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FILEDUnited States Court of AppealsTenth CircuitMay 23, 2014PUBLISHUNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALSElisabeth A. ShumakerClerk of CourtFOR THE TENTH CIRCUITIN RE: FCC 11-161DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS CEDARVALLEY, LLC, a Utah limited liabilitycompany; TOTAH COMMUNICATIONS,INC., an Oklahoma corporation; H & BCOMMUNICATIONS, INC., a KansasCorporation; MOUNDRIDGETELEPHONE COMPANY, a Kansascorporation; PIONEER TELEPHONEASSOCIATION, INC., a Kansascorporation; TWIN VALLEYTELEPHONE, INC., a Kansas corporation;PINE TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC., anOklahoma corporation; PENNSYLVANIAPUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION;CHOCTAW TELEPHONE COMPANY;CORE COMMUNICATIONS, INC.;NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATEUTILITY CONSUMER ADVOCATES;NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONSCOOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION d/b/aNTCA-THE RURAL BROADBANDASSOCIATION; CELLULAR SOUTH,INC.; AT&T INC.; HALO WIRELESS,INC.; THE VOICE ON THE NETCOALITION, INC.; PUBLIC UTILITIESCOMMISSION OF OHIO; TWTELECOM INC.; VERMONT PUBLICSERVICE BOARD; TRANSCOMENHANCED SERVICES, INC.; THESTATE CORPORATION COMMISSIONOF THE STATE OF KANSAS;CENTURYLINK, INC.; GILA RIVERNo. 11-9900Consolidated Case Nos.:11-9581, 11-9585, 11-9586, 11-9587,11-9588, 11-9589, 11-9590, 11-9591, 119592, 11-9594, 11-9595, 11-9596, 119597, 12-9500, 12-9510, 12-9511, 129513, 12-9514, 12-9517, 12-9520, 129521, 12-9522, 12-9523, 12-9524, 129528, 12-9530, 12-9531, 12-9532, 129533, 12-9534, 12-9575
INDIAN COMMUNITY; GILA RIVERTELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.;ALLBAND COMMUNICATIONSCOOPERATIVE; NORTH COUNTYCOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION;UNITED STATES CELLULARCORPORATION; PR WIRELESS, INC.;DOCOMO PACIFIC, INC.; NEX-TECHWIRELESS, LLC; CELLULARNETWORK PARTNERSHIP, A LIMITEDPARTNERSHIP; U.S. TELEPACIFICCORP.; CONSOLIDATEDCOMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS, INC.;NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OFREGULATORY UTILITYCOMMISSIONERS; RURALTELEPHONE SERVICE COMPANY,INC.; ADAK EAGLE ENTERPRISESLLC; ADAMS TELEPHONECOOPERATIVE; ALENCOCOMMUNICATIONS, INC.;ARLINGTON TELEPHONE COMPANY;BAY SPRINGS TELEPHONECOMPANY, INC.; BIG BENDTELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.; THEBLAIR TELEPHONE COMPANY;BLOUNTSVILLE TELEPHONE LLC;BLUE VALLEY TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.; BLUFFTONTELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.; BPM,INC., d/b/a Noxapater TelephoneCompany; BRANTLEY TELEPHONECOMPANY, INC.; BRAZORIATELEPHONE COMPANY; BRINDLEEMOUNTAIN TELEPHONE LLC; BRUCETELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.; BUGGSISLAND TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE;CAMERON TELEPHONE COMPANY,LLC; CHARITON VALLEYTELEPHONE CORPORATION;CHEQUAMEGON COMMUNICATIONS2
COOPERATIVE, INC.; CHICKAMAUGATELEPHONE CORPORATION;CHICKASAW TELEPHONECOMPANY; CHIPPEWA COUNTYTELEPHONE COMPANY; CITIZENSTELEPHONE COMPANY; CLEARLAKE INDEPENDENT TELEPHONECOMPANY; COMSOUTHTELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.;COPPER VALLEY TELEPHONECOOPERATIVE; CORDOVATELEPHONE COOPERATIVE;CROCKETT TELEPHONE COMPANY,INC.; DARIEN TELEPHONECOMPANY; DEERFIELD FARMERS'TELEPHONE COMPANY; DELTATELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.; EASTASCENSION TELEPHONE COMPANY,LLC; EASTERN NEBRASKATELEPHONE COMPANY; EASTEXTELEPHONE COOP., INC.; EGYPTIANTELEPHONE COOPERATIVEASSOCIATION; ELIZABETHTELEPHONE COMPANY, LLC;ELLIJAY TELEPHONE COMPANY;FARMERS TELEPHONECOOPERATIVE, INC.; FLATROCKTELEPHONE COOP., INC.; FRANKLINTELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.;FULTON TELEPHONE COMPANY,INC.; GLENWOOD TELEPHONECOMPANY; GRANBY TELEPHONELLC; HART TELEPHONE COMPANY;HIAWATHA TELEPHONE COMPANY;HOLWAY TELEPHONE COMPANY;HOME TELEPHONE COMPANY (ST.JACOB, ILL.); HOME TELEPHONECOMPANY (MONCKS CORNER, SC);HOPPER TELECOMMUNICATIONSLLC; HORRY TELEPHONECOOPERATIVE, INC.; INTERIOR3
TELEPHONE COMPANY; KAPLANTELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.; KLMTELEPHONE COMPANY; CITY OFKETCHIKAN, ALASKA, d/b/a KPUTelecommunications; LACKAWAXENTELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES,INC.; LAFOURCHE TELEPHONECOMPANY, LLC; LA HARPETELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.;LAKESIDE TELEPHONE COMPANY;LINCOLNVILLE TELEPHONECOMPANY; LORETTO TELEPHONECOMPANY, INC.; MADISONTELEPHONE COMPANY;MATANUSKA TELEPHONEASSOCIATION, INC.; MCDONOUGHTELEPHONE COOPERATIVE; MGWTELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.; MIDCENTURY COOPERATIVE.; MIDWAYTELEPHONE COMPANY; MID-MAINETELECOM LLC; MOUND BAYOUTELEPHONE & COMMUNICATIONS,INC.; MOUNDVILLE TELEPHONECOMPANY, INC.; MUKLUKTELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.;NATIONAL TELEPHONE OFALABAMA, INC.; ONTONAGONCOUNTY TELEPHONE COMPANY;OTELCO MID-MISSOURI LLC;OTELCO TELEPHONE LLC;PANHANDLE TELEPHONECOOPERATIVE, INC.; PEMBROKETELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.;PEOPLES TELEPHONE CO.; PEOPLESTELEPHONE COMPANY; PIEDMONTRURAL TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE,INC.; PINE BELT TELEPHONECOMPANY, INC.; PINE TREETELEPHONE LLC; PIONEERTELEPHONE COOPERATIVE, INC.;POKA LAMBRO TELEPHONE4
COOPERATIVE, INC.; PUBLICSERVICE TELEPHONE COMPANY;RINGGOLD TELEPHONE COMPANY;ROANOKE TELEPHONE COMPANY,INC.; ROCK COUNTY TELEPHONECOMPANY; SACO RIVER TELEPHONELLC; SANDHILL TELEPHONECOOPERATIVE, INC.; SHOREHAMTELEPHONE LLC; THE SISKIYOUTELEPHONE COMPANY; SLEDGETELEPHONE COMPANY; SOUTHCANAAN TELEPHONE COMPANY;SOUTH CENTRAL TELEPHONEASSOCIATION; STAR TELEPHONECOMPANY, INC.; STAYTONCOOPERATIVE TELEPHONECOMPANY; THE NORTH-EASTERNPENNSYLVANIA TELEPHONECOMPANY; TIDEWATER TELECOM,INC.; TOHONO O'ODHAM UTILITYAUTHORITY; UNITEL, INC.; WARTELEPHONE LLC; WEST CAROLINARURAL TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE,INC.; WEST TENNESSEE TELEPHONECOMPANY, INC.; WEST WISCONSINTELCOM COOPERATIVE, INC.;WIGGINS TELEPHONE ASSOCIATION;WINNEBAGO COOPERATIVETELECOM ASSOCIATION; YUKONTELEPHONE CO., INC.; ARIZONACORPORATION COMMISSION;WINDSTREAM CORPORATION;WINDSTREAM COMMUNICATIONS,INC.,Petitioners,v.FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONSCOMMISSION; UNITED STATES OF5
AMERICA,Respondents,andSPRINT NEXTEL CORPORATION;LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC;CENTURYLINK, INC.; CONNECTICUTPUBLIC UTILITIESREGULATORY AUTHORITY;INDEPENDENT TELEPHONE &TELECOMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE;WESTERN TELECOMMUNICATIONSALLIANCE; NATIONAL EXCHANGECARRIER ASSOCIATION, INC.;ARLINGTON TELEPHONE COMPANY;THE BLAIR TELEPHONE COMPANY;CAMBRIDGE TELEPHONE COMPANY;CLARKS TELECOMMUNICATIONSCO.; CONSOLIDATED TELEPHONECOMPANY; CONSOLIDATED TELCO,INC.; CONSOLIDATED TELECOM,INC.; THE CURTIS TELEPHONECOMPANY; EASTERN NEBRASKATELEPHONE COMPANY; GREATPLAINS COMMUNICATIONS, INC.; K.& M. TELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.;NEBRASKA CENTRAL TELEPHONECOMPANY; NORTHEAST NEBRASKATELEPHONE COMPANY; ROCKCOUNTY TELEPHONE COMPANY;THREE RIVER TELCO; RCA - TheCompetitive Carriers Association; RURALTELECOMMUNICATIONS GROUP,INC.; T-MOBILE USA, INC., CENTRALTEXAS TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE,INC.; VENTURE COMMUNICATIONSCOOPERATIVE, INC.; ALPINECOMMUNICATIONS, LC; EMERYTELCOM; PEÑASCO VALLEY6
TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE, INC.;SMART CITY TELECOM; SMITHVILLECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.; SOUTHSLOPE COOPERATIVE TELEPHONECO., INC.; SPRING GROVECOMMUNICATIONS; STARTELEPHONE COMPANY; 3 RIVERSTELEPHONE COOPERATIVE, INC.;WALNUT TELEPHONE COMPANY,INC.; WEST RIVER COOPERATIVETELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.; RONANTELEPHONE COMPANY; HOTSPRINGS TELEPHONE COMPANY;HYPERCUBE TELECOM, LLC;VIRGINIA STATE CORPORATIONCOMMISSION OF THE STATE OFKANSAS; MONTANA PUBLICSERVICE COMMISSION; VERIZONWIRELESS; VERIZON; AT&T INC.;COX COMMUNICATIONS, INC.;NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONSCOOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION d/b/aNTCA-THE RURAL BROADBANDASSOCIATION; INDEPENDENTTELEPHONE &TELECOMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE;NATIONAL EXCHANGE CARRIERASSOCIATION, INC. (NECA),COMCAST CORPORATION; VONAGEHOLDINGS CORPORATION; RURALTELECOMMUNICATIONS GROUP,INC.; NATIONAL CABLE &TELECOMMUNICATIONSASSOCIATION; CENTRAL TEXASTELEPHONE COOPERATIVE, INC.;VENTURE COMMUNICATIONSCOOPERATIVE, INC.; ALPINECOMMUNICATIONS, LC; EMERYTELCOM; PEÑASCO VALLEYTELEPHONE COOPERATIVE, INC.;SMART CITY TELECOM; SMITHVILLE7
COMMUNICATIONS, INC.; SOUTHSLOPE COOPERATIVE TELEPHONECO., INC.; SPRING GROVECOMMUNICATIONS; STARTELEPHONE COMPANY; 3 RIVERSTELEPHONE COOPERATIVE, INC.;WALNUT TELEPHONE COMPANY,INC.; WEST RIVER COOPERATIVETELEPHONE COMPANY, INC.; RONANTELEPHONE COMPANY; HOTSPRINGS TELEPHONE COMPANY;HYPERCUBE TELECOM, LLC,Intervenors.STATE MEMBERS OF THE FEDERALSTATE JOINT BOARD ON UNIVERSALSERVICE,Amicus Curiae.PETITIONS FOR REVIEW OF ORDERS OF THEFEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION(FCC Nos. 11-161, 12-47)Argued for Petitioners:James Bradford Ramsay, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners,Washington, D.C., Russell Blau, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Washington, D.C., RobertAllen Long, Jr., Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., Michael B. Wallace, WiseCarter Child & Caraway, Jackson, Mississippi, Pratik A. Shah, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer& Feld LLP, Washigton, D.C, Russell Lukas, Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, LLP,McLean, Virginia, Joseph K. Witmer, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission,Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Christopher F. Van de Verg, Annapolis, Maryland, Lucas M.Walker, Molo Lamken, Washington, D.C., Don L. Keskey, Public Law Resource CenterPLLC, Lansing, Michigan, Harvey Reiter, Stinson Leonard Street LLP, Washington,8
David Bergmann, Columbus, Ohio, E. Ashton Johnston, Communications Law Counsel,P.C., Washington, D.C., Heather M. Zachary, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and DorrLLP, Washington, D.C., and W. Scott McCollough, McCollough Henry, Austin, Texas.Argued for Respondents:Richard K. Welch, James M. Carr, and Maureen Katherine Flood, FederalCommunications Commission, Washington, D.C.Argued for Respondents-Intervenors:Scott H. Angstreich, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C.,Washington, D.C., Howard J. Symons, Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo,P.C., and Samuel L. Feder, Jenner & Block LLP, Washington, D.C.Appearances for Petitioners:David R. Irvine, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Alan L. Smith, Salt Lake City, Utah, for DirectCommunications Cedar Valley, LLC, Totah Communications, Inc., H&BCommunications, Inc., The Moundridge Telephone Company, Pioneer TelephoneAssociation, Inc., Twin Valley Telephone, Inc., and Pine Telephone Company, Inc.Bohdan R. Pankiw, Kathryn G. Sophy, Shaun A. Sparks, and Joseph K. Witmer,Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for PennsylvaniaPublic Utility Commission.Benjamin H. Dickens, Jr. and Mary J. Sisak, Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy &Prendergrast, LLP, and Craig S. Johnson, Johnson & Sporleder, Jefferson City, Missuori,for Choctaw Telephone Company.James Christopher Falvey and Charles Anthony Zdebski, Eckert Seamens Cherin &Mellott, Washington, D.C., for Core Communications, Inc.David Bergmann, Columbus, Ohio, Paula Marie Carmody, Maryland’s Office of People’sCounsel, Baltimore, Maryland, and Christopher J. White, New Jersey Division of RateCounsel, Office of the Public Advocate, Newark, New Jersey, for National Association ofState Utility Consumer Advocates.Russell Blau and Tamar Elizabeth Finn, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Washington, D.C.,for National Telecommunications Cooperative Association d/b/a NTCA-The Rural9
Broadband Association, U.S. TelePacific Corp., and Western TelecommunicationsAlliance.Rebecca Hawkins and Michael B. Wallace, Wise Carter Child & Caraway, Jackson,Mississippi, David LaFuria and Russell Lukas, Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, LLP,McLean, Virginia, for Cellular South Inc.Daniel T. Deacon, Kelly P. Dunbar, Jonathan E. Nuechterlein, and Heather M. Zachary,Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Washington, D.C., and Christopher M.Heimann and Gary L. Phillips, AT&T Services, Inc., Washington, D.C., for AT&T Inc.W. Scott McCollough, McCollough Henry, Austin, Texas, Walter Harriman Sargent, II,Walter H. Sargent, a professional corporation, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and StevenH. Thomas, McGuire, Craddock & Strother, P.C., Dallas, Texas, for Halo Wireless, Inc.Jennifer P. Bagg and E. Ashton Johnston, Communications Law Counsel, P.C., andDonna M. Lampert, Lampert, O’Connor & Johnston, P.C., Washington, D.C., and GlennRichards, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Washington, D.C., for The Voice on the NetCoalition, Inc.John Holland Jones, Office of the Ohio Attorney General, Columbus, Ohio, for PublicUtilities Commission of Ohio.Thomas Jones, David Paul Murray, and Nirali Patel, Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP,Washington, D.C., for tw telecom inc.Bridget Asay, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Vermont, Montpelier,Vermont, for Vermont Public Service Board.W. Scott McCollough, McCollough Henry, Austin, Texas, Walter Harriman Sargent, II,Walter H. Sargent, a professional corporation, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and StevenH. Thomas, McGuire, Craddock & Strother, P.C., Dallas, Texas, for Transcom EnhancedServices, Inc.Robert A. Fox, Kansas Corporation Commission Topeka, Kansas, for The StateCorporation Commission of the State of Kansas.Yaron Dori, Robert Allen Long, Jr., Gerard J. Waldron, Mark Mosier, and MichaelBeder, Covington & Burling, Washington, D.C., for CenturyLink, Inc.10
John Boles Capehart, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Dallas, Texas, Sean Conway,Patricia Ann Millett, and James Edward Tysse, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld,Washington, D.C., and Michael C. Small, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld,Washington, D.C., for Gila River Indian Community and Gila RiverTelecommunications, Inc.Don L. Keskey, Lansing Michigan, forAllband Communications Cooperative.Roger Dale Dixon, Jr., Law Offices of Dale Dixon, Carlsbad, California, for NorthCounty Communications Corporation.David LaFuria and Russell Lukas, Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, LLP, McLean,Virginia, for United States Cellular Corporation.David LaFuria, Todd Bradley Lantor, and Russell Lukas, Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez &Sachs, LLP, McLean, Virginia, for Petitioners PR Wireless, Inc. and Docomo Pacific,Inc., Todd Bradley Lantor, and Russell Lukas, Lukas, Nace, Gutierrez & Sachs, LLP,McLean, Virginia, for Petitioners Nex-Tech Wireless, LLC, and Cellular NetworkPartnership, A Limited Partnership.Russell Blau, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Washington, D.C., for ConsolidatedCommunications Holdings, Inc.James Bradford Ramsay and Holly R. Smith, National Association of Regulatory UtilityCommissioners, Washington, D.C., for National Association of Regulatory UtilityCommissioners.David Cosson, Washington, D.C., H. Russell Frisby, Jr., Dennis Lane, and Harvey Reiter,Stinson Leonard Street LLP, Washington, D.C., for Rural Independent CompetitiveAlliance, Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc., Adak Eagle Ente
Alliance, Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc., Adak Eagle Enterprises LLC, Adams Telephone Cooperative, Alenco Communications, Inc., Arlington Telephone Company, Bay Springs Telephone Company, Big Bend Telephone Company, The Blair Telephone Company, Blountsville Telephone LLC, Blue Valley Tele-communications, Inc., Bluffton
