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 NEWS  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).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT  September  8,  2004  Jacqueline  Ponti  (202)  418-  0436 
 INTERNATIONAL  BUREAU’S  STRATEGIC  ANALYSIS  AND  NEGOTIATIONS  DIVISION 
 COMPLETES  REALIGNMENT 
 Washington,  D.  C.  -  The  International  Bureau’s  Strategic  Analysis  and  Negotiations  Division  has  completed  the  realignment  of  its  Regional  and  Industry  Analysis  and  International  Telecommunication 
 and  Development  Branches.  The  changes  are  designed  to  better  accommodate  the  shifting  of  responsibility  for  collection  and  analysis  of  the  Commission’s  international  telecommunications  traffic 
 and  revenue  reports  (47  C.  F.  R.  §43.61).  The  Bureau’s  industry  analysis  team  will  also  relocate  as  part  of  the  realignment.  As  a  result  of  the  changes  the  International  Telecommunications  and  Development 
 Branch  will  become  the  Multilateral  Negotiations  and  Industry  Analysis  (MNIA)  Branch  and  the  Regional  and  Industry  Analysis  Branch  will  become  the  Regional  and  Bilateral  Affairs  (RBA)  Branch. 


 The  new  MNIA  Branch  will  retain  its  core  functions  and  add  to  its  portfolio  two  new  functions:  (1)  the  industry  analysis  functions  that  were  previously  performed  within  the  Regional  &  Industry 
 Analysis  Branch,  now  the  Regional  &  Bilateral  Affairs  Branch;  and  (2)  the  functions  associated  with  Section  43.61  International  Telecommunications  Traffic  Reports,  previously  performed  within  the 
 Wireline  Competition  Bureau.  The  functions  associated  with  these  Reports  have  been  the  responsibility  of  the  Wireline  Competition  Bureau.  These  changes  are  intended  to  enhance  the  ability  of  the  Branch  to 
 participate  in  matters  involving  the  issues  raised  in  multilateral  institutions,  including  the  International  Telecommunications  Union’s  Standardization  and  Development  Sectors  and  the  Organization  for 
 Economic  Cooperation  and  Development.  Chris  Murphy  will  serve  as  Chief  of  the  MNIA  Branch. 


 The  new  RBA  Branch  will  retain  three  major  core  functions:  1)  coordinate  bilateral  discussions  with  foreign  administrations  on  telecommunications,  Internet,  and  broadcasting  matters;  2)  further 
 liberalization  and  competition  as  policy  objectives  in  foreign  markets  to  the  benefit  of  U.  S.  consumers;  and  3)  advise  and  inform  domestic  Bureaus  and  Offices  of  innovative  and  progressive  policy 
 developments  in  other  countries.  In  addition,  the  RBA  Branch  will  be  adding  Middle  Eastern  regional  expertise  to  reflect  the  increasing  emphasis  on  emerging  regulators  in  the  Middle  East  along  with  new 
 staff  to  reflect  this  new  priority.  These  changes  will  provide  more  focused  resources  on  international  regulators’  growing  demand  for  access  to  the  FCC’s  regulatory  expertise.  Patricia  Cooper  will  serve  as 
 Chief  of  the  RBA  Branch. 
 --  FCC— 
 International  Bureau  contacts:  Patricia  Cooper  (418-  0723)  and  Chris  Murphy  (418-  2373). 
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