**DA 04-2608**

**Released: August 20, 2004**

**DOMESTIC SECTION 214 APPLICATION FILED FOR TRANSFER OF CONTROL OF
SIOUX VALLEY TELEPHONE COMPANY TO HILLS TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.**

**STREAMLINED Pleading Cycle Established**

**WC Docket No. 04-291**

**Comments Due: September 3, 2004**

**Reply Comments Due: September 10, 2004**

On July 27, 2004**,** Sioux Valley Telephone Company ("Sioux Valley")
and Hills Telephone Company, Inc. ("Hills") (together, Applicants) filed
an application, pursuant to sections 63.03 and 63.04 of the
Commission\'s rules,[^1] requesting authority to transfer control of the
domestic blanket Section 214 authorizations held by Sioux Valley with
respect to its Valley Springs and North Larchwood, South Dakota
exchanges, and its East Valley Springs, Minnesota exchange from Sioux
Valley to Hills.[^2]

Applicants assert that this transaction is entitled to presumptive
streamlined treatment pursuant to section 63.03(b)(1)(iii) of the
Commission's rules, because the proposed transaction involves only the
transfer of the local exchange assets of an incumbent LEC by means other
than an acquisition of corporate control.[^3]

Hills is a rural local exchange carrier that provides local exchange and
exchange access service to residential and business customers in three
Minnesota telephone exchanges and seven Iowa telephone exchanges. Hills
has an interest in Onvoy, Inc., a provider of centralized equal access
service, as well as integrated voice, data, and network services, via
its fiber optic communications network linking communities throughout
Minnesota. Hills holds a 12.6 percent equity interest in FiberComm, LLC,
a competitive local exchange carrier in the Sioux City, Iowa,
metropolitan area. Hills also owns a 12.8 percent equity interest in
Fibernet Communications, LC, which provides transport services in
certain rural areas of Iowa and Minnesota. Hills also owns 100 percent
of Hills Wireless Holdings, LLC, which has an interest in Midwest
Wireless Holdings, LLC, a CMRS provider licensed to serve portions of
Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. Hills, in
turn, is 100 percent owned by Alliance Communications Cooperative, Inc.,
a rural telephone company that provides local exchange and exchange
access service to residential and business customers in six exchanges in
South Dakota, one exchange in Minnesota, and one exchange in Iowa.
Alliance holds a 66.66 percent interest in ABS LMDS Venture, which holds
FCC licenses for LMDS facilities in Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and
Minnesota. Alliance holds a 50.0 percent interest in H&B LMDS Venture,
which holds an FCC license for an LMDS facility in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Alliance also owns 100 percent of the stock of Splitrock Properties,
Inc., which provides local exchange and exchange access service to
residential and business customers in two South Dakota exchanges.

Sioux Valley is a rural telephone company that provides local exchange
and exchange access service to residential and business customers in
five South Dakota telephone exchanges in addition to the three exchanges
that it is selling to Hills. Sioux Valley is affiliated with various
wireless carriers, Onvoy, Inc., other rural local exchange carriers in
the Upper Midwest, Internet Service Providers, and others.

The proposed transaction is a sale of the assets of three of Sioux
Valley's local telephone exchanges to Hills: Valley Springs and North
Larchwood in South Dakota, and East Valley Springs in Minnesota.
Although the East Valley Springs exchange is located on the Minnesota
border, it has been included in Sioux Valley's South Dakota study area
for decades. Applicants note that Sioux Valley's Valley Springs, East
Valley Springs and North Larchwood exchanges are adjacent to Alliance's
Garretson and Brandon exchanges along a 13-to-14 mile border in South
Dakota; and adjacent to Hills' Larchwood and Hills exchanges along a
9-to-10 mile border in Minnesota and Iowa. Applicants state that, after
the proposed transaction, Sioux Valley will continue to own and operate
the Dell Rapids, Humboldt-Montrose, Colton, Corsica and Plankinton,
South Dakota exchanges. Hills will own the switches, lines, customer
lists, blanket domestic Section 214 authorizations, state certificates,
and other tangible and intangible assets of the three exchanges, and
will provide local exchange and exchange access within the three
exchanges.

Applicants assert that consummation of the proposed transaction will
serve the public interest because it involves the sale of three small
rural exchanges from one rural telephone company to an unrelated rural
telephone company. According to the Applicants, the three exchanges
share a closer community of interest with the existing Hills exchanges
along the South Dakota-Minnesota-Iowa border to the east of Sioux Falls,
South Dakota than they do with the remaining Sioux Valley exchanges
located to the north and west of Sioux Falls (or with the Golden West
exchanges in western South Dakota). As a result, Hills has a greater
interest than Sioux Valley in operating, maintaining, developing and
upgrading the three exchanges. The Applicants state that the proposed
transaction will also provide the rural customers of the Valley Springs,
East Valley Springs and North Larchwood exchanges with a new owner that
has a proven interest and record of operating, maintaining, developing
and upgrading rural telephone exchanges. In addition, the Applicants
state that the proposed transaction will have no adverse impact on
competition in domestic telecommunications markets.

**[GENERAL INFORMATION]{.underline}**

The transfer of control identified herein has been found, upon initial
review, to be acceptable for filing as a streamlined application. The
Commission reserves the right to return any transfer of control
application if, upon further examination, it is determined to be
defective and not in conformance with the Commission's rules and
policies. Interested parties may file **comments on or before September
3, 2004** and **reply comments on or before September 10, 2004**.[^4]
Unless otherwise notified by the Commission, Applicants are permitted to
transfer control on the 31^st^ day after the date of this notice.[^5]
Comments may be filed using the Commission\'s Electronic Comment Filing
System (ECFS) or by filing paper copies. *See Electronic Filing of
Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings*, 63 Fed. Reg. 24121 (1998).

Comments filed through the ECFS can be sent as an electronic file via
the Internet to \<http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html\>. Generally, only
one copy of an electronic submission must be filed. If multiple docket
or rulemaking numbers appear in the caption of this proceeding, however,
commenters must transmit one electronic copy of the comments to each
docket or rulemaking number referenced in the caption. In completing the
transmittal screen, commenters should include their full name, U.S.
Postal Service mailing address, and the applicable docket or rulemaking
number. Parties may also submit an electronic comment by Internet
e-mail. To get filing instructions for e-mail comments, commenters
should send e-mail to ecfs@fcc.gov, and should include the following
words in the subject line \"get form \<your e-mail address\>.\" A sample
form and directions will be sent in reply.

Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and four
copies of each filing. If more than one docket or rulemaking number
appears in the caption of this proceeding, commenters must submit two
additional copies for each additional docket or rulemaking number.
Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial
overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service
mail (although we continue to experience delays in receiving U.S. Postal
Service mail). The Commission\'s contractor, Natek, Inc., will receive
hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the
Commission\'s Secretary at 236 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Suite 110,
Washington, D.C. 20002. The filing hours at this location are 8:00 a.m.
to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands
or fasteners. Any envelopes must be disposed of before entering the
building. Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to

9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. U.S. Postal Service
first-class mail, Express Mail, and Priority Mail should be addressed to
445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20554. All filings must be
addressed to the Commission\'s Secretary, Office of the Secretary,
Federal Communications Commission.

**In addition, one copy of each pleading must be sent to each of the
following:**

(1) The Commission's duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing,
    Inc., 445 12^th^ Street, S.W., Room CY-B402, Washington, D.C. 20554;
    e-mail: [www.bcpiweb.com](http://www.bcpiweb.com/); phone: (202)
    488-5300 fax: (202) 488-5563;

(2) Tracey Wilson, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition
    Bureau, 445 12^th^ Street, S.W., Room 5-C212, Washington, D.C.
    20554; e-mail: <tracey.wilson-parker@fcc.gov>;

(3) Kimberly Jackson, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition
    Bureau, 445 12^th^ Street, S.W., Room 5-C142, Washington, D.C.
    20554; e-mail: <kimberly.jackson@fcc.gov>;

(4) Julie Veach, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition
    Bureau, 445 12^th^ Street, S.W., Room 5-C124, Washington, D.C.
    20554; e-mail: <julie.veach@fcc.gov>;

(5) James Bird, Office of General Counsel, 445 12^th^ Street, S.W., Room
    8-C824, Washington, D.C. 20554; e-mail: <james.bird@fcc.gov>.

Filings and comments are also available for public inspection and
copying during regular business hours at the FCC Reference Information
Center, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY-A257, Washington, DC,
20554. They may also be purchased from the Commission\'s duplicating
contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., Portals II, 445 12th Street,
SW, Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, telephone: 202-488-5300, fax:
202-488-5563, or via e-mail [www.bcpiweb.com](http://www.bcpiweb.com/).

For further information regarding the transfer of control application,
please contact Tracey Wilson, at (202) 418-1394, or Kimberly Jackson at
(202) 418-7393.

\- **FCC** -

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height="6.944444444444445e-4in"}

[^1]: 47 C.F.R §§ 63.03, 63.04; *see* *also* 47 U.S.C. § 214.

[^2]: On April 5, 2004, Sioux Valley and Hills also filed a related
    joint petition for waiver of the study area boundary freeze, as
    codified in the Appendix-Glossary of Part 36 of the Commission's
    rules. *See* 47 C.F.R. § 36, App. (defining "study area").

[^3]: 47 C.F.R. § 63.03(b)(1)(iii). *See* letter from Gerard J. Duffy,
    Counsel for Applicants, to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, WC
    Docket No. 04-291 (filed Aug. 18, 2004).

[^4]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 63.03(a).

[^5]: Such authorization is conditioned upon receipt of any other
    necessary approvals from the Commission in connection with the
    proposed transaction.