Worldcom

Section 251(b)(5) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151-714 (the "1996 Act" or the "Act"), directs all local exchange carriers ("LECs") to "establish reciprocal compensation arrangements for the transport and termination of telecommunications." 47 U.S.C. § 251(b)(5). In the order before us the Federal Communications Commission held that under § 251(g) of the Act it was authorized to "carve out" from § 251(b)(5) calls made to internet service providers ("ISPs") located within the caller's local calling area. It relied entirely on § 251(g). Because that section is worded simply as a transitional device, preserving various LEC duties that antedated the 1996 Act until such time as the Commission should adopt new rules pursuant to the Act, we find the Commission's reliance on § 251(g) precluded. Thus we remand the case. Because there may well be other legal bases for adopting the rules chosen by the Commission for compensation between the originating and the terminating LECs in calls to ISPs, we neither vacate the order nor address petitioners' attacks on various interim provisions devised by the Commission.