(a) Request for arbitration.   (1) Any party to negotiations concerning a request for interconnection, services or network elements pursuant to the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (FTA) §251 may request arbitration by the commission by filing with the commission's filing clerk a petition for arbitration. The petitioner shall send a copy of the petition and any documentation to the negotiating party with whom agreement cannot be reached not later than the day on which the commission receives the petition.   (2) The petition must be received by the commission during the period from the 135th to the 160th day (inclusive) after the date the negotiating party received the request for negotiation. The commission shall perform a sufficiency review of the petition. To the extent that a petition is determined to be insufficient, the commission shall file a notice of insufficiency within five working days of receipt of the petition. In the absence of a notice of insufficiency, the petition shall be presumed sufficient.   (3) Where a petition for arbitration is found insufficient, the presiding officer may consider dismissal without prejudice pursuant to §21.67 of this title (relating to Dismissal of a Proceeding) and order the petitioner to refile.   (4) A petition that is procedurally sufficient must be on file with the commission by the 160th day after the date on which petitioner requested negotiation.   (5) In addition to the requirements of form specified in §21.33 of this title (relating to Formal Requisites of Pleadings and Documents to be Filed with the Commission) the petition for arbitration shall include:     (A) the name, address, telephone number, facsimile number, and email address of each party to the negotiations and the party's designated representative;     (B) a description of the parties' efforts to resolve their differences by negotiation, including but not limited to the dates of the request for negotiation and the projected timeline for compliance under FTA deadlines;     (C) a Decision Point List (DPL) that includes a list of any unresolved issues and the position of each of the parties on each of those issues;     (D) proposed contract language for each unresolved issue;     (E) all agreed contract language;     (F) if the request concerns a request for interconnection under §26.272 of this title (relating to Interconnection), the material required by §26.272(g) of this title;     (G) the most current version of the interconnection agreement being negotiated by the parties, if any, containing both the agreed language and the disputed language of both parties; and     (H) a certificate of service. (b) Response. Any non-petitioning party to the negotiation shall respond to the request for arbitration by filing the response with the commission's filing clerk and serving a copy on each party to the negotiation. Pursuant to FTA §252(b)(3) the response must be filed within 25 days after the commission received the request for arbitration. The response shall indicate any disagreement with the matters contained in the petition for arbitration, including a detailed response to the DPL and alternative proposed contract language, and may provide such additional information as the party wishes to present. (c) Selection and replacement of presiding officer.   (1) Upon receipt of a complete petition for arbitration, a presiding officer shall be selected to act for the commission, unless two or more of the Commissioners choose to hear the arbitration en banc. The parties shall be notified of the commission-designated presiding officer, or of the Commissioners' decision to act as presiding officer themselves. The presiding officer along with designated commission staff will act as an arbitration team. The presiding officer may be advised on legal and technical issues by members of the arbitration team. The commission staff members selected to be part of the team shall be identified to the parties.   (2) If at any time a presiding officer is unable to continue presiding over a case, a substitute presiding officer shall be appointed who shall perform any remaining functions without the necessity of repeating any previous proceedings. The substitute presiding officer shall read the record of the proceedings that occurred prior to their appointment before issuing an arbitration award or other decision. (d) Participation. Only parties to the negotiation may participate as parties in the arbitration hearing. The presiding officer may allow interested persons to file a statement of position to be considered in the proceeding. (e) Prehearing conference; challenges. As soon as practical after selection, the presiding officer shall schedule a prehearing conference with the parties to the arbitration. At the prehearing conference, parties should be prepared to raise any challenges to the appointment of the presiding officer or to the inclusion of any issue identified for arbitration in the petition and responses. If such challenges are not raised at the first prehearing conference, they shall be deemed waived by the parties. The presiding officer shall serve parties with the orders ruling on challenges within ten working days of the first prehearing conference. The presiding officer has the authority to schedule additional prehearing conferences to consider discovery, procedural schedules, clarification of issues, amending pleadings, stipulations, evidentiary matters, requests for interim relief, and any other matters as may assist the disposition of the proceedings in a fair and efficient manner. (f) Notice. The presiding officer shall make arrangements for the arbitration hearing, which may not be scheduled earlier than 35 days after the commission receives a complete request for arbitration. The presiding officer shall notify the parties, not less than ten days before the hearing, of the date, time, and location of the hearing. (g) Record of hearing. The arbitration hearing shall be open to the public. If any party requests it, a stenographic record shall be made of the hearing by an official court reporter appointed by the commission. It is the responsibility of the party ordering the stenographic record to request that the commission have an official reporter present. A party may purchase a copy of the transcript from the official reporter at rates set by the commission. The court reporter shall provide the transcript and exhibits in a hearing to the presiding officer at the time the transcript is provided to the requesting party. If no court reporter is requested by a party, the presiding officer shall record the proceedings and maintain the official record and exhibits. Each party to the arbitration hearing shall be responsible for its own costs of participation in the arbitration process. (h) Hearing procedures.   (1) The parties to the arbitration are entitled to be heard, to present evidence, and to cross-examine witnesses appearing at the hearing.   (2) Redirect may be allowed at the discretion of the presiding officer, provided that parties have reserved time for redirect.   (3) The presiding officer may temporarily close the arbitration hearing to the public to hear evidence containing information filed as confidential under §21.77 of this title (relating to Confidential Material). The presiding officer shall close the hearing only if there is no other practical means of protecting the confidentiality of the information.   (4) In addition to providing sufficient copies for all parties, the presiding officer, and, if appropriate, the court reporter, parties shall provide three copies of all exhibits for purposes of appeal at the hearing. (i) Applicable rules. The rules of privilege and exemption recognized by Texas law shall apply to arbitration proceedings under this subchapter. The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Texas Rules of Civil Evidence, Texas Administrative Procedure Act §2001.081, and Chapter 22 of this title (relating to Practice and Procedure) may be used as guidance in proceedings under this chapter. (j) Authority of presiding officer.   (1) Generally. The presiding officer has broad discretion in conducting the arbitration hearing, including the authority given to a presiding officer pursuant to §22.202 of this title (relating to Presiding Officer). In addition, the presiding officer has broad discretion to ask clarifying questions and to direct a party or a witness to provide information, at any time during the proceeding, as set out in subsection (q) of this section.   (2) Subpoenas.     (A) Issuance of Subpoenas. Pursuant to APA, §2001.089, the presiding officer may issue a subpoena for the attendance of a witness or for the production of books, records, papers, or other objects. Motions for subpoenas to compel the production of books, records, papers, or other objects shall describe with reasonable particularity the objects desired and the material and relevant facts sought to be proved by them.     (B) Service and return. A subpoena may be addressed to the sheriff or any constable, who may serve the subpoena in any manner authorized by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure; and service thereof may be accepted by any witness by a written memorandum, signed by such witness, attached to the subpoena, or by any other method authorized by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.     (C) Fees. Subpoenas shall be issued by the presiding officer only after sums have been deposited to ensure payment of expense fees incident to the subpoenas. Payment of any such fees or expenses shall be made in the manner prescribed in APA, §2001.089 and §2001.103.     (D) Motions to quash. Motions to quash subpoenas shall be filed within five working days after the issuance of the subpoena, unless the party ordered to respond to the subpoena shows that it was justifiably unable to file objections at that time. (k) Discovery. Pursuant to subsection (j) of this section, the presiding officer has broad discretion regarding discovery. Except as modified in paragraphs (1)-(3) of this subsection, Chapter 22, Subchapter H of this title (relating to Discovery Procedures) shall serve as guidance for all discovery conducted under this chapter.   (1) Scope. The presiding officer shall permit only such discovery as the presiding officer determines is essential, considering public policy, the needs of the parties and the commission, the commission's deadlines under FTA §252(b)(4)(c), and considering the desirability of making discovery effective, expeditious and cost effective. The presiding officer shall be the judge of the relevance and materiality of the discovery sought.   (2) Limits. Parties may obtain discovery relevant to the arbitration by submitting requests for information (RFIs), requests for inspection and production of documents (RFPs), requests for admissions (RFAs), and depositions by oral or written examination. RFIs, RFPs and RFAs shall contain no more than 40 requests (subparts are counted as separate requests). The presiding officer, upon a motion filed by a party, may permit a party to propound more than 40 requests provided that the moving party has made a clear demonstration of the relevance of and the need for the additional requests. Factors to be considered by the presiding officer in determining whether to allow additional requests shall include, but are not limited to: the number of unresolved issues, the complexity of the unresolved issues, and whether the proceeding addresses costs and/or cost studies.   (3) Timing. Discovery may commence upon the filing of the petition for arbitration. Parties shall file a proposed discovery schedule that accommodates the commission's deadlines under FTA §252(b)(4)(c), taking into consideration relevant commission regulatory timeframes. The presiding officer may impose a discovery schedule that accommodates the commission's deadlines under FTA §252(b)(4)(c). If any party requests an extension that will affect the ability to complete the proceeding within the commission's deadlines under FTA §252(b)(4)(c), all parties must agree to the extension and file a joint waiver to extend such deadlines. (l) Time for hearing. The arbitration hearing shall be conducted expeditiously and in an informal manner. The presiding officer is empowered to impose reasonable time limits. The presiding officer may continue a hearing from time to time and place to place. Unless additional time is allowed by the commission or additional information is requested by the presiding officer, the hearing may not exceed five working days. (m) Evidence.   (1) Relevance. The parties may only offer such evidence as is relevant and material to a proceeding and shall provide such evidence as the presiding officer may deem necessary to determination of the proceeding. The presiding officer shall be the judge of the relevance and materiality of the evidence offered.   (2) Conformity to rules. The presiding officer shall have the authority to decide whether or not to apply strict rules of evidence (or any other rules) as to the admissibility, relevance, or weight of any material tendered by a party on any matter of fact or expert opinion. The presiding officer shall provide notice of this decision prior to the deadline for filing direct testimony.   (3) Exhibits. The offering of exhibits shall be governed by §22.226 of this title (relating to Exhibits).   (4) Offers of proof. Offers of proof shall be governed by §22.227 of this title (relating to Offers of Proof).   (5) Stipulation of facts. Stipulation of facts shall be governed by §22.228 of this title (relating to Stipulation of Facts).   (6) Prefiled evidence. Cont'd...