8. Arbitrated Portions of Agreement

Section 252(e) of the Act, and our Rule 4.2.3, provide that we may only reject an agreement (or any portion thereof) adopted by arbitration if we find that the agreement does not meet the requirements of Section 251 of the Act, including the regulations prescribed by the FCC pursuant to Section 251, or the standards set forth in Section 252(d) of the Act.¹⁶

In its statement filed with the conformed agreement, Pac-West states that the arbitrated ICA complies with the criteria specified by the 1996 Act and Resolution ALJ-181 in all respects. SureWest states the FAR improperly concludes that the ICA should require SureWest to bear the entire portion of the cost of interconnection facilities on its side of the POI. SureWest sees it as an equitable outcome to maintain in place the arrangement under the existing ICA whereby Pac-West pays 50% of the cost of facilities from SureWest's COs to their respective POIs in SureWest's service area. However, we find that SureWest's position violates FCC Rule 51.709(b). SureWest must be financially responsible for its facilities on its side of the POIs.