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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:
Dec. 21, 2010                                                                         David Strickland (202) 418-0977
INTERNATIONAL BUREAU RELEASES 2009 YEAR-END CIRCUIT STATUS 
REPORT FOR U.S. FACILITIES-BASED INTERNATIONAL CARRIERS
Data Reflects Continued 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 2009 
report shows that the use of U.S.-international facilities for international telephone calls, private 
line services and other services from the United States grew by 48 percent from 2008 to 2009.  
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, 2009.  Additionally, for purposes of comparison, this report incorporates historical 
data from the 2006-2008 circuit status reports. 
Overall, the reported number of activated 64 Kbps equivalent circuits grew by 48 percent 
in 2009.  At year-end 2009, the reported number of activated 64 Kbps equivalent circuits totaled 
15.7 million circuits as compared to the revised 10.6 million circuits at year-end 2008. 
· By service type:  International Message Telephone Service (IMTS) accounted for 6.5 
percent of the total circuits used; International Private Line Services accounted for 
51.5 percent of total circuits; and approximately 42.0 percent of total circuits were 
used for services other than traditional private line services (including data services).  
· By transmission type:  Undersea cables accounted for 81.4 percent of the overall 
active transmission capacity; terrestrial links accounted for 18.5 percent; and satellite 
accounted for 0.1 percent.
· The top 30 destinations among all international routes accounted for 97.4 percent of 
the total activated circuits.  The percentage of idle circuits (as compared to the total 
circuit capacity, active and idle) increased from 41.4 percent in 2008 to 51.2 percent 
in 2009.
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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