NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
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See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
February 19, 2008       Breck Blalock (202) 418-8191
     
INTERNATIONAL BUREAU RELEASES 2006 YEAR-END CIRCUIT STATUS 
REPORT FOR U.S. FACILITIES-BASED INTERNATIONAL CARRIERS
Data Reflects A Steady 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 2006
report shows that the use of U.S.-international facilities for international calls, private line 
services, and other services from the United States grew by 25 percent in 2006.  
The report relies 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, 2006.  Additionally, for purposes of comparison, this report incorporates 
historical data from the 2003-2005 circuit status reports.
Overall, the reported number of activated 64 Kbps equivalent circuits grew by 25 percent 
since 2005. At year-end 2006, the reported number of activated 64 Kbps equivalent circuits
totalled 7,558,072 as compared to 6,043,315 at year-end 2005.
· By service type: International Message Telephone Service (IMTS) accounted for 9.6
percent of the total circuits used; International Private Line Services accounted for 
48.7 percent of total circuits; and approximately 41.7 percent of total circuits were 
used for services other than traditional private line services (including data services).  
· By transmission type: Undersea cables accounted for 85.6 percent of the overall 
active transmission capacity; terrestrial links accounted for 14.2 percent; and satellite 
accounted for 0.2 percent.
· The top 30 destinations among all international routes accounted for 97 percent of the 
total activated circuits. The percentage of idle circuits (as compared to the total 
circuit capacity, active and idle) decreased slightly from 50 percent in 2005 to 49
percent in 2006.    
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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