§  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).

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

   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.

   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.

   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]