§ 63.11 - Notification by and prior approval for U.S. international carriers that are or propose to become affiliated with a foreign carrier.

§ 63.11 Notification by and prior approval for U.S. international carriers that are or propose to become affiliated with a foreign carrier.

If a carrier is authorized by the Commission (“authorized carrier”) to provide service between the United States and a particular foreign destination market and it becomes, or seeks to become, affiliated with a foreign carrier that is authorized to operate in that market, then its authorization to provide that international service is conditioned upon notifying the Commission of that affiliation.

(a) Affiliations requiring prior notification. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the authorized carrier must notify the Commission, pursuant to this section, forty-five days before consummation of either of the following types of transactions:

(1) Acquisition by the authorized carrier, or by any entity that controls the authorized carrier, or by any entity that directly or indirectly owns more than twenty-five percent of the capital stock of the authorized carrier, of a controlling interest in a foreign carrier that is authorized to operate in a market that the carrier is authorized to serve; or

(2) Acquisition of a direct or indirect interest greater than twenty-five percent, or of a controlling interest, in the capital stock of the authorized carrier by a foreign carrier that is authorized to operate in a market that the authorized carrier is authorized to serve, or by an entity that controls such a foreign carrier.

(b) Exceptions.

(1) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this section, the notification required by this section need not be filed before consummation, and may instead be filed pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section, if either of the following is true with respect to the named foreign carrier regardless of whether that foreign carrier is authorized to operate in a World Trade Organization (WTO) or non-WTO Member:

(i) The Commission has previously determined in an adjudication that the foreign carrier lacks market power in that destination market (for example, in an international section 214 application or a declaratory ruling proceeding); or

(ii) The foreign carrier owns no facilities in that destination market. For this purpose, a carrier is said to own facilities if it holds an ownership, indefeasible-right-of-user, or leasehold interest in bare capacity in international or domestic telecommunications facilities (excluding switches).

(2) In the event paragraph (b)(1) of this section cannot be satisfied, notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this section, the notification required by this section need not be filed before consummation, and may instead be filed pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section, if the authorized carrier certifies that the named foreign carrier is authorized to operate in a WTO Member and provides certification to satisfy either of the following:

(i) The authorized carrier demonstrates that it is entitled to retain non-dominant classification on its newly affiliated route pursuant to § 63.10; or

(ii) The authorized carrier agrees to comply with the dominant carrier safeguards contained in § 63.10 effective upon the acquisition of the affiliation. See § 63.10.

(c) Notification after consummation. Any authorized carrier that becomes affiliated with a foreign carrier and has not previously notified the Commission pursuant to this section shall notify the Commission within thirty days after consummation of the acquisition.

Example 1 to paragraph (c).

Acquisition by an authorized carrier (or by any entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under direct or indirect common control with the authorized carrier) of a direct or indirect interest in a foreign carrier that is greater than twenty-five percent but not controlling is subject to paragraph (c) but not to paragraph (a).

Example 2 to paragraph (c).

Notification of an acquisition by an authorized carrier of a hundred percent interest in a foreign carrier may be made after consummation, pursuant to paragraph (c), if the foreign carrier operates only as a resale carrier.

Example 3 to paragraph (c).

Notification of an acquisition by a foreign carrier from a WTO Member of a greater than twenty-five percent interest in the capital stock of an authorized carrier may be made after consummation, pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section, if the authorized carrier demonstrates in the post-notification that it qualifies for non-dominant classification on the affiliated route or agrees to comply with dominant carrier safeguards on the affiliated route effective upon the acquisition of the affiliation.

(d) Cross-reference : In the event a transaction requiring a foreign carrier notification pursuant to this section also requires a transfer of control of assignment application pursuant to § 63.24, the foreign carrier notification shall reference in the notification the transfer of control of assignment application and the date of its filing.

(e) Contents of notification. The notification shall certify the following information:

(1) The name of the newly affiliated foreign carrier and the country or countries in which it is authorized to provide telecommunications services to the public;

(2) Which, if any, of those countries is a Member of the World Trade Organization;

(3) What services the authorized carrier is authorized to provide to each named country, and the FCC file numbers under which each such authorization was granted;

(4) Which, if any, of those countries the authorized carrier serves solely through the resale of the international switched services of unaffiliated U.S. facilities-based carriers;

(5) The name, address, citizenship, and principal business of any person or entity that directly or indirectly owns at least ten (10) percent of the equity of the authorized carrier, and the percentage of equity owned by each of those entities (to the nearest one percent);

(6) A certification that the authorized carrier has not agreed to and will not in the future agree to accept special concessions directly or indirectly from any foreign carrier with respect to any U.S. international route where the foreign carrier possesses market power on the foreign end of the route; and

(7) Interlocking directorates. The name of any interlocking directorates, as defined in § 63.09(g), with each foreign carrier named in the notification. See § 63.09(g).

(8) With respect to each foreign carrier named in the notification, a statement as to whether the notification is subject to paragraph (a) or (c) of this section. In the case of a notification subject to paragraph (a) of this section, the authorized carrier shall include the projected date of closing. In the case of a notification subject to paragraph (c) of this section, the authorized carrier shall include the actual date of closing.

(9) If an authorized carrier relies on an exception in paragraph (b) of this section, then a certification as to which exception the foreign carrier satisfies and a citation to any adjudication upon which the carrier is relying. Authorized carriers relying upon the exceptions in paragraph (b)(2) of this section must make the required certified demonstration in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section or the certified commitment to comply with dominant carrier safeguards in paragraph (b)(2)(ii) of this section in the notification required by paragraph (c) of this section.

(f) In order to retain non-dominant status on each newly affiliated route, the authorized carrier should demonstrate that it qualifies for non-dominant classification pursuant to § 63.10. See § 63.10.

(g) Procedure. After the Commission issues a public notice of the submissions made under this section, interested parties may file comments within fourteen days of the public notice.

(1) If the Commission deems it necessary at any time before or after the deadline for submission of public comments, the Commission may impose dominant carrier regulation on the authorized carrier for the affiliated routes based on the provisions of § 63.10. See § 63.10.

(2) In the case of a prior notification filed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, the U.S. authorized carrier must demonstrate that it continues to serve the public interest for it to operate on the route for which it proposes to acquire an affiliation with the foreign carrier authorized to operate in the non-WTO Member country. Such a showing shall include a demonstration as to whether the foreign carrier lacks market power in the non-WTO Member country with reference to the criteria in § 63.10(a) of this chapter. If the U.S. authorized carrier is unable to make the required showing in § 63.10(a) of this chapter, the U.S. authorized carrier shall agree to comply with the dominant carrier safeguards contained in § 63.10(c) of this chapter, effective upon the acquisition of the affiliation. If the U.S. authorized carrier is notified by the Commission that the affiliation may otherwise harm the public interest pursuant to the Commission's policies and rules, then the Commission may impose conditions necessary to address any public interest harms or may proceed to an immediate authorization revocation hearing.

Note to paragraph (g)(2):

Under § 63.10(a) of this chapter, the Commission presumes, subject to rebuttal, that a foreign carrier lacks market power in a particular foreign country if the applicant demonstrates that the foreign carrier lacks 50 percent market share in international transport facilities or services, including cable landing station access and backhaul facilities, intercity facilities or services, and local access facilities or services on the foreign end of a particular route.

(h) All authorized carriers are responsible for the continuing accuracy of information provided pursuant to this section for a period of forty-five (45) days after filing. During this period if the information furnished is no longer accurate, the authorized carrier shall as promptly as possible, and in any event within ten (10) days, unless good cause is shown, file with the Commission a corrected notification referencing the FCC file numbers under which the original notification was provided, except that the carrier shall immediately inform the Commission, if at any time, not limited to the forty-five (45) days, the representations in the “special concessions” certification provided under paragraph (e)(6) of this section or § 63.18(n) are no longer true. See § 63.18(n).

(i) A carrier that files a prior notification pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section may request confidential treatment of its filing, pursuant to § 0.459 of this chapter, for the first twenty (20) days after filing.

(j) Subject to the availability of electronic forms, notifications described in this section must be filed electronically through the International Bureau Communications Filing System (IBFSICFS). A list of forms that are available for electronic filing can be found on the IBFS ICFS homepage. For information on electronic filing requirements, see part 1, §§ 1.100010000 through 1.10018 of this chapter and the IBFS ICFS homepage at httphttps://www.fcc.gov/ibfsicfs. See also §§ 63.20 and 63.53.

[65 FR 60116, Oct. 10, 2000, as amended at 68 FR 50973, Aug. 25, 2003; 69 FR 29901, May 26, 2004; 70 FR 38798, July 6, 2005;79 FR 31877, June 3, 2014; 88 FR 21443, Apr. 10, 2023]