0001579586-16-000019.txt : 20160801
0001579586-16-000019.hdr.sgml : 20160801
20160801133412
ACCESSION NUMBER: 0001579586-16-000019
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 1-A/A
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 2
FILED AS OF DATE: 20160801
DATE AS OF CHANGE: 20160801
FILER:
COMPANY DATA:
COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: Finger Lakes Region Rural Broadband Company, Inc.
CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0001579586
STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: RADIO TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS [4812]
IRS NUMBER: 463721414
STATE OF INCORPORATION: NY
FISCAL YEAR END: 1215
FILING VALUES:
FORM TYPE: 1-A/A
SEC ACT: 1933 Act
SEC FILE NUMBER: 024-10457
FILM NUMBER: 161796722
BUSINESS ADDRESS:
STREET 1: 1050 CONNECTICUT AVE., NW
STREET 2: 10TH FLOOR
CITY: WASHINGTON
STATE: DC
ZIP: 20036
BUSINESS PHONE: 2023217969
MAIL ADDRESS:
STREET 1: 1050 CONNECTICUT AVE., NW
STREET 2: 10TH FLOOR
CITY: WASHINGTON
STATE: DC
ZIP: 20036
FORMER COMPANY:
FORMER CONFORMED NAME: Mid-Hudson Region Rural Broadband Company, Inc.
DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 20130923
FORMER COMPANY:
FORMER CONFORMED NAME: Mid-Hudson Valley Rural Broadband Company, Inc.
DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 20130618
1-A/A
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Finger Lakes Region Rural Broadband Company, Inc.
NY
2013
0001579586
7380
46-3721414
1
9
1050 CONNECTICUT AVE. NW
10TH FLOOR
WASHINGTON
DC
20036
202-321-7969
Tony Ramos
Other
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Finger Lakes Region Rural Broadband Company, Inc.
common/voting
588238
0
3000000, based upon original project size issue to first shareholders/founders at par value
Regulation A, as amended
PART II AND III
2
8012016FLRoffcirc3SEC.txt
FLR AMEN OFF CIRC
AMENDED(1) JOBS ACT / REGULATION A, AS AMENDED - OFFERING CIRCULAR(2)
THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION AND THE STATE OF NEW YORK
NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL - INVESTOR PROTECTION BUREAU, DO NOT PASS UPON THE
MERITS OF OR GIVE APPROVAL TO ANY SECURITIES OFFERED OR THE TERMS OF THE
OFFERING, OR PASS UPON THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY OFFERING
CIRCULAR OR OTHER SELLING LITERATURE. THESE SECURITIES ARE OFFERED PURSUANT
TO AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION WITH THE COMMISSION AND PURSUANT TO
REGISTRATION WITH THE STATE OF NEW YORK; HOWEVER, NEITHER THE COMMISSION
NOR THE STATE OF NEW YORK HAVE MADE AN INDEPENDENT DETERMINATION THAT THE
SECURITIES OFFERED HEREUNDER ARE EXEMPT FROM REGISTRATION(3).
Issuing Company: Finger Lakes Region Rural Broadband Company, Inc.
Issuer's Representative: Tony Ramos, President
1050 Connecticut Ave., NW
Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-236-3427
tramos@urbroadband.com
DATE OF OFFERING CIRCULAR: August 1, 2016
APPROXIMATE DATE OF COMMENCEMENT OF PROPOSED SALES TO THE PUBLIC: UPON
QUALIFICATION(4)
DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES: $6,000,000.00 common/voting shares / Tier 1
Regulation A(5)
MATERIAL RISK: THE COMPANY HAS NO OPERATING HISTORY. SEE OTHER RISKS SHOWN
IN THIS OFFERING CIRCULAR.
MITIGATION OF RISK FACTOR: THREE-DAY RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL AFTER SIGNING OF
SALES CONTRACT
UNDERWRITERS: none.
DISTRIBUTION SPREAD TABLE*
Price to public: $100 per share
Underwriting discounts and commissions*: None
Proceeds to Issuer or to other persons per unit: 100% to Issuing company(6)
Termination date: One year after last qualification date
Total maximum securities offered: 60,000
Total minimum securities offered: 180,000
*Per Model B instructions, investors are advised as follows: as of the date of
qualification by the SEC and the State of New York, the Issuer has not
retained any affiliates, or other authorized third-party sellers, to whom
commissions would be paid, and therefore, no cash or any other commissions
would be paid as of that date. That said, the Issuer will seek such
affiliates as they become known, and, upon the retainer of any, or of any
underwriters or others who may sell these securities consistent with the
new JOBS Act rules for this exempt offering, this Offering Circular will
be amended, and, should it have been already provided to any potential or
real investors, will be provided to them as amended, and will also be
posted on the Internet with the original Offering Circular at
www.urbroadband.com.
Footnotes:
(1) Current amendments made limiting this document, for Blue Sky qualification,
to the State of New York.
(2) Expenses of this Offering Circular are borne exclusively by the Issuer.
(3) 17 CFR 230.253
(4) All sales by the Issuer's representative to be concluded only in the State
of New York. Sales by third-party sellers to me be made pursuant to their own
registrations.
(5) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
(6) No shares offered on account of any securities holders.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................................i-ii
I. INTRODUCTION - FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENT DISCLAIMER AND OFFERING SUMMARY.......................1-10
II. ITEM 1. SUMMARY INFORMATION,
RISK FACTORS AND DILUTION.......................................11-28
III. ITEM 2. PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION - ALL SALES
TO LAND IN THE HANDS OF THE INVESTOR............................29-30
IV. ITEM 3. USE OF PROCEEDS TO ISSUER...........................31-37
V. ITEM 4 DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS...............................37-47
VI. ITEM 5. DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY.............................47-50
VII. ITEM 6. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
AND SIGNIFICANT EMPLOYEES.......................................50-59
VIII. ITEM 7. REMUNERATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS............59
IX. ITEM 8. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF MANAGEMENT
AND CERTAIN SECURITYHOLDERS.....................................60-62
i
X. ITEM 9. INTEREST OF MANAGEMENT
AND OTHERS IN CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS..............................63-66
XI. ITEM 10. SECURITIES BEING OFFERED...........................67-72
XII. ITEM 11. REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION.........................72
ii
I.
INTRODUCTION
A. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT DISCLAIMER
This Offering Circular relates to the offer and sale of up to $6,000,000.00(7)
in JOBS Act Regulation A - Tier 1 common voting shares at the price of
$100.00 per share, to be issued by Finger Lakes Region Rural Broadband
Company, Inc. (hereinafter, FLR.) FLR's parent company, Rural
Broadband Company, Inc. (hereinafter, RBC), posts JOBS ACT offerings
on its website at www.urbroadband.com. The principal offices are located at
1050 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036. The phone
number for these offices is (202) 462-5238.
This forward-looking disclaimer is governed by 15 U.S.C SS 78u-5(c).
Statements in this offering circular may contain 'forward-looking statements.'
Such statements relate to future, not past, events. In this context,
forward-looking statements often address expected future business and
financial performance and financial condition, and often contain words such
as "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "seek," "see,"
"will," "would," or "target."
Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to
different degrees, uncertain, including expected cash and non-cash charges,
expected income, earnings per share, revenues, organic growth, margins, cost
structure, restructuring charges, cash flows, return on capital, capital
expenditures, capital allocation or capital structure, and dividends.
Particular uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially
different than those expressed in these forward-looking statements include
obtaining any required regulatory reviews or approvals, the ability to reduce
costs on installations, and/or variations in law, economic and financial
conditions, the impact of conditions in the existing 'served' broadband
market, and variable conditions that may affect the user adoption rate for
broadband in the unserved areas where FLR plans to make installations.
Footnotes:
(7) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
1
Further uncertainties may include FLR's ability to maintain a credit rating
and the impact on its funding costs and competitive position if it does not
do so, the adequacy of its cash flows and earnings and other conditions which
may affect FLR's ability to pay a dividend or to repurchase shares, which
may be affected by its cash flows and earnings, and other factors.
Other uncertainties may include, FLR's ability to convert pre-order
commitments into orders, the price it realizes on orders since commitments
are stated at list prices, customer actions or developments such as
cancellations and other factors that may affect the level of demand and
financial performance of customers served, the effectiveness of its risk
management framework, the impact of regulation and regulatory, investigative
and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks, including the impact of
regulation and litigation, FLR's capital allocation plans, as such plans
may change including with respect to the timing and size of share
repurchases, acquisitions, joint ventures, dispositions and other
strategic actions, FLR's success in completing, including obtaining
regulatory and zoning approvals.
Further, uncertainties may limit FLR's success in integrating acquired
businesses and operating joint ventures, its ability to realize anticipated
earnings and savings from transactions, acquired businesses and joint
ventures, the impact of potential information technology or data security
breaches, and the other factors that are described throughout this offering
circular. These or other uncertainties may cause FLR's actual future results
to be materially different than those expressed in these forward-looking
statements. FLR does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements.
FLR's public communications and SEC filings may include certain
forward-looking projected financial information that is based on current
estimates and forecasts. Actual results could differ materially.
The securities offered herein are speculative securities. Investment in the
securities involves significant risk, and investors are required to hold the
investment for a definite period of time. Investors should purchase these
securities only if the investor can afford a complete loss of the investment.
2
No Federal or State securities commission has approved, disapproved, endorsed,
or recommended this offering. Investors should make an independent decision
whether this offering meets the investor's investment objectives and
financial risk tolerance level. No independent person has confirmed the
accuracy or truthfulness of this disclosure, nor whether it is complete. Any
representation to the contrary is illegal. Furthermore, these authorities
have not passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this offering circular. Any
representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
This offering circular contains all of the representations by FLR concerning
this offering, and no person shall make different or broader statements than
those contained herein. Investors are cautioned not to rely upon any
information not expressly set forth in this offering circular.
In making an investment decision investors must rely on their own examination
of the company and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks
involved.
The securities being offered have not yet been qualified under Federal or
State law. FLR plans to qualify this offering, initially, with the State of
New York, as a qualifying State, so that its offering with the Securities
and Exchange Commission may be qualified as a JOBS Act - Regulation A -
Tier 1 Offering.
FLR plans to require any third-party sellers to prove to investors, their
registration and qualification to sell these securities in New York and other
States, as allowed by the regulations that govern this offering. FLR may
also, as the Issuer, offer or sell the offered securities in other States or
the District of Columbia upon further qualification as required by law.
No person has been authorized to give any information or to make any
representations other than those contained in or incorporated by reference
in this offering circular, and, if given or made, such information or
representations must not be relied upon as having been authorized by FLR.
3
RBC's website at www.urbroadband.com and its corporate blog located thereon, as
well as its Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter accounts, contain a significant
amount of general information about RBC's companies and projects. FLR
encourages investors to visit these websites from time to time, as
information is updated and new information is posted.
Investors should consult with their own attorneys, accountants and other
professional advisors as to the legal, tax, accounting and other consequences
of an investment in FLR.
B.
OFFERING CIRCULAR SUMMARY
This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this Offering
Circular. This summary is not complete and does not contain all of the
information that the investor should consider before investing. Investors
should carefully read the entire Offering Circular, especially concerning the
risks associated with the investment in the securities covered by this
Offering Circular discussed throughout this document. The term 'FLR' refers
to Finger Lakes Region Rural Broadband Company, Inc., a New York corporation.
Statements in this offering circular are forward-looking statements.
This Offering Circular relates to the Offering of up to $6,000,000.00(8) in
common voting shares at the offering price of $100 per share.
FLR's business originally formed in order make application for Federal grant
funding for rural broadband, in 2009. RBC is a group of companies that seeks
funding from government procurement opportunities, that is grants and bids,
at the Federal and State levels. With the advent of the JOBS Act, in 2013,
RBC added private equity funding to its portfolio of funding sources. Upon
funding, FLR will use the proceeds from those sources to build interconnector
broadband infrastructure in what is known as the 'unserved rural census
blocks' and other such areas, in the rural United States.
Footnotes:
(8) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
4
FLR was formally organized in New York after passage of the JOBS Act. Thus,
upon its effective date in 2013, FLR registered under JOBS Act, Rule 506, with
the filing of Form Regulation D, with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (hereinafter, the SEC).
In 2015, the SEC made applicable the second of three JOBS Act offering
opportunities, Regulation A, anecdotally known as Reg. A+. With the opening
of Reg. A+, FLR made its registration for qualification application to the
SEC. FLR has been notified by the SEC that, upon qualification by a State, as
required under the Reg. A+ Tier 1 rules, the SEC application will be
qualified.
According to the Federal Communications Commission (hereinafter, the FCC),
there are a minimum of 84,000 census blocks that are unserved for broadband
in the rural United States. There are currently more than 46 million people
living in the rural United States. Thus, the task is quite large, the market
vast.
Because certain rules concerning exempt limited offerings and transactions
govern the exemption, FLR started its Rule 506 JOBS Act offering with a 'one
class/one price' format of $100 per share/common voting stock. For
consistency, FLR carries that scenario into its JOBS Act Reg. A+ offerings,
including in this offering circular.
When considering the extensive recitation as to forward-looking statements
shown above, as well as other significant risk factors discussed throughout
this offering circular, including in this summary, and as otherwise required
by JOBS Act rules, FLR includes in any investment contract, a 3-day
'cooling off' right of withdrawal clause.
Investing in FLR is not without risks, and there is no guarantee of a return
on investment. The investment contract gives FLR the sole discretion in
applying any amounts that it receives from an investor. If FLR becomes
subject to a bankruptcy or similar proceeding, a holder of a security will
have a general unsecured claim against FLR that may or may not be limited
in recovery.
The intended focus of FLR's business is the 'last mile' rural broadband
interconnector sector. FLR has a focus on rural census blocks that are
deemed 'unserved' for broadband by either the FCC, or any other Federal
agency or Department, or any State, or as result of any survey that FLR
may conduct where evidence suggests that, despite not being on any Federal
or State map, there is no broadband in certain rural census block areas.
5
Proceeds from the investments typically will be applied towards the
installation, first, of the 'connector' or 'middle mile' infrastructure.
The 'last mile' refers to not the actual 'last mile,' but more to the
anecdotal, as if crossing the finish line in a drawn out process. The
'last mile' is, basically, the last part of the outside infrastructure,
say on a residence. For those who have cable of fiber in their home, the
'last mile' is where the connection box on the outside of the home is
located. For those who have a wireless connection, the 'last mile' is where
the receiving device is placed on the home to receive the wireless signal
from, say, a cell tower. For those homes that have satellite, the
'last mile' is basically the dish that is bolted to the home. FLR's
systems may include components of co-location with wireless, cable,
fiber or satellite as a 'last mile interconnector' company.
The 'last mile' 'interconnects' with a 'middle mile' infrastructure. That is
the infrastructure that is, for example, in a cable/fiber system, running
along the right-of-way out by the sidewalk on a residential street. In a
satellite connection, the 'middle mile' starts at the satellite. With
wireless, the 'middle mile' starts at the place where the wireless signal
is sent to the residence, and could be a cell tower, a sending radio
bolted to a mast to a barn, or a silo on a farm, as examples.
Interconnector companies like FLR do not provide actual program content to
residents. Residents are free to purchase all manner of retail convenience
products and services that make modern life on the internet more enjoyable.
Thus, residents can sign up with their own email accounts, or use, for
example, Gmail. While FLR will provide streaming video equipment, and
provide a consumer choice as to what any customer may want to watch, from
Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, HBO or any of the others, FLR does not provide
content shows or any other streaming service. Such distinction keeps
separate the key function of the interconnector sector, infrastructure,
from the Broadband Internet Access Service (hereinafter, BIAS) service
provider sector, typically the local cable company, or, as indicated,
streaming video companies. This specific BIAS definition was expanded in
the FCC's most recent 'Open Internet' rules.
In the second instance, proceeds from the investment will be applied towards
the installation of 'last mile' outside infrastructure components at the
homes and residences of customers. This function is much like installing the
cable box or satellite dish on the outside of the home, but instead using,
in some instances, wireless radios that have been approved by the FCC under
a technology called 'white space.' In other areas,
6
however, more traditional wireless technology, known anecdotally as 'microwave'
will be utilized, in each case depending on the terrain, among other factors.
For areas where the terrain completely prohibits those technologies, FLR will
make every attempt to provide satellite interconnector service.
In the third instance, proceeds from the investment, will be applied for the
purchase, installation and customer use of the 'kit' components inside the
home. The 'kit' is basically the same, at this stage of the installation, as
with any other residential service, and investors can compare what is in
their own homes with FLR's projected system service. It will include a
broadband, T.V., and a smartphone service component. The 'kit' includes a
tablet device, a router for indoor WiFi, a streaming video kit for T.V.,
and an app. that synchronizes the resident's smartphone account with a
voice-over-Internet-Protocol account (VoIP), so that the user can use the
smartphone at home, where there typically is no cell service.
Finally, proceeds from the investment will be applied for customer acquisition
and retention, sales and service. In this regard, advertising will likely
mirror what any consumer views on the T.V. at any time with the broadband
and phone companies. Making sure that a professional customer service,
installation and repair team are in place will be major factors towards
achieving customer acquisition. Customer satisfaction ratings must be a # 1
priority.
In order to achieve the investment proceeds, FLR will utilize the services of
professional third-party sellers. The Reg. A+ rules allow for such sellers
that include underwriters, brokers, dealers, sellers and finders. The rules
provide guidance on 'cover' contracts that must be signed by FLR and the
third-party sellers. The 'cover' contracts require certain disclosures,
including commission rates, that must be made public by posting of the
contracts on the SEC's electronic filing system, called EDGAR. Some
components, like commission rates, must be, and will be posted on the cover
of this offering circular, once such sellers are retained.
FLR anticipates retaining such third-party sellers upon qualification. Those
sellers must satisfy registration requirements of any State in which they
will be selling. Reg A+ allows for $6 million(9) of the $20 million Tier 1
offering amount to be sold by third-party sellers. Upon qualification, FLR
will only sell through the third-party sellers, although the Issuer's
representative, Mr. Ramos, will be available to meet with prospective
investors in order to discuss and provide more detail as concerns
non-investment related issues.
Footnotes:
(9) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
7
For JOBS Act - Regulation A - Tier 1, SEC Rule 144 has been amended to allow
the investor to sell up to thirty percent of shares purchased immediately,
instead of waiting for the one-year period, and further requires the investor
to notify FLR, so that FLR may keep accurate records.
The first $6 million(10) of this offering, as allowed by the Tier 1 rules, is
to be conducted by the third-party sellers. In the case of underwriters, at
the time of their retainer, such will be retained on either a 'take and pay'
basis, or on a 'best efforts' basis, both as allowed by the JOBS Act
regulations. Under New York securities rules, for broker-dealers on a
'best efforts' basis, this offering circular is made in compliance with
that section. If being sold by broker-dealers on a 'firm commitment' basis,
further notice will be provided upon retainer of such persons or companies.
FLR will pay a commission or other remuneration to the the third-party
sellers. In the future, FLR may conduct separate offerings of the remaining
balance of the $20 million offering, or $14 million, under JOBS Act ,
Regulation A, Tier 1, and otherwise in compliance with federal and state
registration requirements.
This Offering Circular relates only to the offer and sale of $6 million of
common/voting shares at the price of $100 per share. There is no other class
of shares, and no other asking price. Although shares are being offered at
the asking price of $100 per share, market conditions and the efforts of
third-party sellers will ultimately determine the selling price of shares
to any individual investor.
The table below identifies general information about the breakdown of the
proceeds. As an approximation, the scenario presents a hypothetical project
area of 1,500 homes that are in contiguous unserved census blocks, where the
'middle mile' 'interconnect' co-location point is also contiguous to those
blocks. In general, FLR considers the 'last mile' and customer install
equipment inside the residence costs, together, for an average of $3,000.00
per residence just to be able to activate service, or $4.5 million, of the
$6 million. In order to serve those 1,500 homes, FLR will need to install a
minimum of 20 'middle mile' transmitters, to receive the signal from the
'middle mile' broadband connection, and then transmit it to the 'last mile'
receiver at the residence. Based upon an install already completed, FLR can
approximate a sunk cost expenditure, per location of $4,500.00, or
$90,000.00 for the 20 'middle mile' sites.
Footnotes:
(10) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
8
For those 20, locations, in order to be able to provide broadband speeds that
are in compliance with general guidelines and also established rules in some
states, but typically with a capacity of no less than 100 mbps, FLR's
wholesale costs will be $1,200.00 per month, per location, with a minimum
of a three-year wholesale contract, so as to be prepared for full service
as each residence comes online, or $518,400.00. The remaining proceeds,
will be applied to the customer acquisition and retention components,
including significant advertising and 'loss leader' component offerings
to new customers, as well as rents on sending radio sites and, of
significant importance, user adoption rate and customer service programs
and services.
For FLR's systems, streaming video is a feature that has significant
consumer appeal. Without deciding, or indicating any set market price
per month for service, and taking the above amounts as sunk costs, and
including providing the 'kit' package that will deliver in-home WiFi for
data, streaming video with a minimum of two prepaid programming services
of the customer's choice, plus Skype's app. service that syncs the
customer's smartphone account and features to FLR's system, for a seamless
smartphone service where it did not exist before, FLR estimates a
conservative monthly net gain, per customer of $100 per month, or
$1,800,000.00 per year, or approximately 45 months for a full return on
investment time period.
In the event a customer fails to make payment on a due date, FLR will have the
option to pursue various remedies. When considering that folks in the unserved
areas will be achieving broadband in the home for the first time, however,
FLR's policy will be to 'keep the customer instead of cutting the service.'
FLR may utilize an extension program like that used by Verizon, for a
short-term/no penalty extension. In extreme cases, collection remedies could
imposing a late charge. As an example a late charge could be equal to the
lesser of (i) 4% of the unpaid payment amount or (ii) the maximum amount
permitted to be charged under applicable law. FLR could, in the alternative,
charge interest at a default rate. Such a rate could be equal to the lesser
of (i) 20% per annum or (ii) the maximum rate permitted to be charged under
applicable law. Most broadband providers also charge a
'disconnect and equipment return fee.' FLR's research has indicated,
however, that the costs of acquiring a new customer, then disconnecting,
then reconnecting, may not be worth the effort of disconnecting. For these
reasons, FLR will want to do everything possible to avoid a disconnect.
9
Any and all collection proceeds received by FLR will be applied first, to all
costs and expenses of any nature whatsoever incurred by FLR for the
maintenance, preservation, defense, protection, sale, other disposition,
collection, including without limitation court costs and reasonable
attorneys' fees, expenses, including those associated with the defense
or any related action, claim or demand, and disbursements, second, to
accrued and unpaid amounts owed, and third, to any further disconnect and
equipment pick up costs.
The statement of cash flow set forth below with respect to the period from
October 16, 2015 to July 6, 2016, based on a calendar year reporting, is
derived solely from FLR's banking statements, which are not audited, and
have not been reviewed by any person
in the bookkeeping or accounting sectors. The amounts, as shown are very
small, and reflect only investment proceeds from JOBS Act / Rule 506
investors, and were made for the purposes of developing project areas in
the FLR project areas. Further, and importantly, FLR, as indicated above,
was formed specifically to qualify for JOBS Act / Rule 506 opportunities,
and therefore, only in the year, 2013. Prior to its formation for this
purpose, however, the project areas in the Finger Lakes region that were
made a part of government procurement funding applications, were funded by
private companies who paid fees for completing and processing grant
applications.
The current project areas are distributed throughout the Finger Lakes region
counties of Seneca and Cortland, and among those, the following are in FCC
Rural Broadband Experiment zones: Tyre, Junius, Freetown, Varick and
Marathon. A sixth project area is in Waterloo.
The previous government procurement funding projects throughout the
Finger Lakes region, would, therefore, be the beneficiaries of the funding
proceeds by investors.
Statement of Cash Flows
For the Period 10/16/2015 to 7/6/2016
Cash flow from operating activities - net income -10,000.00
Cash provided by/used in operating activities -10,000.00
Net increase in cash -10,000.00
Cash at hand on July 6, 2016 0
10
ITEM 1.
SUMMARY INFORMATION, RISK FACTORS, RISK
MITIGATION FACTORS, DILUTION AND MATERIAL DISPARITIES
A. Summary Information:
Investing in FLR involves a high degree of risk. In deciding whether to
purchase shares, you should carefully consider the following risk factors
and additional information about the risks associated with the investment
that may be contained throughout this offering circular. Any of the following
risks could have a material adverse effect on the value of the shares
purchased and could cause the investor to lose all or part of the initial
investment or could adversely affect any future value which the investor
expects to receive on the shares. Only investors who can bear the loss of
their entire investment amount should purchase shares.
This Regulation A+ opportunity is for what is called the 'interconnector'
sector of the telecommunications infrastructure industry. This sector provides
the system whereby broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers, as
currently defined by the FCC's rules, sell their retail services to
customers. These are BIAS companies like Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, YouTube,
Apple TV, as well as the traditional content providers, like Comcast and
Time Warner Cable, and also companies like Google, Firefox and Microsoft's
Internet Explorer.
The official statutory language for the interconnector sector may be found at
47 U.S.C. SS 251.
Interconnector companies are the independent companies that provide the
structure by which telecommunications and broadband signal is transferred.
Companies like American Tower Company are interconnector companies for
wireless communications. That is to say, that American Tower itself, does
not generate any telephone or internet service or content, but rather buys
plots of land, builds towers on them, brings signal to its tower, and then
leases tower space, like leasing an apartment, to telecommunications, radio,
T.V., broadband, and other companies. Companies like American Tower are often
referred to as 'vertical hotels,' to describe their 'for rent' function.
11
Companies like Lightower, are fiber interconnector companies. That is to say
that Lightower will, based on its market analysis and other issues, including
customer needs, lay fiber to certain sections, and then charge a fee to
anyone who wishes to use it, and charge a fee to make it work for the
customer. Companies like Lightower will connect to a broadband trunk line,
sometimes anecdotally known as the 'first mile,' with a typical industry
plug-in, then wholesale the broadband service from a broadband broker, then
sell the connection as a part of its service. Like with tower companies,
however, Lightower and other fiber companies, do not sell retail content, or
any other end-user services, like email or streaming video. Such companies
are strictly on the industrial side.
This being said, such companies as Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner Cable,
have some own their own infrastructure. In this regard, they, too, could be
considered, and are by FLR, considered, interconnector companies. In some
areas of its projects, the closest connection where FLR could, achieve a
broadband connection, will be where the closest broadband signal is located.
Companies like Verizon do not limit their business to just selling wholesale
to interconnector companies like FLR. Instead, all of those companies sell
a wide variety of retail products and services, like the 'triple-play' for
phone/data/T.V. This distinction, of these added services, places them into
a separate category for purposes of being regulated by the FCC as Broadband
Internet Access Service (BIAS) providers.
On February 26, 2015, the FCC issued new rules that govern both the
interconnector sector and the BIAS providers. See, In the Matter of
Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet, GN Docket No. 14-28.
Thus, for investor purposes, FLR is more like companies like American Tower
or Lightower. That is to say that FLR does not sell retail content that it
originates, and does not sell retail services, like the 'triple-play.'
Customers wanting any of those services, instead, are free to go onto FLR's
system and decide what it is that they wish to purchase. For example, with
its installation in the Mid-Hudson region project area, one of FLR's sister
companies co-locates with Time Warner Cable to supply, wholesale, the
internet service. Once customers begin using that system, and paying a fee
to do so, such customers may, if they choose to do so, contact
Time Warner Cable, and purchase the retail package that is the
'triple-play.' Or, they may choose not to do so, and instead purchase other
retail services, like streaming video content, or both.
12
To place in more focus, therefore, the actual 'on-the-ground' components of the
'interconnector' concept, essentially, broadband comes from multiple sources
at a 'first mile.' In the FLR project area of New York, for example, it comes,
most likely from what is called, anecdotally, 'New York's dark fiber' network.
This is an actual network of fiber, owned by the State of New York, used by
all of its own agencies, and then extra capacity is sold to brokers, who, in
turn, sell it to what are known as 'middle mile' companies. In all instances
of stand-alone or with additional service, 'middle mile' companies are those,
like the ones mentioned above, who have purchased that signal from, for
example the State of New York, to resell it. Those companies either use it
to sell services to their own customers, or they resell it to companies like
FLR.
In the case of reselling the 'middle mile' broadband service, those sellers
will sell to 'last mile' companies, like FLR. 'Last mile' refers simply to
the end point where the connection is made, typically to a business or a
residence, and not to an actual mile. Most of the larger telecommunications
companies that have their own infrastructure, like Time Warner
(now a part of Charter Communications) Cable, Comcast and Verizon, to name a
few, are also last mile providers. That is to say, they sell retail
services, and provide installation and service inside the building or
residence. In this sense, those companies are both 'middle mile' and
'last mile' providers. And, they can be 'interconnector'- only providers,
or they can be 'BIAS' providers.
In order to bring the 'interconnector' function for rural America more into
focus, investors and regulators may know that all of those large companies
have drawn their own lines as far as the rural edge of the internet world for
themselves. For a variety of reasons, primarily having to do with the
all-important cost/density cost ratio, they simply will go no further, ever,
under their present business models, absent new incentives, of which there
are very few at the present time.
As both the federal government and the States, now tracking internet
connections since its usage began to be commonplace some few decades ago,
begin to grapple with how to make sure that all areas of the country have
internet, concerted efforts are underway to define what is an 'unserved'
area, and how best to entice innovation and expansion from new companies
like FLR.
13
For example, the following statistics exist for 'unserved' census blocks in
the FLR investment project area:
SENECA COUNTY, NEW YORK
FCC Rural Broadband Experiment Unserved Census Blocks
Total: 172
Population: 2,158
Housing Units: 851
Eligible Locations: 789
10/01/14 SBI - New York State Broadband Data Unserved Census Blocks
Total: 730
Population: 2,929
Housing Units: 1,368
CORTLAND COUNTY, NEW YORK
FCC Rural Broadband Experiment Unserved Census Blocks
Total: 438
Population: 5,038
Housing Units: 2,199
Eligible Locations: 2,124
10/01/14 SBI New York State Broadband Data Unserved Census Blocks
Total: 796
Population: 5,689
Housing Units: 2,507
14
These vast amounts of unserved census blocks form the foundation of new
companies like FLR. That is to say that companies like FLR, that specialize
only in this large market, represent the future that will allow for the
completion of broadband infrastructure in the United States. At the same
time, however, and now with the original founders in their eighth year,
FLR's analysis and, therefore, development efforts have led it to the
conclusion that the best way forward, for the country, and for investors,
is to simply limit the expansion efforts to only 'interconnector'
expansion. In other words, there is enough 'middle mile' infrastructure,
and there are enough BIAS retail sellers in the contiguous areas so as to
allow for folks in rural America to very quickly ramp up and join folks in
urban and suburban areas to enjoy the benefits of broadband once FLR
installs the 'last mile' system.
Thus, this project is limited to unserved rural areas of the Finger Lakes
region in New York, and provides such 'interconnector' infrastructure for
homes, businesses, and rural cities.
B. Risk Factors:
1. Statements of future forecasts, projections and expectations are not
statements of returns on investment;
2. Market penetration may not be immediate.
There exists an issue of equal importance to infrastructure expansion for
resolution relative to the full expansion of broadband in the rural
United States, having to do with the 'user adoption' rate. FLR's research
has led it to issue this caution to investors as among the risk factors.
FLR's position, so as to best inform investors, is that this factor weighs
in as much as 50%, the other half being the installation of the 'last mile'
infrastructure, in its potential success.
Among the references that have guided FLR in posting this cautionary selection
is the history of rural electrification in America. For, although New Deal
legislation solved the problems of removing monopoly control of electricity,
and provided funding, not until a separate agency to improve the user
adoption rate was created, did the possibility of folk actually using it,
and therefore paying for it, result. Among the most creative ways to
15
insure that, by having an electrical outlet in the home, rural residents would
actually plug something into it, was the promotion, inexpensive sale of and
financing of appliances. After completing surveys, the three items chosen as
the most important to future rural consumers were the electric iron, the
washing machine and the refrigerator. Thus, many more-senior investors in FLR
may recall a time when, before Sears, their parents went to the local
electric company to pay their bill, and also to buy appliances.
With history as a guide, therefore, FLR will seek to minimize this risk,
while, at the same time, cautioning investors as to its existence. For
FLR's projects, where folk do not have any broadband on their smartphones
when they arrive home, and no internet at all in the home, there will be
incentives to use the system once up and running. One such non-negotiable,
and by comparison to the rural electrification gadgets, is that a tablet
will be provided to each residence where service is established. Many
customers will already have a tablet, like an iPad, but for FLR, providing
one as part of its system guarantees, for FLR and for the customer, the
router connection, the smartphone VoIP app., as well as the company app.,
where all billing and feature changes can be made.
The second prong of FLR's user adoption rate mitigation program will be
constant and competitive advertising across all media lines, targeted to
the project area. FLR has worked hard to arrive at a concept that brands its
service, while at the same time, conveys its message, and believes that
'My First Car Club' conveys that message. Since there was never even a word
like 'Google' FLR believes that it is not that far off the mark.
Importantly, however, being a member of a club is fun, 'members' can
communicate on FLR social media pages, and FLR can give its retail/customer
support outlets a matching name: 'The Shop.'
The advertising campaign will be a sustained effort, tailored in each area to
the local benefits of the community, like the City of Binghamton's next
'July Festival,' for example. Importantly is the fact that, although suburban
areas that are near the rural areas seem to have a captive market for the
BIAS companies, in fact, advertising, especially on T.V. is non-stop. Such
advertising, which runs over into the rural areas, however, can be of a huge
benefit to FLR as complimentary advertising. With the BIAS companies
offering the types of retail services that customers want, new customers
will have an even greater incentive to become FLR's customers, and then
become retail customers of those companies.
16
FLR cautions, however, that such market penetration may take as long as 12-24
months before the critical mass of 'I want to join the 'My First Car Club'
as a customer arrives.;
3. Zoning issues may delay the start of parts of the project;
By and large, this cautionary section concerns parts of a project area where
a zoning change or variance may be required. While such should be extremely
rare, and any delays short-lived, FLR mentions same here.
In the vast majority of FLR project areas where it would begin operations for
many years to come, existing assets, like cell towers which have already
been through the zoning process, or 'middle mile' cable hook ups, where
the cable company long ago resolved the zoning issue, will solve FLR's
'last mile' zoning issues.
Further, and of extreme importance, by comparison, the satellite service
industry, which is very large in rural areas for T.V., too, has solved many
of the zoning issues that would or could arise with the attachment of any
receiving 'last mile' device to a residence.
FLR raises this issue here, therefore, in the unlikely event that there may
be zoning ordinances, or community ordinances that do not cover
'wireless receiving residential equipment,' and for which FLR would retain
local zoning counsel, in order to either amend the ordinance or obtain a
variance.
4. Attracting broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers to a
carrier-neutral environment could result in initial limited user expansion;
5. Local government needs could accelerate adoption, at a short term
financial loss;
Of a lesser priority than the absence of infrastructure and the issue of the
user adoption rate, is a caution here about local government demands for
service.
This caution is more one of a political one where being a 'good neighbor' can
far outweigh any other local benefit. Broadband infrastructure and service
is no different to any local government than is any other type of service,
like gas, water, electricity and
17
the like. As a part of the interconnector sector, FLR will become involved in
providing additional infrastructure, either one of the 'middle' mile'
radios, or, if in an area where one exists, with the 'last mile' radios,
say, at the local government waste disposal plant in the project area.
The caution becomes important because, in all likelihood, being responsive to
local government would lead FLR to want to establish that service at that
waste disposal plant, at its initial expense, and also, to provide for the
monthly billing expense for the broadband signal, and provide for gadgets
and technical support to bring the plant current. All at a short-term
financial loss.
This being said, a given is that, upon the next budget cycle, public
hearings, discussion, and vote on the annual budget, most if not all
local governments are envisioned as factoring in the recurring costs into
the budget to be paid for by the taxpayers. Thus, the initial sunk costs
for the equipment would be expensed by FLR's accountants as best as
possible.
6. The Company has no operating history;
7. Sales of shares will be restricted in accordance with Regulation A, as
amended, effective June 19, 2015;
FLR makes this offering consistent with Reg. A+ regulations governing Tier 1
for third-party sellers:
"Tier 1: Annual offering limit of $20 million, including no more than
$6 million(11) on behalf of selling securityholders that are affiliates
of the issuer.
Limit sales by selling securityholders in an issuer's initial Regulation A
offering and any subsequently qualified Regulation A offering within the
first 12-month period following the date of qualification of the initial
Regulation A offering to no more than 30% of the aggregate offering price.
Footnotes:
(11) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
18
....The final rules limit the amount of securities that selling shareholders
can sell at the time of the Issuer's first Regulation A offering, and within
the following 12 months to no more than 30% of the aggregate offering price
of a particular offering."(12)
8. Technology choice: there is no 'single technology solution for rural
broadband in America. In addition to co-locating with fiber, wireless and
satellite infrastructure, white space infrastructure technology provides
another option. This technology was authorized by the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), in 2012, and thus, there is limited data on
a national rollout of this technology at the present time. This project
would be among the first for a consumer-ready rollout of the technology
infrastructure.
The year 2013, did, however, provide two significant boosts for rural
broadband. First, JOBS Act offerings present a major new way to achieve
funding that is scaled to project areas and sizes. Second, the FCC
authorized the commercial use of the white space technology, and emphasized
its benefits for rural America.(13) These twin incentives drive FLR's
projects, but at the same time, investors must be cautioned that, whereas
white space technology is not new, its application to rural areas is new.
As a thumbnail sketch, investors and regulators may know that 'white space'
refers to the location to capture radio signal that is exactly 100 feet
above ground level at any given ground level point. It is at this point,
and only at this point, that, for decades, unlicensed television channels
have existed, these primarily in very small market areas. In all other T.V.
areas, and in fact, in all other telecommunications areas, signal location
in the air is regulated and licensed.
As can be expected, if a T.V. station is not making money, it would have no
need to use one of the unlicensed channels in its area, and that channel
would be open for anyone to use. In any given area, there may be many, many
unused channels. In the United States, there are millions, and these are
all identified by the FCC.
Footnotes:
(12)
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION - 17 CFR Parts 200, 230, 232, 239, 240,
249, and 260 [Release Nos. 33-9741; 34-74578; 39-2501; File No. S7-11-13],
RIN 3235-AL39
Amendments for Small and Additional Issues Exemptions under the Securities
Act (Regulation A)
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission. ACTION: Final rules. p. 34
(13) See, PUBLIC NOTICE, Federal Communications Commission, DA 13-324,
Released: March 1, 2013 Office of Engineering and Technology Authorizes
TV White Space Database Administrators to Provide Service to Unlicensed
Devices Operating on Unused TV Spectrum Nationwide,
ET Docket No. 04-186.
19
One technology issue with the 'white space' space refers to the fact that,
like smaller and local radio stations, the signal is not that strong, and
does not accommodate that many users. This issue is resolved, however, since
there are many, many channels free-floating with each other in a given area.
This is where the FCC's white space technology administrator authorization
of 2013 comes in. Without white space administration, there could be no
white space technology, because too many folk would be on one channel at
one time, causing system failure.
As the above FCC publication at footnote 7 indicates, however, in 2013, the
FCC authorized the commercial use of white space, and authorized
administrators to manage it. It was this memo that opened the floodgates
to white space technology for rural America.
In other words, companies like Redline Communications, for many years,
installed, and continue to install white space technology, private systems,
mostly in very remote areas and mostly in mining towns, or for
municipalities. Those systems would grab the white space signal,
and its private administrators would make sure that, if a channel
began to fill up, the administrator would switch them over to another
channel that was not being used, or not being used to capacity. Thus,
neither 'white space' nor 'white space' technology are new. The FCC
has authorized just five white space administrator companies for the
United States. Among these is Spectrum Bridge, Inc., which is the company
that FLR's vendor, Redline Communications, Inc. uses. In other words,
with the purchase of the equipment, comes the Spectrum Bridge service
contract. One of the other five is Google.
The promise that the FCC believes holds for white space in rural America
concerns its ability to 'see' through areas where 'line-of-sight'
microwave does not. For example, if a sending microwave radio is set
on a cell tower and has a certain range, say five miles, it can only
send the signal to a receiver that is within the line of sight of the
cell tower. For most of rural America, the option of putting up
millions more cell towers, and then expecting the sending radios to reach
into every terrain area, is not an option. The chances of the cable
companies running cable, at an estimated $25,000.00 per mile, into rural
areas with low residential density, is, also, not an option. Those two
technologies, again, however, do provide extremely cost-effective
'middle mile' connections and thus, a cost savings that investors
should know about.
20
As FLR has been developing its projects with white space technology,
therefore, since 2013, it has developed some practical expertise,
especially when considering that it has one 'middle mile' white space
technology installation now completed. FLR can state, therefore, and
this in conjunction with Redline, that the key to a successful
'last mile' connection for white space has to do with the height of the
radios. In fact, a good rule of thumb, as a practical matter, that has
developed is to have a good inverse relationship between the
'middle mile' sending radio, the 'base station' and the residential
housing unit. In this manner, the resident will need the shortest mast
upon which to mount the receiving radio, and, therefore, the least
aesthetic intrusion.
The satellite industry grappled with this aesthetic issue for years, until
it was finally able to make the dishes smaller. FLR seeks, therefore, to go
to sites, like barns, or large industrial plants in rural areas, like cement
plants, but also water towers and large water tanks, in addition, to cell
towers, where it can achieve an installation for the base station radio at
a height that is as close to 100 feet, ten stories, at that location as
possible. At that height, that radio can clear any major obstruction, and
where smaller obstructions, like treetops, or mountain peaks prevail, its
signal, unlike line-of-sight, will wrap over those obstructions to reach
the residential unit.
This being said, investors should know that there will be circumstances where
the residential unit must also go up a substantial height, in order to
breach any complete obstruction from the 'middle mile' radio. FLR believers,
however, that because it will rely on significant and existing 'middle mile'
infrastructure, enormous savings will result, savings which can be passed
onto the consumer, who, once signal is established, and gadgets being used,
will welcome the opportunity to use our service. In short, FLR's message to
investors is that it's hard, but it can be done and, like any of the larger
telecommunication companies, FLR believes that it, too, can thrive;
9. There is an absence of profitable operations in recent periods;
10. There is no current, defined method for determining market price for the
service, as the service has, as of yet, not had a commercial rollout;
21
11. The project has not yet been completed and, accordingly; has no operating
history. FLR, therefore, has no operating history of earnings and its
operations will be subject to all of the risks inherent in the establishment
of a new business enterprise. Accordingly the success of the business is
completely dependent upon financial, business, competitive, regulatory and
other general factors affecting the rural broadband interconnector sector
in general as well as prevailing economic conditions.(14)
FLR addresses here further concerns of the regulators concerning its current
and projected competitive conditions. Although discussed in parts above,
both of the biggest challenges come from within, and not from without the
interconnector sector. The biggest competitive hurdle, in other words, is
not competing with any other company, but competing for existence, as
concerns the user adoption rate discussed above. Without customers actually
signing up, FLR cannot be successful. For these reasons, the advertising,
the giveaway of the tablet, the creation of the app. to manage all aspects
of the account with the customer, a single payment platform, the opening of
'The Shop' retail/customer service outlets, like 'the Apple Store, the
customer service, live phone/chat function and tech. support, all, from the
outset, must be in place, up and running, before the first customer signs
up.
The second competitive issue, also discussed above, is the technology
equipment selection, and then the install. FLR's efforts have informed that,
by being able to say to a community that it is 'open for business' meaning
having the 'middle mile' base station installed and ready for customers,
is likely the best way to convince customers to sign up. Customers can
drive to the barn or silo or wherever, and actually see the radio in place.
FLR says again to investors and regulators that all this is hard, but it can
be done because its focus is solely on rural America.
FLR expands here as to the current and projected economic conditions of FLR.
As shown above, in just the FLR project areas of Seneca and Cortland
counties, there are as many as 3,500 housing units with no broadband. Thus,
the economic conditions for the company that conquers the cost/density
barrier, which FLR believes it has, stands to
Footnotes:
(14)See, In Re Donald J. Trump Casino Securities Litigation - Taj Mahal
Litigation, 7 F.3d 357 (3rd Cir. 1993)
22
capture that market, upon overcoming the user adoption rate issue. The Finger
Lakes region is vast, and includes the counties of Seneca, Cayuga, Cortland,
Livingston, Monroe, Onondaga, Ontario, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca,Steuben,
Tompkins, Wayne, and Yates.
For FLR, as its cash disclosures show, it cannot proceed without either
government procurement and/or JOBS Act funding.
All this being said, FLR reiterates that there is a risk of total loss from
any investment.
12. Although, under Regulation A securities are unrestricted, there is, for
this offering, no opportunity to achieve control securities;(15)
C. Risk Mitigation Factors:
l. 3-day 'cooling off' right of withdrawal
When beginning its JOBS Act research under Section 506,(16) FLR reviewed the
registration requirements, in survey form, of a number of States. Its survey
showed that, although cancellation of any contract made is frowned upon, in
fact, by law, or by voluntary action, some may be cancelled.
FLR's surveys also showed that, with respect to contracts, there is a range
from zero cancellation time to as much as five days. FLR found three days to
be the average.
New York has a 3-day 'cooling off' rule for the cancellation of contracts.
Sales of securities, however, are not subject to the rule in New York. See,
this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxfFvX3PZFjzS21oRFFhYzNWYUU/view?usp=sharing
Footnotes:
(15)See, Section 3 (b) (2) (C), SEC Rules, JOBS Act and Rule 405, SEC Rules
(16)During the course of that survey period, Mr. Ramos mistakenly stated the
effective date of JOBS Act/ Rule 506 in offering documents being prepared
in anticipation of being offered in the State of Florida. He resolved the
issue with a pledge to avoid any such misstatements in the future. The
matter is reported
here:http://www.flofr.com/StaticPages/documents/OFRMonthlyReport122013.pdf.
23
Notwithstanding that securities contracts in New York are exempted from the
3-day 'cooling off' rule, FLR believes that the 3-day 'cooling off' period
provides a good and additional benefit to the potential investor. For this
reason, FLR has maintained it as a part of this Regulation A offering
circular.
Although not expressly applicable, but as a good measurement of investor
protection,
Section 4A (a) (1) G) of the 1933 Securities Act, as amended to reflect JOBS
Act, provides, specifically as to JOBS Act:
"(G) the price to the public of the securities or the method for determining
the price, provided that, prior to sale, each investor shall be provided in
writing the final price and all required disclosures, with a reasonable
opportunity to rescind the commitment to purchase the securities);
(emphasis supplied)"
In order to further the spirit of JOBS Aact, for this additional reason, FLR
make this 3-day 'cooling off' rule a part of this offering circular.
As new companies, further, FLR includes an additional benefit to the potential
investor by employing an escrow agent. Here, similarly, New York does not
require an escrow agent for JOBS Act - Regulation A - Tier 1. FLR believes,
however that, for the 3-day 'cooling off' period, placing an escrow agent
between the investor and FLR, is of a benefit to both parties. Among the
conditions of the escrow contract between FLR and the escrow agent,
therefore, will be that only the escrow agent and not FLR, will have access
to invested funds during the 3-day 'cooling off' period. Investors are
cautioned here, however, that any fees and expenses by the escrow agent may
be charged as against the cancellation.
Despite the absence of any federal or state law as to any financial
consequences of such withdrawal by the investor, FLR will not be charging
a withdrawal fee of any type. Investors are cautioned not to confuse this
section with certain rights that are provided to the Issuer and to the
escrow agent, concerning the fees and costs of the escrow agent.
24
The federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act
("E-SIGN") and similar state laws, particularly the Uniform Electronic
Transactions Act ("UETA"), authorize the creation of legally binding and
enforceable agreements utilizing electronic records and signatures. E-SIGN
and UETA require businesses that want to use electronic records or
signatures in consumer transactions to obtain the consumer's consent to
receive information electronically. See, also 15 U.S.C. 96. Thus, the
investor will be able to make electronic signatures for the sales contract
and for the 3-day 'cooling off' waiver form. All sales contracts, however,
will need to be 'consummated' at the 'situs' of the contract, which will be
in New York, by the Issuer's representative, and such will be signed by the
representative only in New York.
2. Meetings with the Issuer's representative on matters outside the offering
circular and offering statement:
Investors should rely on the information contained in this offering circular
and in the offering statement, as well as any information posted on EDGAR.
The investment opportunity aside, however, FLR states that it must protect
not only FLR, but also such investors whose interest is in the investment
opportunity, as opposed to an interest in gaining a controlling interest in
the company, or in gaining access to information which has been developed by
FLR over the course of the past seven years, and for which, FLR believes,
offers not only the best technology solution, but also the best investment
return.
Thus, although Mr. Ramos, as the Issuer's representative, will not engage in
any selling with the third-party sellers, it can be the case that his
presentation as to the proprietary technology solution could better help the
investor to make an investment decision. For those reasons, Mr. Ramos has
decided to make himself available to both the third-party sellers and to the
potential investors, for such meetings, which can take place by
video-conference or at a mutually agreeable time and place between those
parties. A standard non-disclosure agreement must be signed by the
potential investor and by Mr. Ramos prior to any meeting;
25
3. Further discussion on the 3-day 'cooling off' period:
Although not applicable to Regulation A,(17) Section 4A (a) (1) G) of the 1933
Securities Act, as amended to reflect JOBS Act, provides:
'(G) the price to the public of the securities or the method for determining
the price, provided that, prior to sale, each investor shall be provided in
writing the final price and all required disclosures, with a reasonable
opportunity to rescind the commitment to purchase the securities);
(emphasis supplied)."
FLR believes that this language complements its 3-day 'cooling off' benefit
to the investor. Upon an election within the 3-day 'cooling off' period,
investor funds will be returned to the investor, by the escrow agent, minus
any fees and costs that are authorized by the escrow agreement to the
escrow agent.
Further, the investor is advised that no shares will be issued to the
investor by FLR until such time as the Issuer receives confirmation from
the escrow agent, after the 3-day 'cooling off' period, that the investor
has not made the election to withdraw.
Finally, FLR believes that the investor may choose to waive the 3-day
'cooling off' period, by signing the following form that will become a
part of the shares purchase agreement:
WAIVER OF 3-DAY RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL
I, (investor) hereby advise the escrow agent and the Issuer, Finger Lakes
Region Rural Broadband Company, Inc., that I waive the 3-day right of
withdrawal as stated on the shares purchase agreement.
In other words, I wish for the purchase to be effectuated on the date of
the shares
Footnotes:
(17) Confirmed by SEC counsel, Zach Fallon.
26
purchase agreement, which is also the date on which payment for the shares
is made.
To make clear, therefor, I wish to have my shares issued to me on the date
that the escrow agent confirms to the Issuer that my funds have cleared.
I HEREBY WAIVE THE 3-DAY RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL
________________________
Investor
________________________
Date
4. stock class: not restricted;
5. distribution: shares to land in the hands of the investor as of the date
of this amended document.(18)
D. Dilution:
The dilution formula that is utilized is taken from the administrative code
of the State of Florida. After a survey of various dilution calculations
from industry, as well as research among different State Blue Sky laws,
FLR found that Florida's formula, as specifically codified, offers the best
transparency by which to calculate dilution, as follows:
"69W-200.001 Definitions.
(13) "Dilution" for purposes of paragraph 69W-700.015(2)(b), F.A.C., shall be
determined by subtracting the maximum sales commissions and expenses set
forth in the prospectus from the gross proceeds of the offering and adding
the net worth prior to the offering. Divide this sum by the total number of
shares to be outstanding at the
Footnotes:
(18) Thus, no secondary sellers, including underwriters or brokers or dealers,
and therefore, no additional fees for this first offering. Subject to change
upon qualification and amendment of this offering circular upon any new
distribution plan, consistent with Regulation A rules governing this
offering circular.
27
conclusion of the offering to determine book value. Subtract the book value
from the proposed offering price and divide the result by the proposed
offering price to arrive at the percentage of dilution. For the purpose of
calculating "dilution" or "book value", intangible assets such as patents,
copyrights, franchises, trademarks, operating rights and goodwill are
deducted from total assets.
Dilution Formula:
NP = Gross Proceeds minus Maximum Sales Commissions and Expenses
NW = Net Worth prior to the offering
TS = Total Number of shares to be outstanding after a successful offering
BV = Book Value
OP = Offering Price
Example:
NP + NW
________ = BV
TS
OP - BV
_________ = Dilution
OP
E. Material disparities:
There is no material disparity between the public offering price and the
effective cash cost to officers, directors, promoters and affiliated
persons as of the time of this offering circular, and there has been none
in the past three years.
Further, the Issuer's representative, and its officers and directors, which
includes the Issuer's representative, do not anticipate any such material
disparity, or discount.
With respect to third-party sellers and affiliated persons, the Issuer has
not discussed this issue, and unless it is raised by such persons, does not
plan to so discuss. In this manner, the Issuer may maintain clarity of the
'one class/ one price' formula.
28
III.
ITEM 2.
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION - ALL SHARES TO LAND IN THE HANDS OF THE INVESTOR
A. Underwriters:
For this initial filing, there is only a primary distribution, with all shares
to land in the hands of the investor directly from the Issuer.
There are no underwriters on this offering as of the potential date of first
public sale. Upon qualification, however, the Issuer intends an aggressive
push to retain such, and also other third-party sellers. With respect to
underwriters, the Issuer will seek to retain same as 'take and pay,' in
which case distribution will land in the hands of the investor from the
underwriter. For any 'best efforts' underwriters, and for all other
third-party sellers, all shares are to land in the hands of the investor from
the Issuer, FLR, subject to New York's rules on broker-dealers
'firm commitment' transactions, as set forth above.
B. Discounts and commissions:
There are no agreements for discounts and commissions as of the potential date
of qualification, because there have been no promoters, underwriters or
affiliates yet retained.
In the event, however, that such persons are retained under this new, amended
Regulation A offering opportunity, the Issuer intends to allow for such
discounts and to pay to such persons such amounts as may be reasonable and
allowed by the new rules for Regulation A, as well as by any such voluntary
or required groups, organizations or agencies that may provide for
regulation and licensing of said persons.
In that event, and at that time, the Issuer will amend this Offering
Circular, as required by the Regulation A rules, as amended, in a timely
manner, or withdraw this one and file a new one, consistent with said
rules.(19)
Footnotes:
(19) Or, if required to, withdraw this one and re-file it with a secondary
plan of distribution.
29
C. Plan of distribution:
As of the date of the filing of this first Regulation A offering circular for
this project, such is limited to primary distribution only, with all shares
landing in the hands of the investor directly from the Issuer by the
Issuer's representative.
As of the potential first offering sale date, and only upon successful upload
to the SEC for registration, and if those two are not the same, upon the
completion of the latter, there will be no secondary offering agreements,
contracts, or any other relations with any persons or companies for other
than primary sales.
D. No shares offered or sold on account of securities holders:
Consistent with Item 2. C, above, all shares will be sold upon issuance only
from the Issuer and to land in the hands of the investor.
The only exception would be where an underwriter took the shares on a
'take and pay' arrangement, or whether, under New York law, a broker-dealer
took the shares under a firm commitment, in which case distribution would
transfer title from the Issuer to the underwriter or broker-dealer, to
distribute to the investor;
E. Restrictions on amounts of funds raised, threshold requirements for
achieving funds limit and requirements of return of funds:
FLR plans to sell $6 million(20) in FLR shares only through third-party
sellers.
For JOBS Act - Regulation A - Tier 1, SEC Rule 144 has been amended to allow
the investor to sell up to thirty percent of shares purchased immediately,
instead of waiting for the one-year period, and further requires the
investor to notify FLR, so that FLR may keep accurate records.
For any return of funds, please refer to the discussion concerning the 3-day
'cooling off' period above.
Footnotes:
(20) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
30
IV.
ITEM 3.
USE OF PROCEEDS TO ISSUER
In addition to the information provided in the tables above, FLR provides more
information on the 'impact of changing conditions on the projected business
operations.' In fact, as with any technology business, 'changing conditions'
are a fact of life. For example, at the time when the founding group first
started, March, 2009, the iPad had not yet even been introduced. Since then,
however, tablets have become commonplace, and, as indicated above, are a
part of FLR's standard 'kit' package to the new customer. Thus, FLR has
proceeded through a succession of re-calculations as to the 'middle mile'
contact point and also, as to the 'last mile' since the authorization of
commercial white space technology.
For the 'kits,' that is, the inside goodies and gadgets, with the advent of
such companies as Netflix, the development of streaming video hardware has
had a great advance. That advance has been so great that the hardware is not
only affordable, but in extremely high demand by consumers. This feature did
not even exist as recently as two years ago, and is now a standard part of
our kit.
The smartphone has for all intents and purposes, replaced the cell phone,
and with it, for the unserved areas, a lack of access. With innovation by
the company, Skype, however, just in 2015, there is now 'Skype for Mobile,'
which is an app. that allows a smartphone user to achieve use of it in an
area where there is broadband, but not cell service, like in most of the
unserved rural areas. Next to streaming video, this app., and there will be
other companies creating it too, is a stunning leap of progress for the
rural areas. The app. service, just like the streaming services, do carry
an additional cost.
Thus, and in conclusion, for seven years now, FLR and its parent and sister
companies, have refused to be stuck in the old 'broadband is coming to rural
America' mode, where single technology companies are content to offer just a
basic connection. FLR believes that everyone in rural America should have
the same service that anyone does who lives in urban or suburban centers,
and if the service companies can bear the costs and expenses of making
their service better to customers at a good market price, so can FLR.
31
In addition, for this section, FLR presents more information 'regarding the
business operations of the Issuer and the investment opportunity.' Taking
into consideration that any statements made here and throughout this
offering circular are forward-looking statements, with the appropriate
cautionary language as concerns same throughout, FLR may say that, in
simplest form, its business would be no different than either the local
cable or wireless Internet service provider (WISP), or satellite T.V.
company. All such companies work according to the same basic model, in that
they are either interconnector companies, meaning that they provide no
original content, programming or services, or they are broadband internet
access service providers (BIAS). FLR is the former, as described above.
Thus, upon funding, FLR would continue to bring under contract sites where it
would install the 'middle mile' radios. FLR would install the radios, obtain
a wholesale contract for internet service at that location, and begin the
extensive marketing/customer acquisition effort described above.
FLR would, upon acquiring a customer, as would any cable or wireless
installer, make an appointment to install the 'last mile' equipment on the
outside at the home of the new customer.
FLR would, then, make a second appointment to connect the router to the
plug-in that is made a part of the inside install, like a standard cable
screw-on that any investor or regulator has in his or her home. FLR would
activate the router by configuring it to the tablet, just like any wireless
company would activate a router with the customer's computer in the
residence.
For the streaming video, FLR would set it for 'wireless' and would set up the
set-top box on top of the T.V. just like any other cable or streaming video
set-top box, and would activate the two choices that the new customer had
already made, for streaming video programming. Or, if near the T.V. would
would use one of the router ports to connect a cable to the streaming kit,
to activate it that way.
For the Skype app. FLR would configure the new customer's smartphone to an
individual Skype account that would be a part of our wholesale commercial
account with Skype.
32
The big moment would be when the customer can shout 'WOW' to all of this
working.
For folks living in served areas, especially those who have had broadband for
decades, much of this will likely seem mundane. Investors, and regulators,
however, simply must place themselves in the position of the rural resident
who has never had broadband at their home. For them, nowadays, their
technology life begins once they get close enough to the nearest cell tower
with service so that their smartphone works.
For rural America, we at FLR say that this is no way to live.
Thus, the 'investment opportunity' granted, is getting in at an early stage,
where there is a long history of the known factors that need to be done and
conquered, but where no company, save for ours, has yet to have a focus on
just the national issue as to only rural unserved areas. Investors can
check with listed telecommunications companies to see that the failure rate
is very low, and their success has been, in part, by keeping faithful to a
strictly market-driven business model that was never intended, or written,
to accommodate a serious concentration on the unserved areas. FLR and its
sister companies are the only such companies, and thus investors may weigh
the risks and potential rewards in making a decision as to whether to invest
with FLR.
FLR provides here a primary list of vendors for the projects. No persons have
received any commissions in connection with any acquisition, there have been
no expenses in connection with any acquisition, and there has been no money
borrowed to finance any acquisition.
Further, the costs shown for each category in the 'proceeds' table include
the global amounts for all of the components for that particular phase of
the install, and reflect amounts that may be achieved as a result of bulk
purchasing, and thus, better pricing.
The primary vendors would be:
1. 'middle mile' lessors;
2. 'middle mile' equipment sellers and data administrators, primarily Redline
Communications, Inc. and Spectrum Bridge, Inc.;
33
3. 'middle mile' broadband Internet service providers, depending on the
location of the project area, like Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Verizon and
others;
4. 'middle mile' and 'last mile' mast vendors like Rohn. See, www.rohnet.com;
5. 'last mile' electrical supply sellers for lightning protection copper
cable. See, www.lightningrodparts.com ;
6. in-home wireless routers from the most competitive priced seller at the
time, to include, for example, Netgear and Linksys, but also competitively
priced routers on www.alibaba.com;
7. streaming video kits from competitive priced ones like Apple, Roku, and
also comparable and competitively priced ones on www.alibaba.com;
8. Skype's mobile app. service;
9. Various corporate accounts for various streaming services, like Netflix,
Hulu and others;
10. various competitively priced tablet vendors, but likely from
www.alibaba.com;
11. various retail pop up storefront lessors for 'The Shop' retail/service
centers, typically in a town center near local government office, near a
broadband provider's service center, or possibly in a co-lease arrangement
with a local electrical appliance company on a main street of a small town;
The order of priority of the use of the proceeds is, by and large, reflected
in this list, with number 1 being the first priority.
C. Other funds to be used:
The FLR Tier 1 offering is intended to be extended to the remaining $14
million, by qualification, over a five year period.
34
D. No proceeds to be used to discharge indebtedness:
The project carries no debt, and therefore, no proceeds would be used to
discharge any indebtedness.
E. No proceeds to be used to acquire non-project assets:
With the exception of assets acquired in the ordinary course of business for
the project, there will be no other use of the proceeds.
F. Reservation of right to change use of proceeds:
FLR reserves the right to change the use of proceeds provided that such
reservation is due to certain contingencies which are adequately disclosed.
For example, the project may require the purchase of small and insignificant
tracts of real estate for the purposes of positioning hardware, or
structures upon which to mount such hardware. Or, for co-location purposes,
the project may require the long-term leasing of space on certain rooftops,
again for the purposes of providing relay connector hardware to the project
area.
In all instances, however, the project plan is to avoid either the purchase
of any real estate or the necessity of establishing such rooftop links. In
other words, one of the primary project goals is to have access to broadband
internet service utility connections that are a part of the co-location of
the sending radios, or in very close proximity to such. In this manner,
significant costs of such real estate and other co-location items may be
avoided, and thus, the budget kept more efficient.
Avoiding unneeded expenses for co-location assets may be accomplished by using
existing assets. The interconnector sector is one that is well-organized. A
good example would be where, say, American Tower would choose to place a
tower in an area. And, to complete the thought, assume that, in that area,
there are landowners who know that a part of their land may be lucrative for
a cell tower location. In those circumstances, the landowner could take two
kinds of action. He/she could contact American Tower, and negotiate a deal,
either for the purchase or lease of the land on which to place the
35
tower. In the alternative, the owner could be more savvy and contact a tower
development company, like say Black Dot Wireless. www.blackdotwireless.com.
For a fee, Black Dot will completely develop the tower site, including
installation, leases and service, so that, in effect, any prospective tenant
on the tower would be a lessee.
In fact, in any of the project areas, where there is a tower anywhere within
a five-mile range in our prospective service area, FLR will seek space at
the 100' level.
Other non-tower sites that will play key roles for the 'middle mile'
interconnect are ones that have a tall structure, and also an existing
internet connection, or one that is relatively close by, say within 200' of
such a connection. Such structures are all manner of shapes and
configurations, and so far, the best range has been large and tall municipal
water towers, private landowners where there is a tall structure, like a
silo, private landowners where there is a building next to a highway where
there is an internet connection, like in the Mid-Hudson company project
area, as well as industrial sites, typically on the outskirts of towns,
like cement plants, as well as outlying municipal plants, like waste
management facilities. For all of these sites, there is no possibility, or
need, of owning the land or the facility. Instead, FLR will simply treat
them like a company like Black Dot would treat any tower site landowner, by
entering into a lease that looks a lot like, in fact, nearly identical to
what the tower companies use.
Thus, for 99.99% of FLR's business, FLR will not need to, or want to, take an
ownership stake, just like no typical interconnector company wants to do. FLR
will let the experts for those sites do the work, and FLR will lease.
For that remaining.01%, FLR envisions a situation where, for example, a
municipality may own a parcel of land, and, for its own purposes, may require
that FlR purchase a site, instead of leasing it. Further, there will always
be situations where, in an an area where FLR needs a 'middle mile' site,
there may be no other acceptable site available other than one where the
landowner insists, for his/her own reasons, typically liability reasons,
that FLR purchase the site. Even in those exceptionally rare instances,
however, and although FlR would need to purchase the site, FLR would not
administer it, rather, signing it over to a company like Black Dot, to
handle it, turnkey for FLR. In that manner, and in addition, there exists
the likelihood that Black Dot could achieve more customers for the site,
thus turning it into a revenue-maker for FLR.
36
In conclusion, therefore, the 'middle mile' site development/ownership sector
is extremely well developed in the United States. See,
www.wirelessestimator.com.
For FLR's purposes, FLR believes that investors would want FLR to take
advantage of this well-developed sector, so as to take advantage of its
benefits, and also to keep FLR's focus on the task at hand, which is
'last mile' installs and consumer benefits.
G. Compliance with 17 CFR 230.251(21), as amended:
FLR has no plans and no business plan, or intentions to engage in a merger or
acquisition with an unidentified company, companies, entity or person.
V.
ITEM 4.
DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS
A. Business done and intended to be done:
The project has consisted of the origination, organization, design and
development of a large-scale rural interconnector infrastructure that will
bring internet service to unserved areas of rural America.
Such business has been conducted over a period in excess of seven years.
The business to be done consists of utilizing the proceeds to implement,
fulfill, and make operational, such infrastructure in a defined project area.
Footnotes:
(21) As amended, effective June 19, 2015.
37
B. The principal products produced and services rendered and the principal
market for and method of distribution of such products and services:
The principal 'product' produced consists of a consumer-ready 'kit' that
brings full internet service to the unserved areas of rural America. The
FCC has identified 84,000 unserved census blocks in rural America.(22)
The 'kit' concept was originated by the parent company(23) in order to create
a defined, consumer-ready system that can be scaled from a small, to a
massive project size, depending on funding.
The principal 'service' that would be provided consists of the permanent
operation of the 'kit' over the entire rural American landscape.(24)
C. The status of a product or service, if the issuer has made public
information about a new product or service which would require the investment
of a material amount of the assets of the issuer or is otherwise material:
The issuer has made 'public' the 'product' by making JOBS Act, Rule 506
notifications on the internet. The principal 'service' is identified on the
main project website, at www.urbroadband.com.
Thus, there are no investment proceeds which would require such new
information, and saving, therefore, the proceeds for use in project
implementation.
Footnotes:
(22)See, www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/rural-broadband-experiments
(23) Rural Broadband Company, Inc.
(24) A useful analogy is with the earlier implementation of rural
electrification in the United States.
38
D. The estimated amount spent during each of the last two fiscal years on
company-sponsored research and development activities determined in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles:
FLR, its parent, RBC, and its sister companies have spent all of their time
during the past seven years on research and development activities.
Regulators have asked us to clarify 'costs associated with prior research
and development activities.' The interconnector 'service' does not require
any laboratory research. Nor is it different in any material degree from
any other interconnector service, including cable/fiber or microwave
wireless.
FLR does not develop the products, like the Redline radios, or the Skype app.,
for example. FLR, RBC and its sister companies have, however, invested seven
years of time in developing the system and the project areas. An investment
in the amount of $50,000.00 as a JOBS Act / Rule 506 investment for one of
the sister companies has been made., The funds were used to further develop
projects and sites in each of the four subsidiary company JOBS Act companies,
three in New York and one in Arizona.(25) A a result, the companies have no
less than 20 areas where, upon funding, to start 'middle mile' installations,
immediately.
Instead, research and development has been on developing an understanding of
what are the major impediments to rural broadband expansion in rural America.
As indicated throughout this offering circular, these include the absence of
any companies, like FLR, which have a sole national focus on rural America,
a considerable and unwarranted emphasis on single-technology by the large
telecommunications companies, and a major issue of user adoption rate. By
constantly developing the projects to keep current with the technology and
consumer demands, and by solely focusing on rural America, FLR believes that
its best resources, its dedication and time, have yielded the best possible
current technology solution.
Footnotes:
(25) All are making JOBS Act - Regulation A - Tier 1 application for
qualification. The other three, in addition to FLR are: Mid-Hudson Region
Rural Broadband Company, Inc. (MHR), Southern Tier Region Region Rural
Broadband Company, Inc., and Western Gateway Region Region Rural Broadband
Company, Inc.
39
FLR addresses here, the issues of 'selling expenses, including but not limited
to, legal, engineering, and accounting charges.' Because regulators, and
therefore, investors, may not be familiar with broadband infrastructure,
'engineering' is removed from the equation. In some instance, professional
engineers may be consulted as to parts of projects involving municipalities,
but by and large, all of the component products that FLR uses will already
have been 'engineered.' In other words, many of the vendors, Redline for
example, have their own internal engineers, in fact, some Ph.D. engineers,
who make strict requirements as to installation, connections and other
quality control features. FLR could not interfere with those functions by
hiring a separate engineer, without losing its support and warranty
components with Redline.
As indicated above, however, the key 'selling' expenses have to do with the
major issue of 'user adoption rate,' and investors are cautioned again here
that this is a major hurdle that must be overcome with the advertising
campaigns, community involvement, the opening of 'The Shop' stores, like the
'Apple Store,' significant advertising on a long term basis and the like.
In the table above are listed expenses for attorney's and accounting fees.
These fees would be spent, in the first instance of accounting, to maintain
rigid safeguards for internal controls. In fact, several layers of internal
accounting controls will be implemented upon the advice and service of the
CPA/Auditing firm, BDO USA LLP. Secondly, attorneys will handle ongoing
reporting requirements for all aspects of compliance.
Escrow agent fees would be deducted from the investor funds.
E. The estimated dollar amount spent during each of such years on material
customer-sponsored research activities relating to the development of new
products, services or techniques or the improvement of existing products,
services or techniques:
For largely proprietary reasons, the company has avoided such spending, and
will continue to avoid such, for those same reasons. Further, both the FCC
and the United States Department of Agriculture, among other Federal and
State agencies, have extensive public information available on this issue.
40
FLR provides more detail on disclosure 'that explicitly describes the cost of
research activities and the impact on business operations if anticipated
costs change.' As FLR has indicated, it does not conduct laboratory
research. In this regard, FLR's research consists of finding the best
current-technology solution from what are a known set of technologies, to
include cable/fiber, wireless and white space technology. The costs of
'research' as to the best mix of those technologies in any one given project
area are a part of FLR project development.
For example, in its MHR installation, in the Mid-Hudson region of New York, a
'middle mile' Redline radio was installed on a 40-foot mast that MHR had
built from 3-inch, inner diameter black pipe. MHR selected the project area
based upon information as to 'no broadband' that was provided by local
elected officials, MHR is able to scale the project along a known area of
a state road that has, as two end points, a distance of approximately 5
miles. On either side of the road, there exists internet service, so that
'middle mile' radios may be placed at various locations, and there is good
residential housing density to justify the installation of the 'middle mile'
radios. What was the unknown is the number of such radios that are needed,
and here again, Redline largely determines that, with input from our GIS
mapping vendor company, CN Ventures. See, www.connectednation.org.
FLR simply feels that both investors and regulators may be reminded that the
founding group began its eighth year on March 1, 2016. FLR envisions no
major changes to its cost structure as a result.
F. The number of persons employed by the issuer:
FLR here includes additional information regarding projected number of
employees for future operations, as well as any detail that addresses how
this information will change as business operations grow, and disclosures
that explicitly addresses the employee expense and the impact on business
operations if anticipated expenses change.
41
FLR's business is, by and large, like any other interconnector business, be it
a fiber company, like Lightower, or a wireless company, like American Tower,
or like a strictly interconnector component company, like Time Warner Cable.
The list of system components, to match the hardware and software, is, thus,
simplistic and reasonable:
1. 'middle mile' installation: all such companies have installers, and FLR
has at least one already, who installed the mast on the Mid-Hudson project.
These are typically folks who have a lot of experience in construction and
carpentry;
2. 'last mile' installation: where, for example, the cable guy brings the
cable to the outside of the residence. There is every chance that FLR will
be hiring local independent contractors who hire themselves out to the
cable, wireless and satellite companies to perform installations;
3. 'Inside' installers: like any of those companies, FLR will have the same
type folks. FLR will likely hire local independent contractors who do cable
or wireless or satellite inside installations;
4. 'The Shop:' this should be like the 'Apple Store,' a nice place to go to
open an account, buy apparel, get tech. support and the like. There will be
a retail expert, as well as a technology expert at these stores;
5. back office staff: like other companies, there will be staff to help with
billing, service calls, components replacements and repairs and the like.
As operations grow, FLR anticipates, based on its own internal research, that
a typical team as shown above can comfortably handle a customer account list
of 500 customers. After that, a new 'The Shop' would open, and the
installers would be shifted to the new area, and back office staff would
grow to accommodate the next 500 customers.
FLR believes it important that investors and regulators know, however, that,
throughout its operations, FLR intends to hire professionals in the sectors
of large-scale installations, possibly with firms like Black & Veatch. See,
www.bv.com. In addition, FLR will hire supply chain professionals to manage
component purchases, deliveries and replacements. Further, we will retain
the services of a professional advertising
42
company. FLR simply cannot leave the issue of the user adoption rate to
non-professionals. Instead, the 'My First Car Club' brand will be developed
to apply across all lines. The 'The Shop' retail/service support facilities
will have a defined interior look, down to the last detail. FLR that we may
also attempt to develop podcasts and possibly a reality T.V. show. FLR will
make every attempt to have its mission and service become a part of the
permanent infrastructure exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of
American History - Kenneth E. Behring Center.
G. The material effects of compliance with environmental regulations:
As the interconnector sector, including FLR's projects, do not discharge any
waste of any type, there are no compliance requirements with Federal, State
and local provisions which have been enacted or adopted regulating the
discharge of materials into the environment, that may have an impact upon
the capital expenditures, earnings and competitive position of the issuer
and its subsidiaries;
H. Distinctive or special characteristics of the issuer's operation or
industry which may have a material impact upon the issuer's future
financial performance:
1. There is no dependence on one or a few major customers or suppliers which
may have a material impact on the FLR's future financial performance. As
noted above in the list of vendors, all of the components can be regularly
purchased on the open market at the best competitive pricing;
2. Existence of probable governmental regulation:
The definition of the interconnector sector was preserved in the FCC's recent
Open Internet rules, as cited above. To the extent that broadband internet
access service (BIAS) provider retailers will sell their services on our
system, those providers will be regulated by the FCC. To the extent that
FLR's business remains as solely one of
43
interconnector, meaning to include 'middle mile' fiber or wireless
microwave, as well as 'last mile' fiber, wireless microwave or wireless
white space and satellite, FLR will continue to fall within the existing
regulations for the sector. In other words, only if FLR were to cross over
into becoming a BIAS would FLR come under the additional regulations of
the Open Internet rules. The key to becoming such would be, and the
determinative factor is, whether FlR were to take space on server at a
datacenter, like say a Google data center. See,
www.google.com/about/datacenters/gallery/#/.
At that point, FLR would be offering retail services, like email, search,
content and other features of retail. FLR has no plans to do so;
3. Material terms of contracts:
As indicated above, with respect to projected labor requirements, because
investor funding has not yet been achieved, FLR has not, and will not,
enter into any material labor contracts. Further, at the present time,
FLR has no patents, trademarks, licenses, franchises, concessions or
royalty agreements;
4. Unusual competitive conditions in the industry:
There are no known or anticipated unusual competitive conditions in the
industry, cyclicality of the industry or anticipated raw material or
energy shortages to the extent management may not be able to secure a
continuing source of supply. The two primary challenges for broadband in
rural America are, as stated, building systems that reach into the
unserved areas using multi-technology solutions, ie. 'middle mile' fiber,
wireless or satellite, and 'last mile, ie., fiber, microwave wireless or
white space wireless or satellite, and then the great acceleration of the
user adoption rate, otherwise known as customer acquisition;
I. The issuer's plan of operation for the twelve months following the
commencement of the proposed offering:
Proceeds will be utilized, immediately, to achieve full implementation of the
projects. All planning is in place, and there is, thus, nothing else to do
other than proceed to installation and activation.
44
As shown in the table of the use of proceeds, and also the priority of the use
of the proceeds listing, there is a defined sequence that needs to take
place. A description as to the first 12 months, is as follows;
1. base station 'middle mile' location acquisitions;
2. base station installations;
3. base station Internet connection achieved;
4. 'The Shop' opens;
5. customer acquisition/branding/advertising program begins in the project
area;
6. first initial, approximately 15 residential installs, for beta testing,
per base station, are achieved and customer accounts activated for the 20
base stations;
J. Proceeds from the offering to project cash requirements and whether, in
the next six months, it will be necessary to raise additional funds:
FLR discusses, further, a detail of the equipment necessary for business
operations. There is a 'middle mile' sending/ receiving radio that is
connected, like a cable
connection, to an internet company's line at that location, where the company
will supply to FLR, wholesale, an internet connection that can handle the 80
accounts that each sending/receiving radio can accommodate.
In a white space system configuration, there will be a white space receiving
radio mounted on a mast at the residence of the customer. That radio will
have the signal from the 'middle mile' beamed to it, will receive it, will
read it as belonging to that customer, and, using the same coaxial cable
that every telecommunications provider uses, will send the signal through
the cable, through to an install site on the inside wall of the residence,
just like any other telecommunications service, and will be connected to a
router, just like any other service.
45
Once the router is connected, it will be configured to the customer's
account, just like any other telecommunications service, but with FLR's
service, will be configured to the tablet that FLR will provide to the
customer, and inside WiFi will be achieved, as well as general broadband
and data service.
Once the router is configured, the streaming video kit will be configured for
wireless, and will be connected to the customer's T.V., and activated. Or,
the streaming kit could be connected to the T.V. with a standard cable to a
router port, depending on the location of the T.V. and customer preference.
Once the streaming video is activated, the Skype app. will be configured to
the resident's smartphone and activated.
At that point, the installer and the residents will reach the 'WOW' point,
jumping for joy!
Proceeds will be utilized in strict accordance with those budget
calculations and for install and activation.
Accordingly, as the budget may be measured by the amount of any proceeds at
any one given time, and then the project sector may be scaled accordingly,
there would be no need to raise additional funds for that sector.
For example, if this offering raises just an initial $600,000.00, then that
amount would go towards the installation of one of the big sending radios,
and 80 receiving radios in homes. The only reason that the full 80 may not
be installed at the outset would be the result of needing a higher capacity
hardware install at the peering point. As these costs are generally known,
and may be calculated, in fact, whether such additional capacity will be
needed at any given sector would not be known until the install begins.
All such calculations and variations of this theme have long been worked out,
and are overcome at a price/density ratio point that would allow for the 80
customer accounts to be placed on the big radio.
In terms of scaling, thus, if $6,000,000.00(26) from this offering were
achieved, for example, the number of pieces of hardware would simply be
multiplied to accommodate that funding award, and so forth.
Footnotes:
(26) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
46
K. Any engineering, management or similar reports:
For the purposes of this offering circular, and the requirements of
inclusiveness in order to provide to the potential investor with enough
information by which to make an investment decision, there have been no
engineering, management or similar reports which have which have been
prepared or provided for external use by FLR or by a principal underwriter:
L. Segment Data:
FLR has no segment data. FlR reviewed the general definitions of
'segment data,' and as a reference provides this link:
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/06/segmentdata.asp.
FLR states here that, it is not yet a company of the size that would yield
such segment data at this time.
In addition, FLR does not yet have an operating history that could provide
the underlying information so as to calculate for 'segment data.'
FLR would, however, anticipate achieving such valuable information and
calculations in the future.
VI.
ITEM 5.
DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY
The location and general character of the principal plants, and other
materially important physical properties of the issuer and its subsidiaries:
If any such property is not held in fee or is held subject to any major
encumbrance, so state and briefly describe how held:
47
To the greatest extent possible, the FLR seeks to avoid owning any property
in fee simple. FLR elaborates on this in other sections above. Such
expenses, often promoted by vendors of such components as cell towers,
have resulted, historically, in both unnecessary and unsustainable, and
therefore, unprofitable results.
Once the basic 'middle mile' and 'last mile' outside infrastructure are in
place, FLR will implement a 'kit' system that that, FLR believes, will
result in the successful end user consumer component of its business plan.
Since FLR will not be selling a product, like a car or a bicycle, and
since 'broadband' is invisible radio waves configured to computers,
FLR found that it needed a way to brand its service and the consumer items
that come with it. Driving a lot of the discussion was FLR's research
into the issue of user adoption rates for rural electrification. By
comparison, since FLR would not be selling electric irons, or refrigerators
or washing machines, and since FLR is branding its systems like a
customer's 'first car,' FLR arrived at the kit idea. A new first car owner,
for example, may want to buy a used car and install a new stereo system, a
'kit.' Or, maybe a new set of wheels and tires, another 'kit.' Or, an
engine upgrade, another 'kit.'
FLR wants something that will take the customer to 'The Shop' like a car
parts 'shop' to pick up items for their 'kit.' At the same time, however,
upon activation of the account, 'kit' parts are slated to arrive by
overnight courier, like FedEx, containing the first components, likely an
apparel set, and the tablet. Since the tablet can be used anywhere, FLR
will encourage the new customer to take it anywhere where there is public
WiFi, like a library or Starbucks, and read the instructions and become
comfortable with it.
FLR thought to deliver the streaming video kits to the customer as well,
but, in the beginning, has decided that having the customer 'come by
'The Shop' to pick up your streaming video kit' will be the best way to show
the customer how to use it.
Similarly with the Skype app. FLR anticipates that, likely, 100% of the
customers will come to 'The Shop' to 'pick up' the Skype component of
their 'kit.'
Thus, all of these items, plus the router, and the streaming services that
the customer selects, will be a part of the framing and branding of the
service that, for the customer,
48
begins with 'the kit.' FLR likes this idea and plans to implement it, and
expand upon it with, for example, holiday 'add-ons' like discount pricing
on other tablets, or upgrades to tablets and streaming kits and the like.
FLR will be no different than the other companies that offer the same
programs to customers in urban and suburban areas, and does not want to be
different. All persons in rural America should be at the same level of
technology access and consumer benefits as those in the urban and suburban
areas of America.
Put another way, the era of 'cable is coming to my farm any time now,' has
largely ended. Further, the era of cell towers for rural areas, has also
largely ended. Those two self-limiting sectors never adjusted their
business models to suit the needs of rural America, and have, accordingly,
and for good and sound business reasons limited to their narrow function,
abandoned the rural sector.
As detailed in other sections of this offering circular, however, the
projects will rely for both 'middle mile' and 'last mile' on both fiber,
wireless and satellite 'interconnector' points. For the reasons stated in
those other sections in this offering circular, because, those sector
companies already own their own assets, long term leases make the best
business sense.
FLR provides here further substantive disclosure concerning the potential
impact if the its current strategy is unsuccessful. This should include, but
is not limited to, the effect to business operations if the FLR's projected
plan concerning physical property is unsuccessful.
FLR described in other sections of this offering circular the extensive and
well-defined market sector companies for the interconnector industry. Thus,
a recipe for failure would be were FLR to go outside those well-known
companies that can be of the best help to FLR. By avoiding the utilization
of those unneeded companies and components, FlR, by default, avoids making
what could be a fatal decision to incur unnecessary costs, such as would
drive up the project price with no corresponding benefit to the project,
the consumer or to the investors.
49
Thus, for example, if, instead of placing a 'middle mile' base station at a
location where there is an existing broadband connection, for no apparent
reason, FLR were to place it at a location nearby that has no broadband
connection, FLR would have to absorb the cost of digging the trench, laying
the fiber and establishing the connection, things that could have been
avoided by simply using a location that already has a connection.
Or, for example, in a case where there is a cell tower within a range where a
'middle mile' sending radio could be placed under a standard lease with say,
American Tower. If FLR were to go through the expense of placing a new tower
nearby, for no apparent reason, FLR would, similarly unreasonably spend
investor funds to accomplish the same objective that a simple lease with
the tower company would provide.
Thus, questions of physical property in the interconnector sector are
well-known, well-defined, and there is a robust and competitive business
sector already in place that can accommodate all aspects of this component
of FLR's business. Were FLR to go outside of this well-known industry, which
it will not do, that is where the investor would be concerned.
VII.
ITEM 6.
DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND SIGNIFICANT EMPLOYEES
A. DIRECTORS
Tony Ramos - Board Chair
Age: 61
Term of Service in Office: 3 years, but an original founding member since 2009
Procedure for selection: shareholder vote
David J. Karre, M.L.S., Vice Chair, but an original founding member since 2009
Age: 66
Term of Service in Office: 3 years
Procedure for selection: shareholder vote
50
Eric W. Will, II, an original founding member since 2009
Age: 68
Term of Service in Office: 3 years
Procedure for selection: shareholder vote
Rex R. Helwig, an original founding member since 2009
Age: 56
Term of Service in Office: 3 years
Procedure for selection: shareholder vote
B. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND SIGNIFICANT EMPLOYEES
Tony Ramos, President
Rex R. Helwig, Vice President
David J. Karre, M.L.S., Secretary
Eric W. Will, II, Treasurer
C. FAMILY MEMBERS
There are no officers, directors or significant employees who have family
members in any such corresponding position, or who have any controlling
voting interest over such persons.
51
D. BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
Experience and principal occupations, employment and business experience:
Tony Ramos
Dates of employment Title Company Duties
March 1, 2009-present Founder & President FLR & predecessors Start up
and run
company
Supplemental: Leader. Third generation self-made entrepreneur. Member of the
elite professional political sector in Washington, D.C. of originators of
Congressional legislation. Veteran fundraiser. Member of the elite
professional political sector in Washington, D.C., of originators of
significant political policy/action campaigns. Writer and Issuer of
JOBS Act offerings, filings and shares.
In addition, regulators requested that the following additional information
be provided as to each officer and director:
a) the amount of securities of the Issuer held by the person as of the
thirtieth day before the filing of the registration statement:
Mr. Ramos holds no shares in FLR;
b) the amount of securities covered by the registration statement to
which the person has indicated an intention to subscribe:
Mr. Ramos intends no subscription to the shares;
52
c) a description of any material interest of the person in any material
transaction with the issuer or a significant subsidiary effected within the
previous three years or proposed to be effected:
Mr. Ramos has a significant material interest, as the majority shareholder of
the parent company, Rural Broadband Company, Inc. (RBC) in all facets of
FLR. He does not, however, hold any contracts with FLR, and, in addition,
RBC's shares are exactly like those of the other shareholders: common/voting;
d) the estimated remuneration to be paid during the next 12 months,
directly or indirectly, by the Issuer and all predecessors, parents,
subsidiaries, and affiliates of the Issuer:
The Issuer, FLR, its parent, RBC, and its sister companies, all intend to pay
Mr. Ramos according to a formula that will be created by a professional
compensation specialist, reviewed and adopted by the boards of all of the
companies, and then disbursed according to that formula. All of the
founding members will participate, but, as of yet, no such discussions
have been held.
FLR and the other companies, do, however, wish to inform investors that such
compensation, in exchange for the seven years of dedicated, and largely
uncompensated service, will be made and is deserved by the founders.
Rex R. Helwig
Dates of employment Title Company Duties
March 1, 2009 - present Computer Manager Finger Lakes Computer
Library System Network
Services Manager
Supplemental: Company pioneer. Founding member, 2009. Project leader and
liaison. Duties: Manage a support team of 3 people to provide all aspects
of technical support to 33 member Public Libraries, plan and budget for
department and System, System Administrator for the Public Library
Integrated Library Software and all servers used by the Finger Lakes
Library System.
53
In addition, regulators requested that the following additional information
be provided as to each officer and director:
a) the amount of securities of the Issuer held by the person as of the
thirtieth day before the filing of the registration statement:
Mr. Helwig holds 11,765 shares in FLR;
b) the amount of securities covered by the registration statement to
which the person has indicated an intention to subscribe:
Mr. Helwig intends no subscription to the shares;
c) a description of any material interest of the person in any material
transaction with the issuer or a significant subsidiary effected within
the previous three years or proposed to be effected:
Mr. Helwig has a significant material interest, as a founding shareholder in
all facets of FLR. He does not, however, hold any contracts with FLR, and,
in addition, his shares are exactly like those of the other
shareholders: common/voting;
d) the estimated remuneration to be paid during the next 12 months,
directly or indirectly, by the Issuer and all predecessors, parents,
subsidiaries, and affiliates of the Issuer:
The Issuer, FLR, its parent, RBC, and its sister companies, all intend to
pay Mr. Helwig according to a formula that will be created by a professional
compensation specialist, reviewed and adopted by the boards of all of the
companies, and then disbursed according to that formula. All of the founding
members will participate, but, as of yet, no such discussions have been held.
FLR and the other companies, do, however, wish to inform investors that such
compensation, in exchange for the seven years of dedicated, and largely
uncompensated service, will be made and is deserved by the founders.
54
David J. Karre, M.B.A., M.L.S.
Dates of employment Title Company Duties
March 1, 2009-present CEO (now retired) Four County CEO
Library System
Supplemental:Company pioneer. Founding member, 2009. Leader. Former Chief
Executive Officer of large, rural library system in New York, 42 libraries.
Project organizer and leader for rural city 'sidewalk Internet' company
projects. Highly experienced local, State and Federal lobbyist. Veteran
fundraiser. Master of Business Administration and Master of Library
Science degrees.
In addition, regulators requested that the following additional information
be provided as to each officer and director:
a) the amount of securities of the Issuer held by the person as of the
thirtieth day before the filing of the registration statement:
Mr. Karre holds 11,765 shares in FLR;
b) the amount of securities covered by the registration statement to
which the person has indicated an intention to subscribe:
Mr. Karre intends no subscription to the shares;
c) a description of any material interest of the person in any material
transaction with the issuer or a significant subsidiary effected within
the previous three years or proposed to be effected:
Mr. Karre has a significant material interest, as a founding shareholder in
all facets of FLR. He does not, however, hold any contracts with FLR, and,
in addition, his shares are exactly like those of the other
shareholders: common/voting;
55
d) the estimated remuneration to be paid during the next 12 months,
directly or indirectly, by the Issuer and all predecessors, parents,
subsidiaries, and affiliates of the Issuer:
The Issuer, FLR, its parent, RBC, and its sister companies, all intend to pay
Mr. Karre according to a formula that will be created by a professional
compensation specialist, reviewed and adopted by the boards of all of the
companies, and then disbursed according to that formula. All of the founding
members will participate, but, as of yet, no such discussions have been held.
FLR and the other companies, do, however, wish to inform investors that such
compensation, in exchange for the seven years of dedicated, and largely
uncompensated service, will be made and is deserved by the founders.
Eric W. Will, II
Dates of employment Title Company Duties
March 1, 2009-present President Rainier Funding President
Services, Inc.
Supplemental: Company pioneer, 2009. Founding member. Self-made entrepreneur.
Work history with Xerox. Venture capital organizer. Significant advisor on
matters of business finance and financing, with a specialty in commercial
lease financing. Accredited investor.
In addition, regulators requested that the following additional information be
provided as to each officer and director:
a) the amount of securities of the Issuer held by the person as of the
thirtieth day before the filing of the registration statement:
Mr. will holds 11,765 shares in FLR;
56
b) the amount of securities covered by the registration statement to
which the person has indicated an intention to subscribe:
Mr. Will intends no subscription to the shares;
c) a description of any material interest of the person in any material
transaction with the issuer or a significant subsidiary effected within
the previous three years or proposed to be effected:
Mr. Will has a significant material interest, as a founding shareholder in all
facets of FLR. He does not, however, hold any contracts with FLR, and, in
addition, his shares are exactly like those of the other
shareholders: common/voting;
d) the estimated remuneration to be paid during the next 12 months,
directly or indirectly, by the Issuer and all predecessors, parents,
subsidiaries, and affiliates of the Issuer:
The Issuer, FLR, its parent, RBC, and its sister companies, all intend to pay
Mr. Will according to a formula that will be created by a professional
compensation specialist, reviewed and adopted by the boards of all of the
companies, and then disbursed according to that formula. All of the founding
members will participate, but, as of yet, no such discussions have been held.
FLR and the other companies, do, however, wish to inform investors that such
compensation, in exchange for the seven years of dedicated, and largely
uncompensated service, will be made and is deserved by the founders.
E. Involvement in certain legal proceedings
1. Bankruptcy or State insolvency:
There are no members of our group who have been involved in such proceedings.
57
2. Criminal proceedings:
There are no members of our group who have been involved in any material
proceedings.
3. Other legal proceedings:
Investors are advised here that FLR, its parent company, RBC, and its sister
companies, will not hesitate to enter into legal proceedings in matters
that may affect their ability to secure funding for projects.
As an example, FLR, and its two New York sister companies, MHR and STR, have
filed administrative-level complaints under the Federal Sherman Act and
New York's Donnelly Act, alleging antitrust violations relative to a
$500 million broadband funding
opportunity by the State of New York, called the New NY Broadband Program.
So as to avoid the companies becoming embroiled in contentious litigation
at this young stage of their careers, the Issuer's representative,
Mr. Ramos has filed a Donnelly Act case in Ulster County, New York, in the
Mid-Hudson region of one of FLR's sister companies. The Index Number in the
New York Supreme Court for Ulster County is: 16-1135
Investors should also know that, at the federal level, certain administrative
and legal proceedings will take place in the future. This is simply the
nature of the funding sector for vast federal funds that may be available to
the companies. Among the likely actions that will be taken are those
surrounding antitrust and other rules issues concerning the FCC's Rural
Broadband Experiments program. The program, which was begun in 2014,
allocates significant funds to be spent in the 84,000 unserved census
blocks that the FCC has designated as 'unserved.' The program, which was
brand new, however, contained certain rules that blocked FLR and its sister
companies, from competing for those funds. Upon the re-opening of the
program, if there are rules which block our access to those funds, we will
seek administrative and litigation relief.
4. Policy proceedings:
Investor should also be made aware of RBC's robust policy shop in
Washington, D.C.
58
The path to rural broadband in America must, of necessity with such a large
national issue, run through Washington.
For this reason, FLR has already begun the long process of drafting
legislation that will direct all federal government rural infrastructure
components into one piece of legislation and just one government department
or agency. FLR callsl the project, The Rural Digital Data Act, and it has a
website at www.digeday.com.
In addition, and however, RBC and its subsidiaries make formal comments to
Federal and State agencies on issues of broadband, broadband in libraries and
in other community anchor institutions that serve vulnerable populations.
Thus, its policy shop positions the companies to drive and keep the focus on
rural America, and they are fast becoming known as experts in the field.
VIII.
ITEM 7.
REMUNERATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
A. Annual remuneration:
As indicated above, FLR has not yet arrived at the point where it will retain
the services of a professional compensation expert to guide it on this issue;
B. Proposed remuneration payments:
As we indicate above, FLR has not yet arrived at the point where it will
retain the services of a professional compensation expert to guide it on
this issue.
59
IX.
ITEM 8.
SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF MANAGEMENT
AND CERTAIN SECURITYHOLDERS
A. Voting securities and principal holders thereof:
1. By all officers individually:
David Karre, Eric Will and Rex Helwig each own 11,765 common/voting shares of
FLR. Their shares will be increased in accordance with the dilution formula
shown above, upon qualification, and therefore, issuance of more treasury
shares.
Mr. Ramos owns no shares, individually, in FLR, but rather his ownership
interest is as a majority shareholder in RBC, which is the majority
shareholder of FLR.
2. All officers as a group:
David Karre, Eric Will and Rex Helwig own a combined, 35,295 common/voting
shares in FLR.
3. Each shareholder who owns more than 10% of any class of the issuer's
securities, including those shares subject to outstanding options, or 'any
person, or entity, owning of record or owning beneficially, if known, 10%
or more of the outstanding shares of any class of equity security of the
Issuer,' in Item 6 D., above:
Rural Broadband Company, Inc., owns 55% of FLR.
Lusosystems, Inc. owns 10% of FLR.
60
B. Table of ownership:
1. Pre-offering shares:
Consistent with this Amended Offering Circular,(27) which is incorporated into
the Amended Offering Statement by reference, those shareholders named
therein all own shares of approximately 2% of shares owned before the
offering, and will own their same respective percentages, according to the
dilution formula, after the offering.(28)
Thus, in order to achieve a Regulation A funding offering of $20,000,000.00,
the additional amount of 200,000 shares will be issued, and then an amount
that, with the calculation of the dilution formula, will keep those
shareholders at the same percentage as before this offering.
Thus, there will be no transfer of any 'pre-offering' shares. Upon
qualification, the new shares will be issued, and existing shareholders will
be issued such additional shares as are consistent with the dilution formula
set forth above. All dilution calculations are made by a person who holds a
Ph.D. in mathematics.
2. Control votes:
There are no persons who hold or share any voting power either pre-offering,
or post-offering;
3. 10% voting shares:
There are no persons who hold shares or the power to vote shares of 10% or
more of any shares other than direct owners of those shares.
Footnotes:
(27) An earlier version of this Amended Offering Circular was uploaded onto
EDGAR at the same time as the applicant's reply letter to the SEC.
(28) Similarly, an earlier version of the Amended Offering Statement was
uploaded to the EDGAR system as a part of FLR's compliance with the SEC's
letter dated July 24, 2015.
61
C. Non-voting securities and principal holders thereof:
All shares are common/voting shares;
D. Options, warrants, and rights:
Consistent with the 'one class/ one price rule' there are no options, warrants
or rights;
E. List all parents of FLR, showing the basis of control and as to each parent
the percentage of voting securities owned or other basis of control by its
immediate parent, if any:
1. Parent:
Rural Broadband Company, Inc. is the parent and project organizing company for
its subsidiaries, which are the operating companies. The company was
previously incorporated in Washington, D.C. Upon renewal, however, company
officials learned that the District of Columbia had repealed its
incorporation statute and replaced it only with incorporation language for
not-for-profit companies. RBC, thus, incorporated itself in the State of
Delaware, in 2015.
RBC owns 55% of FLR.
2. Basis of control:
majority ownership of shares;
3. Percentage of shares: 55%
62
X.
ITEM 9.
INTEREST OF MANAGEMENT
AND OTHERS IN CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS
Brief description of any transactions during the previous two years or any
presently proposed transactions, to which FLR or any of its subsidiaries was
or is to be a party, in which any of the following persons had or is to have
a direct or indirect material interest, naming such person and stating his
relationship to FLR, the nature of the interest in the transaction and,
where practicable, the amount of such interest:
A. Any director or officer of the issuer:
All of the officers and directors will have, in the future, material interests
in material transactions between FLR and any other companies or persons, and
will work to make sure that such material interests with outsiders are in
the best interests of FLR:
B. Any nominee for election as a director:
At the present time, there are no nominees for election as a director;
C. Any principal securityholder named in answer to Item 8 A., above:
There are no principal security holders who would hold any material interest
in any material transactions that differ from those mentioned in Item 8 A,
above;
D. If the issuer was incorporated or organized within the past three years,
any promoter of the issuer:
63
The Issuer's representative, Tony Ramos, is also the Issuer of JOBS Act/Rule
506 securities, and notice of same was filed by the uploading of Form
Regulation D onto EDGAR upon the opening of that opportunity, in
September, 2013.
See, EDGAR filing at:
www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1587999/000158799915000003/
0001587999-15-000003.txt;
E. Any relative or spouse of any of the foregoing persons, or any relative
of such spouse, who has the same house as such person or who is a director
or officer of any parent or subsidiary of the issuer:
There are no relatives or spouses of any of the foregoing persons, or any
relative of such spouse, who has the same house as such person or who is a
director or officer of any parent of the issuer;
F. Material transactions involving bank depositary of funds, transfer agent,
registrar, trustee under a trust indenture, or similar services:
Material transactions involving banks include security steps taken by the
company with respect to co-signors on the accounts, as well as such steps
taken to comply with rights of succession upon the death, disability or
illness of one of the signers of the accounts. To this end, the company
originated its 'Office of Financial Management,' with the sole purpose of
appointing a trusted board member, and person of personal wealth,
Marc J. Hagemeier, M.A., as having login, signing, and disbursement authority
for the accounts upon such contingency as to any signers. By resolution, the
board has added Mr. Helwig to so act, in the event Mr. Hagemeier is
unavailable.
Further, the board passed a resolution as to such transactions, to be
implemented by November, 2016, that requires the board to replace
the president and the office of the president as a signer on any accounts.
This measure was also taken for security purposes, in order to avoid the
president being placed in any coercive situations with respect to said
accounts.
Thus, the only 'transfer agents' would be Mr. Hagemeier or Mr. Helwig.
64
With the exception of the Issuer's representative, Mr. Ramos, there is no
'registrar' for any such material transactions.
There is no trustee under a trust indenture, or any other material
transactions.
There are no further 'similar services.'
G. Material transactions or a series of similar transactions, including all
periodic installments in the case of any lease or other agreement providing
for periodic payments or installments that does not exceed $50,000:
There are no material transactions or a series of similar transactions,
including all periodic installments in the case of any lease or other
agreement providing for periodic payments or installments that does not
exceed $50,000.00;
H. Where the interest of the specified person arises solely from the
ownership of securities of the issuer and the specified person receives
no extra or special benefit not shared on a pro-rata basis by all of the
holders of securities of the class:
There are no persons specified whose interest arises solely from the
ownership of securities of the issuer and where such specified person
receives any extra or special benefit not shared on a pro-rata basis by
all holders of securities of the class, the class being common/voting;
I. Material indirect relationships:
1. There are no material indirect relationships from such person's position
as a director of another corporation or organization which is a party to
the transaction;
2. There are no material indirect relationships from the direct or indirect
ownership by such person and all other persons specified in subparagraphs
(1) through (5) above, in the aggregate, of less than a 10 percent equity
interest in another person which is a party to the transaction;
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3. There are no material indirect relationships where the interest of such
person arises solely from the holding of an equity interest (including a
limited partnership interest but excluding a general partnership interest)
or a creditor interest in another person which is a party to the transaction
with the issuer or any of its subsidiaries and the transaction is not
material to such other person;
4. There are no material indirect relationships for any material underwriting
discounts and commissions upon the sale of securities by the issuer where
any of the specified persons was or is to be a principal underwriter or is
a controlling person, or member, of a firm which was or is to be a principal
underwriter;
5. There are no material indirect relationships as to any transaction
involving the purchase or sale of assets by or to any issuer or any
subsidiary, otherwise than in the ordinary course of business, and thus,
no cost of the assets to the purchaser and, if acquired by the seller within
two years prior to the transaction, or costs thereof to the seller;
6. There are no material indirect relationships involving any material
transactions which involve remuneration from the issuer or its subsidiaries,
directly or indirectly, to any of the specified persons for services in any
capacity unless the interest of such persons arises solely from the
ownership individually and in the aggregate of less than 10 percent of any
class of equity securities of another corporation furnishing the services
to the issuer or its subsidiaries.
In addition, there are no persons on whose behalf any part of the offering is
to be made in a non-issuer distribution, except to the extent that any
authorized distributions by third-party sellers, who have not yet been
retained, are made.
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XI.
ITEM 10.
SECURITIES BEING OFFERED
A. Capital stock:
l. title of class: common;
2. dividend rights: FLR has not yet discussed dividends, and plans to do so
only in the context of retaining a compensation expert to guide it on this
issue;
3. voting rights: common to all. All shareholders have one vote for each
share owned;
4. liquidation rights:
Shareholder liquidation rights have not been discussed as of yet. Shareholder
'resale' rights are governed by the Reg. A+ rules within the first 12 months
of sale, and, in aggregate, cannot exceed 30% of the total shares sold.
Further, excepting this modification to Rule 144 of the SEC, any such
sellers must comply with the remaining portions of the rule;
5. preemptive rights:
There are no preemptive rights, and no contracts for any preemptive rights,
and thus, the 'one class / one price' format is maintained. In general,
however, all shareholders will be issued additional shares with each
successive new issue, consistent with their amounts held and as calculated
using the dilution formula shown above;
6. conversion rights:
There are no conversion rights because there is only one class of
stock: common/voting;
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7. redemption provisions:
There has been no discussion, yet, as to any redemption of shares, and same
will take place upon the retainer of a compensation and shares expert in
order to provide guidance;
8. sinking fund provisions:
As there are no bonds being sold in this offering, there are no sinking fund
provisions ;
9. liability to further calls or to assessment by the issuer:
Because the qualification application is limited to $6 million(29) to be
sold by third-party sellers, there will be no calls or assessments by
FLR, without further application and qualification;
B. debt securities are being offered:
There are no debt securities being offered as all shares in the offering are
'one class/ one price.'
C. warrants, rights, or convertible securities:
There are no warrants, rights or convertible securities as all shares are
'one class/ one price.'
Footnotes:
(29) The minimum and maximum for this offering is $6 million.
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D. Balance sheet(30):
Assets
Current Assets(31) 2014 2015 2016
Cash 0 2,936.10 0
Accounts receivable 0 0 0
Inventory(32) 0 0 0
Prepaid expenses(33) 0 0 0
Short-term investments 0 0 0
Total current assets 0 0 0
Fixed (long-term) Assets
Long-term investments 0 0 0
Footnotes:
(30) Form 1-A, Part F/S (a)(1) & (b)(1)(2) & (3)(A).
(31) The company was formed specifically to comply with both pre and post-JOBS
Act requirements for Rule 506.
(32) The company does not sell product, and thus would have no inventory.
(33) Prior to the formation of the company, so as to comply with JOBS Act
requirements, the project area that encopasses the company's reach, together
with other project areas, to include other applicant companies, did achieve
significant prepaid expense funding relative to the applications for
stimulus funding. All of this funding activity pre-dated JOBS Act, and
occurred largely in the years 2009-2010. That original funding allowed for
the initial development of the company's project areas and initial designs.
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Property, plant &
equipment (less
accumulated depreciation)(34) 0 0 0
Intangible assets 0 0 0
Total fixed assets 0 0 0
Other Assets
Deferred income 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
Total Other Assets 0 0 0
Total Assets 0 0 0
Liabilities & Owner's Equity
Current Liabilities
Accounts payable(35) 0 0 0
Short-term loans 0 0 0
Income taxes payable 0 0 0
Footnotes:
(34) The company will make every effort to avoid owning property, such as
land sites for cell. towers, or buildings for base stations. Such property
has been shown to be of a loss nature for such projects, and, in addition,
there is already a well-developed industry for the cellular tower sector
that makes the ownership of property for the projects largely unnecessary.
Further, plant and equipment, for the most part, will be owned by either
the original equipment manufacturer and/or the distributor, and leased
to the company.
(35) There are no accounts payable by the company. In the near future,
however, consistent with its corporate structure, the parent company will
expend funds to prepay for certain GIS mapping of one of the project areas
within the company. This project area will serve as the first defined area
for funding for Regulation A investors, upon approval of the Regulation A
application.
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Accrued salaries & wages 0 0 0
Unearned income 0 0 0
Current portion of
long-term debt 0 0 0
Total current liabilities 0 0 0
Long-term Liabilities
Long-term debt 0 0 0
Deferred income tax 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
Total long-term liabilities 0 0 0
Owner's(36) Equity
Owner's investment(37) 0 0 0
Retained earnings 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0
Total owner's equity 0 0 0
Total Liabilities & Owner's
Equity 0 0 0
Footnotes:
(36) To the extent that this term describes the company. This as opposed to
shares owned by individuals.
(37) To say again, the project area did benefit from prepaid expense funding
that was provided in the beginning years for stimulus funding grant
applications.
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E. Statements of income, cash flows, and other stockholder equity:
Aside from the information provided in this offering circular, there are no
other statements of income, cash flows or other stockholder equity;
F. Financial Statements of Businesses Acquired or to be Acquired:
There are no businesses which have been acquired, and, at the present time,
no plans to acquire any businesses, and thus, there are no financial
statements other than any which are contained in this offering circular.
This being said, in terms of future and long-term planning, FLR will likely
acquire certain businesses, for example, small, local broadband companies,
where existing middle mile infrastructure makes such purchases feasible
and also where such purchases, with an existing customer base, may allow
for ease of expansion into contiguous unserved areas;
XII.
ITEM 11.
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION
Finger Lakes Region Rural Broadband Company, Inc., hereby requests
qualification of this offering.
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