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z?d104:SN00652:@@@D at thomas.loc.gov Page 2 of 16 Imposes additional obligations on incumbent LECs (incumbent LEC requirements), including • the duty to: (1) negotiate in good faith the terms and conditions of agreements; (2) provide interconnection at any technically feasible point of the same quality they provide to themselves, on just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory terms and conditions; (3) provide access to network elements on an unbundled basis; (4) offer resale of their telecommunications services at wholesale rates; (5) provide reasonable public notice of changes to their networks; and (6) provide physical collocation, or virtual collocation if physical collocation is impractical. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to complete, within six months, all actions necessary to establish regulations to implement such requirements. States that nothing precludes the enforcement of State regulations that are consistent with those requirements. Requires the FCC to create or designate one or more impartial entities to administer telecommunications numbering and to make such numbers available on an equitable basis. Directs that the cost of numbering administration and number portability be borne by all carriers on a competitively neutral basis. Exempts a rural telephone company from incumbent LEC requirements until such company has received a bona fide request from interconnection, services, or network elements and the State commission determines that such request is not unduly economically burdensjme, is technically feasible, and is consistent with universal service provisions, except the public interest determination. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) State termination of the exemption and the establishment of an implementation schedule; and (2) limits on the exemption. IDAuthorizes an LEC with fewer than two percent of the subscriber lines installed in the aggregate nationwide to petition for a suspension or modification of specified requirements for the telephone exchange service facilities specified in the petition. Directs the State commission to grant such petition to the extent that it is necessary to avoid significant adverse economic impacts on users of telecommunications services or to avoid imposing an undue economic burden or a technically infeasible requirement, where such suspension or modification is in the public interest. Provides for the continued enforcement of exchange access and interconnection requirements. Authorizes an incumbent LEC to voluntarily negotiate and enter into a binding agreement with a requesting carrier without meeting incumbent LEC requirements. Directs that such agreement: (1) include a detailed schedule of itemized charges for interconnection and each service or network element included in the agreement; and (2) be submitted to the State commission. Permits any party negotiating such an agreement to ask a State commission to participate in the negotiation and to mediate any differences arising in the course of the negotiation. Authorizes the carrier or any other party to the negotiation, from the 135th through the 160th day after the date on which an incumbent LEC receives a request for negotiation, to petition a State commission to arbitrate any open issues. Sets forth provisions regarding the duty of the petitioner, opportunity to respond, action by the State commission, refusal to negotiate, • standards for arbitration, and pricing standards. Requires any interconnection agreement adopted by negotiation or arbitration to be submitted for approval to the State commission. Sets forth provisions regarding grounds for rejection, preservation of authority by the State http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d104:SN00652:@@@D 12/11/96