File No. 70-8233
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
AMENDMENT NO. 4
TO
FORM U-1
APPLICATION OR DECLARATION
under
The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935
THE SOUTHERN COMPANY
64 Perimeter Center East
Atlanta, Georgia 30346
SOUTHERN COMPANY COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
64 Perimeter Center East
Atlanta, Georgia 30346
(Name of company or companies filing this statement
and addresses of principal executive offices)
THE SOUTHERN COMPANY
(Name of top registered holding company parent
of each applicant or declarant)
Tommy Chisholm, Secretary
The Southern Company
64 Perimeter Center East
Atlanta, Georgia 30346
(Name and addresses of agents for service)
The Commission is requested to mail signed copies
of all orders, notices and communications to:
W. L. Westbrook John D. McLanahan, Esq.
Financial Vice President Troutman Sanders
The Southern Company 5200 NationsBank Plaza
64 Perimeter Center East 600 Peachtree Street, N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30346 Atlanta, Georgia 30308-2216
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INFORMATION REQUIRED
The foregoing Application-Declaration (the "Application") is
hereby amended as set forth below.
1. Item 1.2 is amended by adding the following language:
Approximately 60 percent of the construction of the
system has been completed. The status of construction is
that 231 sites will be completed by early 1995, and that the
system will go into commercial operation by May 1, 1995.
Southern and Motorola have entered into a contract for
construction of the wireless system as set forth in Exhibit
B-5, filed pursuant to Rule 104 inasmuch as the contract
contains competitively sensitively commercial information
and is the subject of a confidentiality and non-disclosure
agreement between Motorola and Southern. Extension of
payment and certain performance terms have been the subject
of discussion and may be reflected in a subsequent contract
amendment. Early estimates of construction costs of the 231
sites and prepaid operating and maintenance expenses all to
be paid to Motorola under the contract were approximately
$153 million. The actual experience and current budgetary
forecasts are set forth in the Capital Budget Summary
submitted as Exhibit B-6. This Exhibit shows cost of
construction of the 231 sites is currently budgeted at just
under $118 million, and that the total for prepaid operation
and maintenance, switching, and construction is actually
under the previous estimate by approximately $2 million. An
additional 50 to 60 sites and facilities will be leased from
independent third parties at no additional investment or
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capital costs to Southern. Indeed, costs may actually be
reduced. Site development cost reductions are now the
subject of discussion with Motorola and the preponderance of
rural as opposed to urban sites also points to the
possibility of further cost reductions.
There is no genuine or material dispute of facts
between Dial Page and Southern. Dial Page had made certain
estimates for the construction of the 230 sites but these
were based upon Southern's original estimates of an average
cost of $650,000 per site, an average which is not
applicable to the basic Southern system because of the fact
that the Southern system does not use a conventional
cellular design and has many sites located in rural areas.
Dial Page's contentions are merely based upon an arithmetic
calculation drawn from an average cell site cost which is
not applicable to the particular system involved. Dial Page
has offered no independent estimate of its own and
arithmetic calculations based upon our own original
estimates which have now been revised in the light of actual
experience does not create a genuine dispute as to a
material fact determinative of any issue in this proceeding.
This is particularly true since Southern does not seek any
more than the $179 million investment authority so that Dial
Page's argument that Southern should invest more is really
irrelevant to the issue to be determined by the Commission
in this application.
2. Item 6(a) is hereby amended by adding thereto as follows:
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B-5, Motorola contract (Confidential Rule 104
submission), B-6, Capital Budget Summary (Confidential Rule
104 submission).
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Public Utility Holding
Company Act of 1935, the undersigned companies have duly caused
this statement to be signed on their behalf by the undersigned
thereunto duly authorized.
Dated: December 19, 1994.
THE SOUTHERN COMPANY
By: /s/Tommy Chisholm
Tommy Chisholm, Secretary
SOUTHERN COMPANY COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
By: /s/Tommy Chisholm
Tommy Chisholm, Secretary
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