Defendants are a tangled web of individuals and entities that are involved in the
provision of Lifeline services. David Dorwart is the Chairman of the Board of Assist. He also
owns SXCS, which is a Member and Manager of Assist. SXCS, in turn, owns interests in
Defendants Pantheon and Paygo, which directly compete with Assist.
32. Suleman Bhimani, Manager of Assist, owns Defendant Flagship Investment
Partners. Bhimani also own U.S. Connect, which directly competes with Assist. U.S. Connect
filed a Compliance Plan on April 26, 2012, but it has yet to be approved. U.S. Connect currently
provides Lifelines services in Arkansas, Maryland, and West Virginia.
33. BBBY is a Member and Manager of Assist. BBBY is owned by Byron Young,
Brian Young, and Brandon Young. Byron Young is the CEO of Assist. Byron Young owns an
interest in and/or operates Pantheon, which directly competes with Assist. Furthermore, Byron
Young, Brian Young, and Brandon Young own an interest in and/or operate the following
companies that compete with Assist: PayGO, New Talk, Inc., New Talk Wireless, LLC,
Telecom Ventures, and Express Cash and Phone, Inc.
34. Byron Young is the owner and President of Defendant New Talk and New Talk
Wireless, LLC. New Talk submitted its Compliance Plan to the FCC on July 2, 2012, but that
Case 3:13-cv-00348-D Document 1 Filed 01/25/13 Page 7 of 18 PageID 7
ORIGINAL COMPLAINT 8
plan has still not been approved. Although New Talk does not currently provide wireless
Lifeline services, it intends to apply for an ETC license in Texas. Byron Young is also President
of Telecom Ventures, LLC, which is a competitive local exchange carrier in New York and
Oklahoma.
35. Brandon Young is the President of Defendant Express Cash and Phone. Express
filed its Compliance Plan with the FCC on July 2, 2012. Although Express does not currently
provide wireless Lifeline services, it has filed an ETC license application in Texas.
(1) The Relevant Market
36. Defendants have colluded and conspired to monopolize and attempt to
monopolize the provision of wireless Lifeline services in Texas, West Virginia, Arkansas,
Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. These are
the states where Defendants are either already providing wireless Lifeline services, or else have
submitted ETC license applications to become wireless Lifeline providers. Defendants’ anticompetitive behavior is designed to prevent Blue Jay from providing wireless Lifeline services in
each of these markets and to eliminate the advantage Blue Jay has gained by obtaining FCC
approval of its Compliance Plan.
(2) Defendants Filed Sham Litigation Designed to Keep Blue Jay out of
the Relevant Market
AI
