Procedure for charge approval

(1) Where charges are subject to a requirement of approval under section 38, an application for approval must be submitted to the Federal Network Agency before the intended entry into effect. The application must contain the charges, the cost documentation under section 43, and all other documents necessary for approval to be granted. For approvals granted for a limited period, the charge application must be submitted at least ten weeks before expiry of that period.
(2) The Federal Network Agency may require undertakings whose charges are subject to a requirement of approval under section 38 to submit applications for charge approval. Subsection (1), second sentence, applies to the application. Where the request is not complied with within one month of its receipt, the Federal Network Agency initiates proceedings of its own motion.
(3) The Federal Network Agency examines, for each individual charge, compliance with the criterion for charge approval determined under section 39(1). For this purpose, in addition to the documents available under subsection (1) or (2), it may 1. use as a comparison the prices of undertakings offering corresponding services on comparable markets open to competition, taking into account the particular characteristics of the comparison markets; or 2. carry out a cost calculation independent of the undertaking's own cost calculation, using cost models for that purpose. Insofar as the documents available are not sufficient for a decision under subsection (5), that decision may also be based on an examination under the second sentence, point 1 or 2.
(4) Where the Federal Network Agency concludes, in its examination under subsection (3), that charges satisfy the criterion for charge approval determined, it grants approval, in whole or in part, for a limited period. Approval of the charges must be refused, in whole or in part, insofar as the charges are inconsistent with this Act or other legal provisions. The Federal Network Agency may also refuse approval of the charges where the undertaking has not fully submitted the cost documentation referred to in section 43.
(5) The Federal Network Agency generally publishes a draft decision within ten weeks of receipt of an application for charge approval. The procedures of section 14 apply correspondingly. Where the Federal Network Agency has initiated proceedings of its own motion under subsection (2), third sentence, the ten-week period runs from the date the proceedings were initiated.