Cite as: 525 U. S. 366 (1999)
Syllabus
entrant's ability to provide local service, see § 251(d)(2); that, in Rule 319, the FCC reasonably interpreted the statutory definition of "net-work element," see § 153(29); that the "all elements" rule, which effectively allows competitors to provide local phone service relying solely on the elements in an incumbent's network, is consistent with the 1996 Act; that Rule 315(b), which forbids incumbents to separate already-combined network elements before leasing them to competitors, must be vacated because it requires access to those elements on a bundled rather than an unbundled, i. e., physically separated, basis; and that the FCC's "pick and choose" rule, which enables a carrier to demand access to any individual interconnection, service, or network element arrangement on the same terms and conditions the LEC has given anyone else in an approved § 252 agreement without having to accept the agree-ment's other provisions, must be vacated because it would deter the "voluntarily negotiated agreements" that the 1996 Act favors.
Held:
1. The FCC has general jurisdiction to implement the 1996 Act's local-competition provisions. Since Congress expressly directed that the 1996 Act be inserted into the Communications Act of 1934, and since the 1934 Act already provides that the FCC "may prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary in the public interest to carry out the provisions of this Act," 47 U. S. C. § 201(b), the FCC's rulemaking authority extends to implementation of §§ 251 and 252. Section 152(b) of the Communications Act, which provides that "nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply or to give the Commission jurisdiction with respect to . . . intrastate communications service . . . ," does not change this conclusion because the 1996 Act clearly applies to intrastate matters. The Eighth Circuit erred in reaching the challenge of the incumbent LECs and state commissions to the FCC's claim that § 208 gives it authority to review agreements approved by state commissions under the local-competition provisions, because that claim is not ripe. See Toilet Goods Assn., Inc. v. Gardner, 387 U. S. 158. Pp. 377-386.
2. The FCC's rules governing unbundled access are, with the exception of Rule 319, consistent with the 1996 Act. Pp. 386-395.
(a) Given the breadth of § 153(29)'s "network element" definition— i. e., "features, functions, and capabilities . . . provided by means of" a facility or equipment used in the provision of a telecommunications service—it is impossible to credit the incumbents' argument that a "network element" must be part of the physical facilities and equipment used to provide local phone service. It was therefore proper for Rule 319 to include operator services and directory assistance, operational support
367
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