NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th 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).
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Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                               NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
April 11, 2014                                                                        Thomas Sullivan (202) 418-0437
 Thomas.Sullivan@fcc.gov
FCC RELEASES 2012 INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC DATA
Washington, D.C. - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released an 
annual report entitled 2012 International Telecommunications Data regarding international 
message telephone, private line and miscellaneous services between the United States and other 
countries.  
 
Highlights  
· The average per-minute rate for international calling charged by facilities-based U.S. 
common carriers fell 9% from $0.053 per minute in 2011 to $0.049 per minute in 2012.  
From 2000 to 2012, the per-minute rate decreased 90%, from $0.47 per minute to $0.049 
per minute. 
· International “U.S.-billed” traffic - primarily traffic originating in the United States –
increased 5.7%, from 73.7 billion minutes in 2011 to 77.9 billion minutes in 2012.
· Calls to five countries account for 65.9% of outgoing international U.S.-billed minutes.  
The five most heavily used routes in 2012 were U.S.-India (31.0%), U.S.-Mexico 
(17.4%), U.S.-Canada (11.8%), U.S.-Dominican Republic (3.0%), and U.S.-Colombia 
(2.7%).
· Although minutes were up, total U.S.-billed revenues for international telephone, private 
line and other miscellaneous services (e.g., frame relay/ATM, switched Ethernet, 
TDM/TDMA, virtual private network, and virtual private line) decreased collectively 6%, 
from $4.5 billion in 2011 to $4.2 billion in 2012. 
U.S.-International Services Billed Revenues
(Shown in Thousands of Dollars)
2011 2012 Percent Change
Telephone $3,933,550 $3,795,936  -3.5%
Private Line 518,485 412,784  -20.4%
Other Miscellaneous 12,925 9,723  -24.8%
Total Billed Revenues $4,464,961 $4,218,443  -5.5%
· U.S. carriers’ net settlement payments (amounts they pay to terminate traffic overseas, less 
settlement amounts received from foreign carriers) increased 4.5%.  Retained international 
revenues (revenues after settlement payments are made) decreased 14.9% from 2011 to 2012.
Total U.S.-Billed Revenues,
Net Settlement Payments, and
Retained Revenues
(Shown in Thousands of Dollars)
2011 2012 Percent Change
Total Billed Revenues $4,464,961 $4,218,443  -5.5%
- Net Settlement 2,161,048 2,258,515 4.5%
Retained Revenues $2,303,913 $1,959,928 -14.9%
· Pure resale traffic, not included above, increased 21.3%, from 74.5 billion minutes in 2011 to 
90.4 billion minutes in 2012.  Billed revenues for resale services decreased 7.1%, from $5.6 
billion in 2011 to $5.2 billion in 2012.  The total number of carriers reporting resale services 
increased 9.8%, from 1,230 in 2011 to 1,351 in 2012.
· Interconnected VoIP services currently are not included in carriers’ FCC Part 43 data 
submissions and are not reflected in this report.  Their inclusion in future reports will result 
in an increase in reported traffic.
The report is available for reference in the FCC’s Reference Information Center at 445 12th Street, 
S.W., Courtyard Level, Washington, D.C. 20554.  Copies may be purchased by contacting the 
FCC’s duplicating contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc., Portals II, 445 12th Street, S.W., Room 
CY-B402, Washington D.C. 20554, telephone 1-800-378-3160, or via e-mail at 
fcc@bcpiweb.com, or at http://www.bcpiweb.com.  The report can also be downloaded [file name: 
CREPOR12.ZIP or CREPOR12.PDF] at http://www.fcc.gov/international-bureau. 
-FCC-
International Bureau contact:  Linda Blake at (202) 418-0945; TTY (202) 418-0484.