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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:  May  22,  2002  Mike  Balmoris  at  (202)  418-  0253 
 E-  mail:  mbalmori@  fcc.  gov 


 FCC  Releases  Study  on  Telephone  Trends 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  Today,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  released  its  bi-  annual  report,  Trends  in  Telephone  Service.  The  report  provides  answers  to  some  of  the  most 
 frequently  asked  questions  about  the  telephone  industry  asked  by  consumers,  members  of  Congress,  other  government  agencies,  telecommunications  carriers,  and  members  of  the  business 
 and  academic  communities. 
 The  report  presents  in  one  publication  statistics  published  in  several  FCC  publications  over  the  last  six  months.  Highlights  include  the  following: 


 Advanced  Telecommunications  Services  •  High-  speed  lines  (over  200  Kbps  in  at  least  one  direction)  connecting  homes  and  businesses  to 
 the  Internet  increased  by  36%  during  the  first  half  of  2001,  to  a  total  of  9.6  million  lines  (or  wireless  channels)  in  service  from  about  7.1  million  at  the  end  of  December  2000. 


 •  About  5.9  million  high-  speed  lines  provided  speed  of  over  200  Kbps  in  both  directions,  and  thus  met  the  Commission’s  definition  of  advanced  services,  compared  to  about  4.3  million  at  the 
 end  of  December  2000. 
 International  Calling  •  The  number  of  calls  made  from  the  United  States  to  other  countries  increased  from  200 
 million  in  1980  to  6.6  billion  in  2000. 
 •  In  2000,  Americans  spent  about  $14.9  billion  on  international  calls.  On  average,  carriers  billed  51  cents  per  minute  for  international  calls  in  2000,  a  decline  of  more  than  60%  since  1980. 


 Local  Telephone  Competition  •  As  of  June  30,  2001,  competitive  local  exchange  carriers  (CLECs)  provided  17.3  million  (or 
 9.0%)  of  the  approximately  192  million  nationwide  local  telephone  lines  that  were  in  service  to  end  users  as  opposed  to  14.9  million  (or  7.7%)  of  nationwide  local  telephone  lines  at  the  end  of 
 2000. 
 •  About  one-  third  of  CLEC  end-  user  lines  are  served  over  local  loop  facilities  that  the  CLECs  own. 
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 •  Incumbent  local  exchange  carriers  (ILECs)  reported  providing  other  carriers  about  4.4  million  lines  on  a  resale  basis  as  of  June  30,  2001,  compared  to  about  5.  4  million  lines  six  months  earlier, 
 and  they  provided  about  7.9  million  unbundled  network  element  (UNE)  loops  as  of  June  30,  2001,  compared  to  about  5.3  million  loops  six  months  earlier. 


 Telephone  Rates  •  Local  phone  rates  have  remained  steady.  The  average  monthly  local  residential  charge  for 
 service  was  $21.84  in  October  2001  as  compared  to  $19.24  in  1990.  For  a  business  with  a  single  phone  line,  the  representative  charge  for  service  was  $42.18  in  October  2001  as  compared  to 
 $41.21  in  October  1990. 
 Subscribership  •  More  than  twenty-  three  million  households  have  been  added  to  the  nation's  telephone  system 
 since  November  1983.  As  of  November  2001,  102.2  million  households  had  telephone  service. 
 Toll-  Free  Numbers  •  There  are  currently  four  toll-  free  prefixes  in  use  -  800,  888,  877,  and  866  -  with  over  24.5 
 million  toll-  free  numbers  assigned  as  of  the  end  of  April  2002. 
 This  report  is  available  for  reference  in  the  FCC's  Reference  Information  Center,  Courtyard  Level,  445  12th,  S.  W.  Copies  may  be  purchased  by  calling  Qualex  International,  Portals  II,  445 
 12th  Street  S.  W.,  Room  CY-  B402,  Washington,  DC  20554,  (202)  863-  2893,  or  via  e-  mail  qualexint@  aol.  com.  The  report  can  be  downloaded  from  the  FCC-  State  Link  Internet  site  at 
 www.  fcc.  gov/  wcb/  stats. 
 --  FCC  -- 
 For  further  information,  contact  the  Industry  Analysis  and  Technology  Division,  Wireline  Competition  Bureau,  at  (202)  418-  0940,  or  for  users  of  TTY  equipment,  call  202-  418-  0484. 
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