47 CFR 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 (collectively hereinafter referred to as “agreement” for purposes of this rule) with respect to the following:
Terms Used In 47 CFR 43.51
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(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; or
(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.
(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, other than a provider of commercial mobile radio services, that is engaged in foreign communications, and enters into an agreement with a foreign carrier, is subject to the Commission’s authority to require the U.S. carrier providing service on any U.S.-international routes to file, on an as-needed basis, a copy of each agreement to which it is a party.
For purposes of this section, affiliated and foreign carrier are defined in § 63.09 of this chapter.
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.