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 PUBLIC  NOTICE  FEDERAL  COMMUNICATIONS  COMMISSION  News  media  information  202/  418-  0500  445  12th  St.,  SW  Fax-  On-  Demand  202/  418-  2830  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  20554  TTY  202/  418-  2555  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov 
 COMMISSION  EXTENDS  PLEADING  CYCLE  IN  RULEMAKING  PROCEEDING  ON  POSSIBLE  REFORM  OF  THE  COMMISSION’S  INTERNATIONAL  SETTLEMENTS 
 POLICY  IN  VIEW  OF  RECENT  INTERNATIONAL  DEVELOPMENTS 
 IB  Docket  Nos.  02-  324,  96-  261 


 DA  02-  3314  Released:  December  2,  2002 
 New  Comment  Due  Date:  January  14,  2003  New  Reply  Comment  Due  Date:  February  6,  2003 
 By  the  Chief,  Policy  Division,  International  Bureau: 
 On  October  11,  2002,  the  Commission  released  a  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking  (NPRM)  seeking  comment  from  the  public  regarding  possible  reform  of  its  International 
 Settlements  Policy,  International  Simple  Resale  and  benchmarks  policies,  and  the  issue  of  foreign  mobile  termination  rates. 


 The  Commission  has  become  aware  of  the  recent  actions  taken  by  several  foreign  administrations  to  impose  rate  floors  on  international  termination  rates,  including  U.  S.  -international 
 accounting  rates.  Actions  of  this  nature  raise  concerns  insofar  as  they  have  the  potential  to  cause  increases  in  consumer  calling  rates  by  raising  commercially-  negotiated 
 termination  rates  between  U.  S.  and  foreign  carriers.  The  NPRM  in  this  proceeding  specifically  asked  for  comment  on  potential  anticompetitive  harms  to  U.  S.  carriers  and  consumers  from 
 foreign  carriers  with  market  power. 
 In  light  of  these  recent  developments  and  the  questions  raised  in  the  NPRM  regarding  possible  reform  of  the  Commission’s  ISP  and  accounting  rate  policies,  we  extend  the  pleading 


 cycle  established  in  the  NPRM,  FCC  02-  285,  IB  Docket  Nos.  02-  324  &  96-  261,  by  35  days  in  order  to  allow  interested  parties  an  opportunity  to  include  in  their  initial  comments  any  response 
 to  these  recent  developments  and  their  effect  on  the  policies  under  consideration  in  the  proposed  rulemaking.  We  find  that  the  public  interest  will  be  served  by  this  brief  extension  of  both  the 
 comment  and  reply  dates  to  allow  for  a  more  complete  record  in  this  proceeding. 
 Accordingly,  pursuant  to  Sections  1.1  of  the  Commission’s  rules,  47  C.  F.  R.  §  1.1,  the 
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 new  comment  due  date  is  January  14,  2003  and  the  new  reply  comment  due  date  is  February  6,  2003.  Instructions  for  filing  pleadings  in  this  proceeding  are  set  forth  in  the  NPRM,  available 
 on  the  Commission’s  website  at  www.  fcc.  gov. 
 For  further  information,  contact:  James  Ball,  Chief,  or  Lisa  Choi,  Senior  Legal  Advisor,  Policy  Division,  at  (202)  418-  1460. 


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