COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

11.  COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Regulatory and Litigation Matters

The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to certain regulatory and legal proceedings and other claims arising in the ordinary course of business, some of which involve claims for damages and taxes that are substantial in amount. The Company believes that, except for the items discussed below and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, for which the Company is currently unable to predict the final outcome, the disposition of proceedings currently pending will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

On June 17, 2013, the Company issued approximately $29.8 million in letters of credit to the Universal Service Administrative Company (“USAC”) to secure a portion of the pending awards of approximately $68.8 million of Mobility Fund Grants to certain of its subsidiaries. The Company had previously amended its Amended Credit Facility to provide for an additional $55 million letter of credit sub-facility to its revolver loan to be available for issuance in connection with the Company’s Mobility Fund Grant obligations. The letters of credit accrue a fee at a rate of 1.75% per annum on the outstanding amounts and receipt of the Mobility Fund Grants is still subject to final USAC and FCC approval.  As of June 30, 2013, there were no draw downs against these letters of credit. If the Company fails to comply with certain terms and conditions upon which the Mobility Fund Grants are to be granted, or if it loses eligibility for Mobility Fund support, USAC will be entitled to draw the entire amount of the letter of credit applicable to the affected project including penalties.  The results of the Company’s Mobility Fund projects, once initiated, will be included in the Company’s “U.S. Wireless” segment.

In November 2007, Caribbean Telecommunications Limited (“CTL”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against GT&T and ATN claiming breach of an interconnection agreement for domestic cellular services in Guyana and related claims. CTL asserted over $200 million in damages. GT&T and ATN moved to dismiss the complaint on procedural and jurisdictional grounds. On January 26, 2009, the court granted the motions to dismiss the complaint on the grounds asserted. On April 4, 2013 CTL filed a similar claim against GT&T and the PUC in the High Court of Guyana. The Company believes the claim is without merit and is duplicative of a previous claim filed by CTL in Guyana that was dismissed. There has been no action on this matter since the April 2013 filing.

Historically, the Company has been subject to litigation proceedings and other disputes in Guyana that while not conclusively resolved, to its knowledge have not been the subject of other discussions or other significant activity in the last five years. It is possible, but not likely, that these disputes may be revived. The Company believes that none of these additional proceedings would, in the event of an adverse outcome, have a material impact on its consolidated financial position, results of operation or liquidity.  For all of the regulatory, litigation, or related matters listed above and in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, the Company believes some adverse outcome is probable and has accordingly accrued $5.0 million as of June 30, 2013.