Page 86 - SAMENA Trends - December 2023

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

FCC Reaffirms Decision to Reject Starlink Application for Nearly USD900m

in Subsidies

universal service funding collected from consumers’, seeks to
expand access to broadband networks in rural areas. The agency
qualified Starlink at the short form stage, but at the long form
stage, the FCC determined that Starlink failed to demonstrate that
it could deliver the promised service. In the initial auction results
announced on 7 December 2020 Space Exploration Technologies
Corp. (Starlink) was the winning bidder of USD885.51 million worth
of funding. In a statement dated 12 December FCC chairwoman
Jessica Rosenworcel commented: ‘The FCC is tasked with ensuring
consumers everywhere have access to high-speed broadband that
is reliable and affordable. The agency also has a responsibility to
be a good steward of limited public funds meant to expand access
to rural broadband, not fund applicants that fail to meet basic
program requirements. The FCC followed a careful legal, technical
and policy review to determine that this applicant had failed to
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reaffirmed meet its burden to be entitled to nearly USD900 million in universal
the Wireline Bureau’s prior decision to reject the long-form service funds for almost a decade.’ In total, the RDOF program has
application of Starlink to receive public support through the authorized more than USD6 billion in funding to bring primarily
Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program, based on the applicant’s fiber-optic gigabit broadband services to 3.458 million locations in
failure to meet the requirements. The program, which uses ‘scarce 49 states and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Italian Government Wants to Be Part of Sparkle Deal

The Italian government is looking at ways to gain control of Sparkle,
the undersea cable division of Telecom Italia (TIM), which is seen
as a strategic national asset. A report from Bloomberg says the
Rome administration is looking to become an investor in Sparkle
alongside Optics Bidco, a bidding vehicle led by US investment
fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR). Government planning is
still at preliminary stage, the report cites a source as saying, and
a final decision has not been taken. Sparkle is valued at around
EUR700 million (USD755 million). TIM’s board recently approved
an offer from Optics Bidco for its fixed line business NetCo, but
a separate non-binding bid for Sparkle was rejected. The KKR-led
consortium then requested more time to consider its bid, with a
revised offer for Sparkle now expected by end-January.

CTI Towers Acquires 525 Cell Sites from Conterra

CTI Towers, which claims to be one of the largest private tower
companies in the US, has agreed to acquire 525 towers located
in Louisiana, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and California
from Conterra Ultra Broadband Holdings. Via this acquisition, CTI
Towers now has a portfolio of more than 1,800 towers spanning 48
US states. CTI was acquired by alternative asset manager Palistar
in 2020 and currently leases space on its towers to the likes of
AT&T, DISH, T-Mobile US and Verizon Wireless.

86 DECEMBER 2023