WASHINGTON -- Time Warner Telecom, Inc. (TWTC: NASDAQ) and BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS) today announced a wide-ranging agreement under which the companies will propose a framework to the Federal Communications Commission that solves many of the more contentious issues pending in two proceedings before the commission.The framework proposes targeted relief from Unbundled Network Element (UNE) obligations for incumbent local exchange carriers while at the same time it proposes that carriers start reporting special access performance measures.The framework reflects compromises made by both companies for the purpose of assisting the FCC to resolve and to bring certainty to a number of related issues.Time Warner Telecom has agreed that requiring incumbent local companies (ILECs), like BellSouth, to offer other companies certain unbundled network elements to provide services that can readily be acquired elsewhere undermines the incentive for all local carriers to invest in new network facilities. Time Warner Telecom and BellSouth will jointly ask the FCC to eliminate that requirement in certain competitive areas. For its part, BellSouth will agree to report on a comprehensive set of performance measures for its premium transport services and to urge the FCC to adopt those measures for other carriers.The joint proposal will say to the FCC that hundreds of CLECs have purchased their own switches to provide competitive business services. This demonstrates that CLECs are not impaired in providing switching to business customers. Similarly, "transport," (dedicated circuits between telephone company central switching offices) is deemed to be competitively available in areas where there are three or more competitive transport providers operating. The framework also advocates that existing local usage requirements should continue to apply to certain types of special access lines and that those lines may not be converted to UNEs unless one of the local usage tests is met.Time Warner Telecom Inc.BellSouth Corp.