Sec. 43.51  Contracts and concessions.

    (a) Any communications common carrier that: is engaged in domestic 
communications and has not been classified as nondominant pursuant to 
Sec. 61.3 of this chapter or is engaged in foreign communications, and 
enters into a contract with another carrier, including an operating 
agreement with a communications entity in a foreign point for the 
provision of a common carrier service between the United States and that 
point; 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:
    (1) The exchange of services;
    (2) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, the 
interchange or routing of traffic and matters concerning rates, 
accounting rates, division of tolls, or the basis of settlement of 
traffic balances; and
    (3) The rights granted to the carrier by any foreign government for 
the landing, connection, installation, or operation of cables, land 
lines, radio stations, offices, or for otherwise engaging in 
communication operations.
    (b) If the agreement referred to in this section 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 classified 
as nondominant, and therefore not subject to the provisions of this 
section, to submit the documents referenced in this section.
    (c) With respect to contracts coming within the scope of paragraph 
(a)(2) 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 an international private 
line to the U.S. Public Switched Network, at its switch, including any 
switch in which the carrier obtains capacity either through lease or 
otherwise, shall file annually with the Chief of the International 
Bureau a certified statement containing the number and type (e.g., 64-
kbps circuits) of private lines interconnected in such a manner. The

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certified statement shall specify the number and type of interconnected 
private lines on a country specified 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 we find to satisfy our 
equivalency standard at any time during a particular reporting period 
are exempt from this requirement.
    (e) International settlements policy. (1) If a carrier files an 
operating agreement (whether in the form of a contract, concession, 
license, etc.) referred to in paragraph (a) of this section to begin 
providing switched voice, telex, telegraph, or packet-switched service 
between the United States and a foreign point and the terms and 
conditions of such 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 not 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, the carrier must also file with the 
International Bureau a notification letter or modification request, as 
appropriate, under Sec. 64.1001 of this chapter. No carrier providing 
switched voice, telex, telegraph, or packet-switched service between the 
United States and a foreign point shall bargain for or agree to accept 
more than its proportionate share of return traffic.
    (2) If a carrier files an amendment to the operating agreement 
referred to in paragraph (a) of this section under which it already 
provides switched voice, telex, telegraph, or packet-switched service 
between the United States and a foreign point, and other carriers 
provide the same or similar service to the same 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 notification letter or modification request, as appropriate, 
under Sec. 64.1001 of this chapter.

[ 51 FR 45890 , Dec. 23, 1986, as amended at  56 FR 25371 , June 4, 1991;  57 FR 647 , Jan. 8, 1992;  58 FR 48323 , Sept. 15, 1993;  60 FR 52866 , Oct. 11, 
1995;  61 FR 59200 , Nov. 21, 1996;  62 FR 5541 , Feb. 6, 1997;  62 FR 8633 , 
Feb. 26, 1997]