47 U.S.C. § 252 — Procedures for negotiation, arbitration, and approval of agreements

(a) Agreements arrived at through negotiation (1) Voluntary negotiations — After a carrier asks an incumbent local phone company (ILEC) for interconnection, services, or network parts under section 251, the ILEC can negotiate and sign a binding deal with that carrier. It doesn't have to follow section 251(b) and (c) standards when it does this. The deal must list a detailed schedule of charges for interconnection and each service or network element. The deal — including any interconnection deal negotiated before February 8, 1996 — must be submitted to the state commission under subsection (e). (2) Mediation — Either side can ask a state commission at any point in the negotiation to join in and mediate any disagreements. (b) Agreements arrived at through compulsory arbitration (1) Arbitration — Between day 135 and day 160 (inclusive) after the ILEC gets a request to negotiate, either side can ask the state commission to arbitrate any issues still unresolved. (2) Duty of petitioner — (A) Whoever asks for arbitration must give the state commission, at the same time, all relevant paperwork about the unresolved issues, each side's position on them, and any issue already discussed and resolved. (B) That petitioner must also give a copy of the petition and paperwork to the other side, no later than the day the commission receives the petition. (3) Opportunity to respond — The other side can respond and add more information within 25 days after the commission gets the petition. (4) Action by State commission — (A) The commission can only consider the issues raised in the petition and in the response, if any. (B) It can require both sides to hand over information it needs to decide. If a side unreasonably refuses or fails to respond in time, the commission can decide using the best information available from any source. (C) The commission must resolve every issue raised by imposing conditions that satisfy subsection (c), and must finish resolving everything no later than 9 months after the ILEC got the original negotiation request. (5) Refusal to negotiate — If a side refuses to keep negotiating, refuses to cooperate with the commission acting as arbitrator, or stops negotiating in good faith once the commission is involved, that counts as failing to negotiate in good faith. (c) Standards for arbitration — When arbitrating open issues under (b) and setting conditions on the parties, a state commission must: (1) make sure its decision meets section 251's requirements, including FCC regulations; (2) set rates for interconnection, services, or network elements under subsection (d)'s pricing rules; and (3) set a schedule for both sides to carry out the terms. (d) Pricing standards (1) Interconnection and network element charges — When a state commission decides the just and reasonable rate for interconnection or for network elements, that rate must (A) be based on the cost of providing the interconnection or element — not on a rate-of-return or similar rate-based method — and be nondiscriminatory, and (B) may include a reasonable profit. (2) Charges for transport and termination of traffic — (A) For an ILEC to satisfy section 251(b)(5), the commission can only treat reciprocal-compensation terms as reasonable if both sides recover the costs of carrying and ending calls that started on the other carrier's network, and if those costs are based on a reasonable estimate of the extra cost of ending the calls. (B) This doesn't stop arrangements — including "bill-and-keep" deals — that let each side offset its costs against the other's, even by skipping mutual payment entirely. It also doesn't let the FCC or any state commission run a detailed rate-setting proceeding to pin down the exact extra cost of transporting or ending calls, or force carriers to keep records of those costs. (3) Wholesale prices for telecommunications services — For section 251(c)(4), the commission sets wholesale rates by starting with the retail rate charged to subscribers, then subtracting the marketing, billing, collection, and other costs the phone company avoids by selling at wholesale instead of retail. (e) Approval by State commission (1) Approval required — Every interconnection agreement, whether negotiated or arbitrated, must be submitted to the state commission, which must approve or reject it and explain any problems in writing. (2) Grounds for rejection — (A) The commission can reject a negotiated agreement (or any part) only if it finds the agreement discriminates against a carrier that isn't part of the deal, or that putting it into effect isn't consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity. (B) It can reject an arbitrated agreement (or any part) only if it finds the agreement doesn't meet section 251's requirements — including FCC regulations — or the pricing standards in subsection (d). (3) Preservation of authority — Even so, and subject to section 253, nothing here stops a state commission from enforcing other state-law requirements when reviewing an agreement, including intrastate service-quality standards. (4) Schedule for decision — If the commission doesn't act within 90 days after a negotiated agreement is submitted, or within 30 days after an arbitrated agreement is submitted, the agreement is automatically approved. No state court can review the commission's approval or rejection. (5) Commission to act if State will not act — If a state commission fails to carry out its duties under this section, the FCC must issue an order preempting that state commission's jurisdiction within 90 days of learning about the failure, and the FCC then takes over and acts in the state commission's place. (6) Review of State commission actions — When a state fails to act, the FCC's proceeding taking over, and any court review of the FCC's action, are the only remedies available. When a state commission does make a decision, anyone harmed by it can sue in federal district court to check whether the agreement meets section 251 and this section. (f) Statements of generally available terms (1) In general — A Bell operating company can file with a state commission a statement listing the terms and conditions it generally offers in that state, to satisfy section 251 and the standards in this section. (2) State commission review — The commission can't approve the statement unless it complies with subsection (d) and section 251. Except as section 253 provides, the commission can still enforce other state-law requirements when reviewing the statement, including intrastate service-quality rules. (3) Schedule for review — Within 60 days after the statement is filed, the commission must either finish reviewing it (unless the carrier agrees to extend the deadline) or let it take effect automatically. (4) Authority to continue review — Even after a statement takes effect automatically, the commission can keep reviewing it and later approve or reject it under paragraph (2). (5) Duty to negotiate not affected — Filing or getting a statement approved doesn't excuse a Bell company from still having to negotiate agreements under section 251. (g) Consolidation of State proceedings — Where it doesn't conflict with this chapter, a state commission can combine proceedings under sections 214(e), 251(f), 253, and this section, to cut down on paperwork for carriers, other parties, and the commission itself. (h) Filing required — Within 10 days after approving an agreement or statement, the state commission must make a copy available for public inspection and copying. It can charge a reasonable, nondiscriminatory fee to cover its costs of approving and filing. (i) Availability to other telecommunications carriers — A local phone company must offer the same interconnection, service, or network element from an agreement it's party to, to any other carrier that asks, on the same terms and conditions. (j) "Incumbent local exchange carrier" defined — This section uses the same definition of "incumbent local exchange carrier" given in section 251(h).