NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
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See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
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January 19, 2007     Narda Jones (202) 418-2489
     
INTERNATIONAL BUREAU RELEASES 2005 YEAR-END CIRCUIT STATUS 
REPORT FOR U.S. FACILITIES-BASED INTERNATIONAL CARRIERS
Data Reflects A Strong Growth of Total Capacity Used.
Washington, DC – The FCC’s International Bureau today released its annual year-end 
circuit status report for U.S.-international facilities-based common carriers.  The year-end 2005
report reflects 56 percent growth in the use of U.S.-international facilities for international calls,
private line services, and other services from the United States.  
The report is based on information provided by U.S.-international facilities-based 
common carriers and covers U.S. undersea cables, satellites, and terrestrial links.  It identifies the 
activated (in-service) and idle (available but not in-service) circuits for each international point 
as of December 31, 2005.  Additionally, for purposes of comparison, this report incorporates 
historical data from our 2002-2004 circuit status reports.
Overall, the reported number of activated 64 Kbps equivalent circuits grew by 56 percent 
since 2004. (The reported number of activated 64 Kbps equivalent circuits at year-end 2005 was 
6,043,315 as compared to the year-end 2004 figure of 3,876,995)
· By service type: International Message Telephone Service (IMTS) accounted for 11
percent of the total circuits used; International Private Line Services accounted for 50
percent of total circuits; and the remaining 39 percent of total circuits were used for 
services other than traditional private line services (including data services).  
· By transmission type: Undersea cables accounted for 84 percent of the overall active 
transmission capacity in 2005; terrestrial links accounted for 15 percent of 2005
active circuit capacity; and satellite accounted for 0.3 percent of overall transmission 
capacity.
· The top 30 destinations among all international routes account for 97 percent of the 
total activated circuits. The percentage of idle circuits as compared to the total circuit 
capacity (active and idle) increased slightly from 49 percent in 2004 to 50 percent in 
2005.    
The report is available on the International Bureau home page at 
www.fcc.gov/ib/pd/pf/csmanual.html. The report also is available for reference in the FCC 
Reference Information Center, Courtyard Level, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C.  Copies 
may be purchased by calling Best Copy and Printing, Inc. at (800) 378-3160.  
International Bureau Contact:  Cathy Hsu, Policy Division     (202) 418-2114  
 cathy.hsu@fcc.gov.
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