such, the original purpose for which the Company sought an ETC designation from
the Commission has changed, and the ETC designation is no longer necessary.

Relinquishment of the ETC designation will not harm the public and no consumers will be
impacted because: (i) the Company does not serve any Idaho customers pursuant to its ETC
designation and (ii), there are other ETCs already operating in the census blocks in which the
Company has been designated as an ETC, including Blackfoot and the CenturyLink and Frontier
affiliates.9 Thus, there will be no impact on any Idaho residents associated with the relinquishment
of the Company’s ETC designation.

The Company would appreciate confirmation from the Commission that this notice has
been received and, to the extent required, that the Commission issue an order confirming the
Company’s relinquishment of its ETC designation in all geographic areas of Idaho and relief from
any ongoing duties or obligations associated with the relinquished ETC designation.

8 47 C.F.R. § 54.205(a).
9 See supra note 3 and accompanying text.
June 15, 2023
Page 4

Should you have any questions or need any further information, please do not hesitate to
contact the undersigned.
Respectfully submitted,

/s/ K.C. Halm
K.C. Halm
John C. Nelson, Jr.
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
1301 K Street, N.W.
Suite 500 East
Washington, D.C. 20005
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Counsel for Cebridge Telecom ID,
LLC d/b/a Optimum f/k/a
Suddenlink Communications