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 STATEMENT  OF  COMMISSIONER  MICHAEL  J.  COPPS 
 RE:  International  Settlements  Policy  Reform,  Internationals  Settlement  Rates  (First  R&  O). 
 First  of  all,  I  would  say  that  the  Commission’s  International  Settlements  Policy  has  been  a  good  success  for  U.  S.  consumers.  When  we  saw  a  market  failure  that  allowed 
 foreign  carriers  to  charge  our  consumers  rates  that  were  way  above  cost,  we  stepped  in  and  the  result  is  that  today  rates  are  lower.  We  used  our  regulatory  power  wisely  and 
 well. 
 I  think  that  the  decision  to  initiate  an  NOI  on  mobile  termination  rates  strikes  the  right  balance  for  this  difficult  issue.  We  do  not  understand  mobile  termination  rates  well 
 enough  to  compel  action  today.  We  do  know,  however,  that  in  many  cases  they  are  far  from  being  cost-  based  and  that  they  cause  large  and  often  unexpected  charges  for 
 American  consumers.  So  the  right  thing  to  do  is  to  seek  more  information,  and  then  determine  the  right  course  of  action,  which  is  what  we  announce  we  will  do  today. 
 Several  of  our  peer  regulators  are  conscientiously  working  to  reduce  these  rates,  so  I  hope  that  they  will  share  their  expertise  with  us,  and  will  help  us  understand  better  how  their 
 domestic  mobile  regulatory  systems  would  be  affected  by  our  decisions. 
 I  also  will  accept  the  decision  not  to  begin  a  new  proceeding  to  reduce  our  benchmark  rates  further  at  this  time.  But  we  need  to  recognize  that  the  benchmark  rates 
 are  now  quite  out-  of-  date  and  that  they  are  set  substantially  above  cost.  As  long  as  competition  allows  U.  S.  consumers  to  enjoy  rates  below  the  benchmark  rates  in  most 
 cases,  this  is  not  adverse  to  our  consumers.  But  if  we  see  countries  begin  to  use  the  out-of-  date  rates  as  excuses  for  increasing  rates,  we  may  have  to  revisit  this  issue. 
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