View all text of Part II [§ 251 - § 262]
§ 252. Procedures for negotiation, arbitration, and approval of agreements
(a) Agreements arrived at through negotiation
(1) Voluntary negotiations
(2) Mediation
(b) Agreements arrived at through compulsory arbitration
(1) Arbitration
(2) Duty of petitioner
(A) A party that petitions a State commission under paragraph (1) shall, at the same time as it submits the petition, provide the State commission all relevant documentation concerning—
(i) the unresolved issues;
(ii) the position of each of the parties with respect to those issues; and
(iii) any other issue discussed and resolved by the parties.
(B) A party petitioning a State commission under paragraph (1) shall provide a copy of the petition and any documentation to the other party or parties not later than the day on which the State commission receives the petition.
(3) Opportunity to respond
(4) Action by State commission
(A) The State commission shall limit its consideration of any petition under paragraph (1) (and any response thereto) to the issues set forth in the petition and in the response, if any, filed under paragraph (3).
(B) The State commission may require the petitioning party and the responding party to provide such information as may be necessary for the State commission to reach a decision on the unresolved issues. If any party refuses or fails unreasonably to respond on a timely basis to any reasonable request from the State commission, then the State commission may proceed on the basis of the best information available to it from whatever source derived.
(C) The State commission shall resolve each issue set forth in the petition and the response, if any, by imposing appropriate conditions as required to implement subsection (c) upon the parties to the agreement, and shall conclude the resolution of any unresolved issues not later than 9 months after the date on which the local exchange carrier received the request under this section.
(5) Refusal to negotiate
(c) Standards for arbitrationIn resolving by arbitration under subsection (b) any open issues and imposing conditions upon the parties to the agreement, a State commission shall—
(1) ensure that such resolution and conditions meet the requirements of section 251 of this title, including the regulations prescribed by the Commission pursuant to section 251 of this title;
(2) establish any rates for interconnection, services, or network elements according to subsection (d); and
(3) provide a schedule for implementation of the terms and conditions by the parties to the agreement.
(d) Pricing standards
(1) Interconnection and network element chargesDeterminations by a State commission of the just and reasonable rate for the interconnection of facilities and equipment for purposes of subsection (c)(2) of section 251 of this title, and the just and reasonable rate for network elements for purposes of subsection (c)(3) of such section—
(A) shall be—
(i) based on the cost (determined without reference to a rate-of-return or other rate-based proceeding) of providing the interconnection or network element (whichever is applicable), and
(ii) nondiscriminatory, and
(B) may include a reasonable profit.
(2) Charges for transport and termination of traffic
(A) In generalFor the purposes of compliance by an incumbent local exchange carrier with section 251(b)(5) of this title, a State commission shall not consider the terms and conditions for reciprocal compensation to be just and reasonable unless—
(i) such terms and conditions provide for the mutual and reciprocal recovery by each carrier of costs associated with the transport and termination on each carrier’s network facilities of calls that originate on the network facilities of the other carrier; and
(ii) such terms and conditions determine such costs on the basis of a reasonable approximation of the additional costs of terminating such calls.
(B) Rules of constructionThis paragraph shall not be construed—
(i) to preclude arrangements that afford the mutual recovery of costs through the offsetting of reciprocal obligations, including arrangements that waive mutual recovery (such as bill-and-keep arrangements); or
(ii) to authorize the Commission or any State commission to engage in any rate regulation proceeding to establish with particularity the additional costs of transporting or terminating calls, or to require carriers to maintain records with respect to the additional costs of such calls.
(3) Wholesale prices for telecommunications services
(e) Approval by State commission
(1) Approval required
(2) Grounds for rejectionThe State commission may only reject—
(A) an agreement (or any portion thereof) adopted by negotiation under subsection (a) if it finds that—
(i) the agreement (or portion thereof) discriminates against a telecommunications carrier not a party to the agreement; or
(ii) the implementation of such agreement or portion is not consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity; or
(B) an agreement (or any portion thereof) adopted by arbitration under subsection (b) if it finds that the agreement does not meet the requirements of section 251 of this title, including the regulations prescribed by the Commission pursuant to section 251 of this title, or the standards set forth in subsection (d) of this section.
(3) Preservation of authority
(4) Schedule for decision
(5) Commission to act if State will not act
(6) Review of State commission actions
(f) Statements of generally available terms
(1) In general
(2) State commission review
(3) Schedule for reviewThe State commission to which a statement is submitted shall, not later than 60 days after the date of such submission—
(A) complete the review of such statement under paragraph (2) (including any reconsideration thereof), unless the submitting carrier agrees to an extension of the period for such review; or
(B) permit such statement to take effect.
(4) Authority to continue review
(5) Duty to negotiate not affected
(g) Consolidation of State proceedings
(h) Filing required
(i) Availability to other telecommunications carriers
(j) “Incumbent local exchange carrier” defined
(June 19, 1934, ch. 652, title II, § 252, as added Pub. L. 104–104, title I, § 101(a), Feb. 8, 1996, 110 Stat. 66.)