*Pages 1--7 from Microsoft Word - 43669.doc* PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S. W. Washington, D. C. 20554 DA 04- 3518 November 4, 2004 ADDITIONAL U. S.- INTERNATIONAL ROUTES EXEMPTED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS POLICY IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 By the Chief, Policy Division, International Bureau: The routes listed in Attachment A are hereby exempted from the International Settlements Policy (ISP) pursuant to the ISP Reform First Report and Order and sections 0.51 and 0.261 of the Commission’s rules. 1 On March 30, 2004, the Commission released the ISP Reform Order that revised its policy and rules to remove the International Settlements Policy from benchmark- compliant routes. In the Order, the Commission identified ninety- six routes that clearly qualified for exemption from the ISP pursuant to the new rules. 2 The Commission also identified seventy-seven routes that were believed to be benchmark- compliant, 3 but provided interested parties with the opportunity to comment on those routes. 4 Commenters supported removing the ISP from the majority of routes. 5 On August 31, 2004, after reviewing the comments and the settlement agreements on file at the Commission, the International Bureau issued a Public Notice lifting the ISP on twenty- six 1 See International Settlements Policy Reform: International Settlement Rates, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324 and 96- 21, First Report and Order, FCC 04- 53, (rel. March 30, 2004) (ISP Reform Order); 47 C. F. R. §§ 0.51, 0.261. 2 See ISP Reform Order at Appendix D. 3 See ISP Reform Order at Appendix E. 4 The ISP Reform Order became effective on May 28, 2004. On that date, the International Bureau issued a public notice setting the notice and comment dates for the list of routes believed to be benchmark- compliant. Several parties filed comments and replies. 5 Parties raised concerns on only two of the routes: the U. S.- Philippines route and the U. S.- Papua New Guinea route. In addition, VSNL filed comments arguing that the U. S.- India route was benchmark- compliant and should have been included in the list of routes that would be exempt from the ISP under the new rules. 1 2 additional routes for which there were current benchmark rates on file pursuant to section 64.1001 the Commission’s rules, and for which no party raised concerns. 6 The International Bureau also attached a list of routes for which Commission records indicated the rates had expired or were the subject of concerns raised in the comments. Prior to exempting these remaining routes from the ISP, the Bureau required written assurance that carriers had negotiated benchmark- compliant rates as contemplated by the ISP Reform Order. 7 In addition, because the U. S- India route had been omitted from the original list of benchmark- compliant routes, the International Bureau requested comment on whether the U. S.- India route qualified for exemption from the ISP. AT& T, MCI, Sprint and Wiltel each provided a list of routes for which they certified they had current benchmark- compliant rates in place. 8 The forty routes listed in Attachment A to this Public Notice qualify for exemption of the ISP under the Commission’s ISP Reform Order. For these routes, at least one U. S. carrier has certified benchmark compliance and no concerns were raised regarding the routes during the comment cycle. Accordingly, the ISP will no longer apply on these routes. For the remaining routes, the ISP will remain in place until the International Bureau receives the appropriate filings pursuant to section 64.1001 of the Commission’s rules, demonstrating benchmark compliance, as required by the ISP Reform Order. 9 With respect to the U. S.- Philippines route, we will issue a separate order after we have had the opportunity to conduct a complete review of the issues and concerns raised during the comment period. 10 A complete list of routes that now are exempt from the ISP is set forth in Attachment B. 6 See 47 C. F. R. § 64.1001. 7 Our rules do not require carriers to file new rates as long as the ongoing rates are identical to the rate on file. See 47 C. F. R. § 64.1001. More specifically, our rules require a U. S. carrier to file new rates when that carrier agrees to rates with a foreign carrier with market power that are not identical to current rates on file. See also Report and Order. 8 See Letter from James J. R. Talbot, Senior Attorney, AT& T, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 (filed September 24, 2004); Letter from David A. Nall, General Attorney, Sprint, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 (filed September 28, 2004); Comments of MCI, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 (filed September 29, 2004); Letter from Adam Kupetsky, Director of Regulatory and Regulatory Counsel, Wiltel, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 (filed September 13, 2004); Letter from James J. R. Talbot, Senior Attorney, AT& T, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 (filed October 4, 2004); Letter from Scott Shefferman, Director, International Affairs, MCI to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 (filed October 5, 2004); Letter from David A. Nall, General Attorney, Sprint, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 (filed October 5, 2004); from James J. R. Talbot, Senior Attorney, AT& T, to Marlene Dortch, Secretary, Federal Communications Commission, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324, 96- 261 (filed October 20, 2004). 9 See 47 C. F. R. § 64.1001, note C; ISP Reform Order, FCC 04- 53 at para. 30. 10 We note that we also received late- filed comments from IDT regarding nineteen routes that were not the subject of the August 31, 2004 Public Notice. See “Initial Comments of IDT Corporation” (filed October 15, 2004). We hereby dismiss IDT’s comments as untimely filed. The appropriate time to file comments on the standard for removing the ISP would have been during the 2004 ISP Reform Rulemaking Proceeding. See International Settlements Policy Reform: International Settlement Rates, IB Docket Nos. 02- 324 and 96- 21, First Report and Order, FCC 04- 53 (rel. March 30, 2004) (Report and Order). Furthermore, the comment and reply cycle for the routes at issue in IDT’s comments closed on July 13, 2004, with the exception of the U. S. India route. See 2 3 Copies of this Notice, status reports, Order, and pleadings are available electronically on the Commission’s web site at www. fcc. gov. Petitions for reconsideration under Section 1.106 or applications for review under Section 1.115 of the Commission’s rules may be filed within thirty days of this public notice (see Section 1.4( b)( 2)). 11 For additional information, please contact Claudia Fox, Policy Division, International Bureau, (202) 418- 1527, Kimberly Cook, Policy Division, International Bureau, (202) 418- 7532, or James Ball, Chief, Policy Division, International Bureau, (202) 418- 1460. – FCC – Commission Announces Pleading Cycle For Comments And Replies In Proceeding On Routes Believed To Be Benchmark- Compliant, Public Notice, DA 04- 1585 (rel. May 28, 2004). IDT nether requests permission nor provides any basis for acceptance of its late- filed comments at this stage of the process. 11 See 47 C. F. R. §§ 1.106, 1.115, 1.4( b)( 2). 3 4 Attachment A Additional ISP- Exempt Routes No. Country 1 Albania 2 Anguilla 3 Armenia 4 Azerbaijan 5 Bahamas 6 Benin 7 Burkina 8 Cameroon 9 Cape Verde 10 Cayman Islands 11 Cote d’Ivoire 12 Equatorial Guinea 13 Eritrea (included in Ethiopia) 14 Estonia 15 Ethiopia 16 French Polynesia 17 Gabon 18 Georgia 19 Haiti 20 Honduras 21 India 22 Kazakhstan 23 Macedonia FDR (included in Serbia) 24 Malawi 25 Malta 26 Mayotte 27 Mexico 28 Montserrat 29 Namibia 30 Pakistan 31 Reunion 32 Senegal 33 Serbia 34 Sudan 35 Tanzania 36 Tonga 37 Turks and Caicos Islands 38 Ukraine 39 Uzbekistan 40 Virgin Islands, British 4 5 5 6 Attachment B Complete List Of Routes Currently Exempt From the ISP No. Country No. Country 1 Albania 82 Kazakhstan 2 Algeria 83 Korea, South 3 Anguilla 84 Kuwait 4 Armenia 85 Latvia 5 Antigua and Barbuda 86 Lebanon 6 Argentina 87 Liberia 7 Aruba 88 Libya 8 Australia 89 Liechtenstein 9 Austria 90 Lithuania 10 Azerbaijan 91 Luxembourg 11 Bahamas 92 Macau 12 Bahrain 93 Macedonia FDR (included in Serbia) 13 Bangladesh 94 Malawi 14 Barbados 95 Malaysia 15 Belarus 96 Mali 16 Belgium 97 Malta 17 Belize 98 Mauritius 18 Benin 99 Mayotte 19 Bermuda 100 Mexico 20 Bolivia 101 Moldova 21 Bosnia and Herzegovina 102 Monaco (included in France) 22 Botswana 103 Mongolia 23 Brazil 104 Montserrat 24 Brunei 105 Morocco 25 Bulgaria 106 Mozambique 26 Burkina 107 Namibia 27 Cameroon 108 Nepal 28 Canada 109 Netherlands 29 Cape Verde 110 Netherlands Antilles 30 Cayman Islands 111 New Caledonia 31 Chile 112 New Zealand 32 China 113 Nicaragua 33 Colombia 114 Nigeria 34 Congo 95 Norway 35 Costa Rica 96 Oman 36 Cote d’Ivoire 97 Pakistan 37 Croatia 98 Panama 38 Cyprus 99 Paraguay 39 Czech Republic 100 Peru 40 Denmark 101 Poland 41 Dominica 102 Portugal 42 Dominican Republic 103 Qatar 43 Ecuador 104 Reunion 44 Egypt 105 Romania 45 El Salvador 106 Russia 46 Equatorial Guinea 107 Saint Kitts and Nevis 47 Eritrea (included in Ethiopia) 108 Saint Lucia 48 Estonia 109 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6 7 Complete List Of Routes Currently Exempt From the ISP No. Country No. Country 49 Ethiopia 110 Saudi Arabia 50 Faroe Islands (included in Denmark) 111 Senegal 51 Fiji 112 Serbia 52 Finland 113 Singapore 53 France 114 Slovakia 54 French Guiana 115 Slovenia 55 French Overseas Dept. (Martinique) 116 South Africa 56 French Polynesia 117 Spain 57 Gabon 118 Sri Lanka 58 Gambia, The 119 Sudan 59 Georgia 120 Suriname 60 Germany 121 Swaziland 61 Ghana 122 Sweden 62 Greece 123 Switzerland 63 Grenada 124 Taiwan 64 Guadeloupe 125 Tanzania 65 Guatemala 126 Thailand 66 Guinea 127 Tonga 67 Guyana 128 Trinidad and Tobago 68 Haiti 129 Tunisia 69 Honduras 130 Turkey 70 Hong Kong 131 Turks and Caicos Islands 71 Hungary 132 Uganda 72 Iceland 133 Ukraine 73 India 134 United Arab Emirates 74 Indonesia 135 United Kingdom 75 Iran 136 Uruguay 76 Ireland 137 Uzbekistan 77 Israel 138 Venezuela 78 Italy 139 Virgin Islands, British 79 Jamaica 140 Yemen 80 Japan 141 Zambia 81 Jordan 142 Zimbabwe 7