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 NEWS  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT: 
 February  4,  2002  Maureen  Peratino:  202-  418-  0506 


 FCC  ISSUES  DECLARATORY  RULING  SUPPORTING  LOWER  CALLING  RATES 
 BETWEEN  LAREDO,  TEXAS,  AND  NUEVO  LAREDO,  MEXICO 


 Washington,  D.  C.  –  Today,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  released  a 
 Declaratory  Ruling  regarding  international  calling  rates  between  Laredo,  Texas  and  Nuevo 
 Laredo,  Mexico.  The  ruling  supports  efforts  of  the  City  of  Laredo,  Texas  and  the  Texas  Public 
 Utility  Commission  to  establish  an  approach  that  would  lower  prices  between  these  two  cities, 
 but  recognizes  that  the  FCC  cannot,  in  this  instance,  act  unilaterally. 


 The  cities  of  Laredo,  Texas  and  Nuevo  Laredo,  Mexico,  are  directly  opposite  each  other 
 on  the  Rio  Grande,  on  either  side  of  the  border  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  and  have 
 extensive  economic  and  social  ties  that  generate  substantial  communications  across  the  border. 
 Because  telephone  calls  across  the  border  are  international  calls,  the  current  cost  of  such  calls  is 
 substantially  higher  than  would  be  the  case  between  two  adjacent  cities  within  the  United  States 
 that  share  communities  of  interest. 


 Today’s  declaratory  ruling  supports  the  goal  of  lower  cross-  border  calling  rates.  For  the 
 purposes  of  achieving  lower  calling  prices,  the  Commission  concludes  that  current  FCC  rules 
 would  permit  carriers  to  develop  calling  plans  that  would  offer  prices  for  cross-  border  traffic 
 between  Laredo  and  Nuevo  Laredo  at  rates  comparable  to  local  traffic  within  the  city.  The 
 ruling  notes,  however,  that  implementation  of  such  pricing  plans  will  require  the  cooperation  of 
 Mexico’s  telecommunications  regulatory  authorit  y,  Comision  Federal  de  Telecomunicaciones 
 de  los  Estados  Unidos  Mexicanos  (COFETEL)  and  Mexico’s  foreign  carriers,  and  recognizes 
 that  COFETEL  may  take  steps  to  permit  the  negotiation  of  such  arrangements.  In  its  Declaratory 
 Ruling,  the  FCC  urges  mutual  cooperation  among  the  carriers  involved.  The  FCC  further  states 
 that  it  would  welcome  any  specific  request  by  U.  S.  carriers  for  approval  of  arrangements  that 
 would  permit  lower  calling  rates  for  this  border  area. 


 Action  by  the  Commission  January  22,  2002,  by  Declaratory  Ruling  (FCC  02-  14).  Chairman 
 Powell,  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps  and  Martin. 


 -  FCC  -International 
 Bureau  Staff  Contact:  Linda  Haller  at  202-  418-  1408 
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