43.51—Contracts and concessions.

(a) (1) Any communication common carrier described in paragraph (b) of this section must file with the Commission, within thirty (30) days of execution, a copy of each contract, agreement, concession, license, authorization, operating agreement or other arrangement to which it is a party and amendments thereto with respect to the following:

(i) The exchange of services; and,

(ii) The interchange or routing of traffic and matters concerning rates, accounting rates, division of tolls, or the basis of settlement of traffic balances, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section.

(2) If the contract, agreement, concession, license, authorization, operating agreement or other arrangement and amendments thereto is made other than in writing, a certified statement covering all details thereof must be filed by at least one of the parties to the agreement. Each other party to the agreement which is also subject to these provisions may, in lieu of also filing a copy of the agreement, file a certified statement referencing the filed document. The Commission may, at any time and upon reasonable request, require any communication common carrier not subject to the provisions of this section to submit the documents referenced in this section.

(b) The following communication common carriers must comply with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section:

(1) A carrier that is engaged in domestic communications and has not been classified as non-dominant pursuant to § 61.3 of this Chapter,

(2) A carrier that is engaged in foreign communications and that has been classified as dominant for any service on any of the U.S.-international routes included in the contract, except for a carrier classified as dominant on a particular route due only to a foreign carrier affiliation under § 63.10 of this chapter, or

(3) A carrier, other than a provider of commercial mobile radio services, that is engaged in foreign communications and enters into a contract, agreement, concession, license, authorization, operating agreement or other arrangement and amendments thereto with a foreign carrier that does not qualify for the presumption, set forth in Note 3 to this section, that it lacks market power on the foreign end of one or more of the U.S.-international routes included in the contract, unless the route appears on the Commission's list of U.S.-international routes that the Commission has exempted from the international settlements policy set forth in § 64.1002 of this chapter.

(c) With respect to contracts coming within the scope of paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section between subject telephone carriers and connecting carriers, except those contracts related to communications with foreign or overseas points, such documents shall not be filed with the Commission; but each subject telephone carrier shall maintain a copy of such contracts to which it is a party in appropriate files at a central location upon its premises, copies of which shall be readily accessible to Commission staff and members of the public upon reasonable request therefor; and upon request by the Commission, a subject telephone carrier shall promptly forward individual contracts to the Commission.

(d) Any U.S. carrier that interconnects to the U.S. public switched network an international private line that extends between the United States and a country that the Commission has not exempted from the international settlements policy shall file annually with the Chief of the International Bureau a certified statement containing the number and type (e.g., a 64-kbps circuit) of private lines interconnected at the carrier's own switch, including any switch in which the carrier holds a leasehold interest. The certified statement shall specify the number and type of interconnected private lines on a country specific basis. The identity of the customer need not be reported, and the Commission will treat the country of origin information as confidential. Carriers need not file their contracts for such interconnections, unless they are specifically requested to do so. These reports shall be filed on a consolidated basis on February 1 (covering international private lines interconnected during the preceding January 1 to December 31 period) of each year. International private lines to countries which the Commission has exempted from the international settlements policy, set forth in § 64.1002 of this chapter, at any time during a particular reporting period are exempt from this filing requirement.

(e) Other filing requirements for carriers providing service on U.S.-international routes that are subject to the international settlements policy.

(1) For routes subject to the international settlements policy set forth in § 64.1002 of this chapter, if a U.S. carrier files an operating or other agreement with a foreign carrier pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section to begin providing switched voice, telex, telegraph, or packet-switched service between the United States and a foreign point, the carrier must also file with the International Bureau a modification request under § 64.1001 of this chapter. The operating or other agreement cannot become effective until the modification request has been granted under paragraph § 64.1001(e) of this chapter.

(2) For routes subject to the international settlements policy, if a carrier files an amendment, pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, to an existing operating or other agreement with a foreign carrier to provide switched voice, telex, telegraph, or packet-switched service between the United States and a foreign point, and the amendment relates to the exchange of services, interchange or routing of traffic and matters concerning rates, accounting rates, division of tolls, the allocation of return traffic, or the basis of settlement of traffic balances, the carrier must also file with the International Bureau a modification request under § 64.1001 of this chapter. The amendment to the operating or other agreement cannot become effective until the modification request has been granted under § 64.1001(e) of this chapter.

(f) Confidential treatment. (1) A carrier providing service on an international route that is exempt from the international settlements policy under paragraph (e)(3) of this section, but that is otherwise required by paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section to file a contract covering service on that route with the Commission, may request confidential treatment under § 0.457 of this Chapter for the rates, terms and conditions that govern the settlement of U.S. international traffic.

(2) Carriers requesting confidential treatment under this paragraph must include the information specified in § 64.1001(c) of this Chapter. Such filings shall be made with the Commission, with a copy to the Chief, International Bureau. The transmittal letter accompanying the confidential filing shall clearly identify the filing as responsive to § 43.51(f).

Code of Federal Regulations

Note 1 to § 43.51 : For purposes of this section, affiliated and foreign carrier are defined in § 63.09 of this chapter.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note 2 to § 43.51 : To the extent that a foreign government provides telecommunications services directly through a governmental organization, body or agency, it shall be treated as a foreign carrier for the purposes of this section.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note 3 to § 43.51 : Carriers shall rely on the Commission's list of foreign carriers that do not qualify for the presumption that they lack market power in particular foreign points for purposes of determining which of their foreign carrier contracts are subject to the contract filing requirements set forth in this section. The Commission's list of foreign carriers that do not qualify for the presumption that they lack market power in particular foreign points is available from the International Bureau's World Wide Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/ib. The Commission will include on the list of foreign carriers that do not qualify for the presumption that they lack market power in particular foreign points any foreign carrier that has 50 percent or more market share in the international transport or local access markets of a foreign point. A party that seeks to remove such a carrier from the Commission's list bears the burden of submitting information to the Commission sufficient to demonstrate that the foreign carrier lacks 50 percent market share in the international transport and local access markets on the foreign end of the route or that it nevertheless lacks sufficient market power on the foreign end of the route to affect competition adversely in the U.S. market. A party that seeks to add a carrier to the Commission's list bears the burden of submitting information to the Commission sufficient to demonstrate that the foreign carrier has 50 percent or more market share in the international transport or local access markets on the foreign end of the route or that it nevertheless has sufficient market power to affect competition adversely in the U.S. market.

Code of Federal Regulations

Note 4 to § 43.51 : The Commission's list of international routes exempted from the international settlements policy is available on the International Bureau's World Wide Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/ib.

[66 FR 16879, Mar. 28, 2001, as amended at 69 FR 23153, Apr. 28, 2004]

CFR

43.51—Contracts and concessions.

Code of Federal Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations

Code of Federal Regulations