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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. Cir. 1974).


IN Report No. 97-38           INTERNATIONAL ACTION            December 17, 1997

                INTERNATIONAL BUREAU FINDS AUSTRALIA PROVIDES 
               EQUIVALENT RESALE OPPORTUNITIES TO U.S. CARRIERS

       The International Bureau found, among other things, that equivalent resale opportunities exist in
Australia for U.S.-based carriers.  As a result of this finding, the International Bureau authorized seven
carriers to resell switched services over private lines that are interconnected to the public switched
network (also known as ISR) between the United States and Australia.  This finding also allows all other
U.S. carriers that are authorized to provide interconnected private line service to any other country to
provide it between the United States and Australia.  To date, the Commission has found that equivalent
resale opportunities exist in the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, and New Zealand.    

       Currently, the Commission's rules require that applicants seeking to provide switched service
over resold private lines demonstrate that the foreign country at the other end of the private line provides
U.S. carriers with:  (1) the legal right to resell international private lines interconnected to the public
switched network at both ends, for the provision of switched services; (2) reasonable and
nondiscriminatory charges, terms, and conditions for interconnection to foreign carrier domestic facilities
for termination and origination of international services, with adequate means of enforcement; (3)
competitive safeguards to protect against anticompetitive and discriminatory practices affecting private
line resale; and (4) fair and transparent regulatory procedures, including separation between the regulator
and the operator of international facilities-based services.  Additionally, the Commission's rules require
that we examine other public interest factors that may warrant grant or denial of the application.

     Today, the Bureau concluded that Australia satisfies the equivalency requirements set forth in the
Commission's rules.  The Bureau anticipates that the existence of international private line resale to
provide switched service between the United States and Australia will promote competition and the
introduction of new international telecommunications services.

     Action by Chief of the International Bureau, December 16, 1997, by Memorandum Opinion,
Order and Certificate (DA 97-2554).
 - FCC -

     News Media contact:  Meribeth McCarrick at (202) 418-0256.
     International Bureau contact:  Joanna Lowry at (202) 418-1465.