64.1002—International settlements policy.
(a)
Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a common carrier that is authorized pursuant to part 63 of this chapter to provide facilities- based switched voice, telex, telegraph, or packet-switched service on a U.S. international route, and that enters into an operating or other agreement to provide any such service in correspondence with a foreign carrier that does not qualify for the presumption that it lacks market power on the foreign end of the route, must comply with the following requirements:
(1)
The terms and conditions of the carrier's operating or other agreement relating 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, are identical to the equivalent terms and conditions in the operating agreement of another carrier providing the same or similar service between the United States and the same foreign point.
(2)
The carrier shall not bargain for or agree to accept more than its proportionate share of return traffic.
(4)
The carrier must also duly comply with the requirements in § 43.51 and § 64.1001 of this chapter.
Code of Federal Regulations
(b)
A carrier that enters into an operating or other agreement with a foreign carrier for the provision of a common carrier service on an international route is not subject to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section if the route appears on the Commission's list of international routes that the Commission has exempted from the international settlements policy. This list is available on the International Bureau's World Wide Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/ib.
(c)
A carrier that seeks to add a U.S. international route to the list of routes that are exempt from the international settlements policy must make its request to the International Bureau, accompanied by a showing that a U.S. carrier has entered into a benchmark-compliant settlement rate agreement with a foreign carrier that possesses market power in the country at the foreign end of the U.S. international route that is the subject of the request. The required showing shall consist of an effective accounting rate modification, filed pursuant to § 64.1001, that includes a settlement rate that is at or below the Commission's benchmark settlement rate adopted for that country in IB Docket No. 96-261, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 19,806, 62 FR 45758, Aug. 29, 1997, available on the International Bureau's World Wide Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/ib.
(d)
A carrier or other party may request Commission intervention on a route that the Commission has exempted from the international settlements policy by filing with the International Bureau a petition, pursuant to this section, demonstrating anticompetitive behavior that is harmful to U.S. customers. Carriers and other parties filing complaints must support their petitions with evidence, including an affidavit and relevant commercial agreements. The International Bureau will review complaints on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate action on delegated authority pursuant to § 0.261 of this chapter. Interested parties will have 10 days from the date of issuance of a public notice of the petition to file comments or oppositions to such petitions and subsequently 7 days for replies. In the event significant, immediate harm to the public interest is likely to occur that cannot be addressed through post facto remedies, the International Bureau may impose temporary requirements on carriers authorized pursuant to § 63.18 of this chapter without prejudice to its findings on such petitions.
Code of Federal Regulations
Code of Federal Regulations
Code of Federal Regulations
291
(e)
Subject to the availability of electronic forms, all filings described in this section must be filed electronically through the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS). A list of forms that are available for electronic filing can be found on the IBFS homepage. For information on electronic filing requirements, see part 1, §§ 1.1000 through 1.10018 of this chapter and the IBFS homepage at http://www.fcc.gov/ibfs. See also §§ 63.20 and 63.53.
[69 FR 23155, Apr. 28, 2004, as amended at 70 FR 38800, July 6, 2005]