§ 20.20   Conditions applicable to provision of CMRS service by incumbent
Local Exchange Carriers.

   (a) Separate affiliate. An incumbent LEC providing in-region broadband
   CMRS shall provide such services through an affiliate that satisfies
   the following requirements:

   (1) The affiliate shall maintain separate books of account from its
   affiliated incumbent LEC. Nothing in this section requires the
   affiliate to maintain separate books of account that comply with part
   32 of this chapter;

   (2) The affiliate shall not jointly own transmission or switching
   facilities with its affiliated incumbent LEC that the affiliated
   incumbent LEC uses for the provision of local exchange service in the
   same in-region market. Nothing in this section prohibits the affiliate
   from sharing personnel or other resources or assets with its affiliated
   incumbent LEC; and

   (3) The affiliate shall acquire any services from its affiliated
   incumbent LEC for which the affiliated incumbent LEC is required to
   file a tariff at tariffed rates, terms, and conditions. Other
   transactions between the affiliate and the incumbent LEC for services
   that are not acquired pursuant to tariff must be reduced to writing and
   must be made on a compensatory, arm's length basis. All transactions
   between the incumbent LEC and the affiliate are subject to part 32 of
   this chapter, including the affiliate transaction rules. Nothing in
   this section shall prohibit the affiliate from acquiring any unbundled
   network elements or exchange services for the provision of a
   telecommunications service from its affiliated incumbent LEC, subject
   to the same terms and conditions as provided in an agreement approved
   under section 252 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.

   (b) Independence. The affiliate required in paragraph (a) of this
   section shall be a separate legal entity from its affiliated incumbent
   LEC. The affiliate may be staffed by personnel of its affiliated
   incumbent LEC, housed in existing offices of its affiliated incumbent
   LEC, and use its affiliated incumbent LEC's marketing and other
   services, subject to paragraphs (a)(3) and (c) of this section.

   (c) Joint marketing. Joint marketing of local exchange and exchange
   access service and CMRS services by an incumbent LEC shall be subject
   to part 32 of this chapter. In addition, such agreements between the
   affiliate and the incumbent LEC must be reduced to writing and made
   available for public inspection upon request at the principle place of
   business of the affiliate and the incumbent LEC. The documentation must
   include a certification statement identical to the certification
   statement currently required to be included with all Automated
   Reporting and Management Information Systems (ARMIS) reports. The
   affiliate must also provide a detailed written description of the terms
   and conditions of the transaction on the Internet within 10 days of the
   transaction through the affiliate's home page.

   (d) Exceptions—(1) Rural telephone companies. Rural telephone companies
   are exempted from the requirements set forth in paragraphs (a), (b) and
   (c) of this section. A competing telecommunications carrier,
   interconnected with the rural telephone company, however, may petition
   the FCC to remove the exemption, or the FCC may do so on its own
   motion, where the rural telephone company has engaged in
   anticompetitive conduct.

   (2) Incumbent LECs with fewer than 2 percent of subscriber lines.
   Incumbent LECs with fewer than 2 percent of the nation's subscriber
   lines installed in the aggregate nationwide may petition the FCC for
   suspension or modification of the requirements set forth in paragraphs
   (a), (b) and (c) of this section. The FCC will grant such a petition
   where the incumbent LEC demonstrates that suspension or modification of
   the separate affiliate requirement is

   (i) Necessary to avoid a significant adverse economic impact on users
   of telecommunications services generally or to avoid a requirement that
   would be unduly economically burdensome, and

   (ii) Consistent with the public interest, convenience, and necessity.

   (e) Definitions. Terms used in this section have the following
   meanings:

   Affiliate. “Affiliate” means a person that (directly or indirectly)
   owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common
   ownership with, another person. For purposes of this section, the term
   “own” means to own an equity interest (or the equivalent thereof) of
   more than 10 percent.

   Broadband Commercial Mobile Radio Service (Broadband CMRS). For the
   purposes of this section, “broadband CMRS” means Cellular
   Radiotelephone Service (part 22, subpart H of this chapter),
   Specialized Mobile Radio (part 90, subpart S of this chapter), and
   broadband Personal Communications Services (part 24, subpart E of this
   chapter).

   Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (Incumbent LEC). “Incumbent LEC” has
   the same meaning as that term is defined in § 51.5 of this chapter.

   In-region. For the purposes of this section, an incumbent LEC's
   broadband CMRS service is considered “in-region” when 10 percent or
   more of the population covered by the CMRS affiliate's authorized
   service area, as determined by the 1990 census figures, is within the
   affiliated incumbent LEC's wireline service area.

   Rural Telephone Company. “Rural Telephone Company” has the same meaning
   as that term is defined in § 51.5 of this chapter.

   (f) Sunset. This section will no longer be effective after January 1,
   2002.

   [ 62 FR 63871 , Dec. 3, 1997, as amended at  66 FR 10968 , Feb. 21, 2001]

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