§  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.

   (3) The division of tolls shall be evenly-divided between the U.S.
   carrier and foreign carrier.

   (4) The carrier must also duly comply with the requirements in § 43.51
   and § 64.1001 of this chapter.

   Note to Paragraph(a): 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 correspondent agreements are subject to
   the requirements of this paragraph. This list is available on the
   International Bureau's World Wide Web site at http://www.fcc.gov/ib.

   (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.

   Note 1 to § 64.1002: For purposes of this section, foreign carrier is
   defined in § 63.09 of this chapter.

   Note 2 to § 64.1002: For purposes of this section, a foreign carrier
   shall be considered to possess market power if it appears on the
   Commission's list of foreign carriers that do not qualify for the
   presumption that they lack market power in particular foreign points.
   This list is available on the International Bureau's World Wide Web
   site at http://www.fcc.gov/ib.

   (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]

Subpart K--Changes in Preferred Telecommunications Service Providers