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UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K ⌧ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 or TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 or 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to Commission File No. 0-15279 GENERAL COMMUNICATION, INC. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter) State of Alaska 92-0072737 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S Employer incorporation or organization) Identification No.) 2550 Denali Street Suite 1000 Anchorage, Alaska 99503 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (907) 868-5600 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act: None Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: Class A common stock Class B common stock (Title of class) (Title of class) Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes No ⌧ Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Act. Yes No ⌧ Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ⌧ No Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (section 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. 1 Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer ⌧ Non-accelerated filer (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) Smaller reporting company Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes No ⌧ The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the average high and low prices of such stock as of the close of trading as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed fiscal quarter of June 30, 2008 was $199,624,000. Shares of voting stock held by each officer and director and by each person who owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting stock (as publicly reported by such persons pursuant to Section 13 and Section 16 of the Exchange Act) have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes. The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock as of February 27, 2009, was: Class A common stock – 49,846,000 shares; and, Class B common stock – 3,203,000 shares. 2 GENERAL COMMUNICATION, INC. 2008 ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K TABLE OF CONTENTS Glossary 4 Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 8 Part I 8 Item 1. Business 8 Item 1A. Risk Factors 38 Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments 46 Item 2. Properties 46 Item 3. Legal Proceedings 47 Item 4. Submissions of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders 48 Part II 48 Item 5. Market for the Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities 48 Item 6. Selected Financial Data 50 Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations 51 Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk 82 Item 8. Consolidated Financial Statements and Supplementary Data 82 Item 9. Changes In and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure 82 Item 9A. Controls and Procedures 82 Item 9B. Other Information 85 Part III 85 Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance 85 Item 11. Executive Compensation 86 Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters 86 Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence 86 Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services 87 Part IV 88 Item 15. Exhibits, Consolidated Financial Statement Schedules 88 SIGNATURES 149 This Annual Report on Form 10-K is for the year ending December 31, 2008. This Annual Report modifies and supersedes documents filed prior to this Annual Report. The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) allows us to “incorporate by reference” information that we file with them, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you directly to those documents. Information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this Annual Report. In addition, information that we file with the SEC in the future will automatically update and supersede information contained in this Annual Report. 3 Glossary We and our industry use many terms and acronyms that may not be familiar to you. To assist you in reading this document, we have provided below definitions of some of these terms. Alaska DigiTel — Alaska DigiTel, LLC — An Alaska based wireless communications company of which we acquired an 81.9% equity interest on January 2, 2007 and the remaining 18.1% equity interest on August 18, 2008. Prior to August 18, 2008, our control over the operations of Alaska DigiTel was limited as required by the FCC upon their approval of our initial acquisition completed in January 2007. Alaska Wireless — Alaska Wireless Communications, LLC — An Alaska based wireless communications company based in Dutch Harbor, Alaska that we acquired on July 1, 2008. Alaska United East — An undersea fiber optic cable system connecting Whittier, Valdez and Juneau, Alaska to Seattle, Washington, which was placed into service in February 1999. Alaska United Southeast — An undersea fiber optic cable system connecting Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Angoon and Sitka, Alaska to Alaska United West. Alaska United North — A terrestrial fiber optic cable system connecting Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska along the Parks Highway corridor. Alaska United West — An undersea fiber optic cable system connecting Seward, Alaska to Warrenton, Oregon which was placed into service in June 2004. Basic Service — The basic service tier includes, at a minimum, signals of local television broadcast stations, any public, educational, and governmental programming required by the franchise to be carried on the basic tier, and any additional video programming service added to the basic tier by the cable operator. BOC – Bell system operating companies. CDMA —Code Division Multiple Access — A digital wireless phone technology offered under our Alaska DigiTel brand name. CLEC — Competitive Local Exchange Carrier — A company that provides its customers with an alternative to the ILEC for local transport of communications services, as allowed under the 1996 Telecom Act. Collocation — The ability of a competitive access provider or CLEC to connect its network to the LEC’s central offices. Physical collocation occurs when a connecting carrier places its network connection equipment inside the LEC’s central offices. Virtual collocation is an alternative to physical collocation pursuant to which the LEC permits a competitive access provider or CLEC to connect its network to the LEC’s central offices on comparable terms, even though the competitive access provider’s or CLEC’s network connection equipment is not physically located inside the central offices. DAMA — Demand Assigned Multiple Access — Digital satellite earth station technology that allows calls to be made between remote villages using only one satellite hop thereby reducing satellite delay and capacity requirements while improving quality. Data Network – A communications network with restricted (controlled) access usually made up of dedicated circuits to connect customer's equipment at both ends of the line. Does not provide any switching capability (unless supported by customer premise equipment). DBS — Direct Broadcast Satellite — Subscription television service obtained from satellite transmissions using frequency bands that are internationally allocated to the broadcast satellite services. The major providers of DBS are currently The DirecTV Group, Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corporation (marketed as the DISH Network). DLC — Digital Loop Carrier — A digital transmission system designed for subscriber loop plant. DLC multiplexes a plurality of circuits onto very few wires or onto a single fiber pair. 4 DLPS — Digital Local Phone Service — A term we use referring to our deployment of voice telephone service utilizing our hybrid-fiber coax cable facilities. DSL — Digital Subscriber Line — Technology that allows Internet access and other high-speed data services at data transmission speeds greater than those of modems over conventional telephone lines. DVR — Digital Video Recorder — A service that allows digital cable subscribers to select, record and store programs and play them at whatever time is convenient. DVR service also provides the ability to pause and rewind “live” television. Equal Access — Connection provided by a LEC permitting a customer to be automatically connected to the Interexchange carrier of the customer’s choice when the customer dials “1.” Also refers to a generic concept under which the BOC must provide access services to AT&T’s competitors that are equivalent to those provided to AT&T. ETC — Eligible Telecommunications Carrier — A telephone service provider that has agreed to hold out service to all customers (excluding those who fail to pay for service) in the area for which the carrier is designated as an ETC.