NEWS                                         January 28, 1998

                        FCC RELEASES 1996 INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC DATA

     The FCC has released a report prepared by the Common Carrier Bureau's Industry
Analysis Division entitled 1996 Section 43.61 International Telecommunications Data. 

     Traffic between the United States and other countries is reported on a country-by-country
basis for telephone, telegraph, telex and private line services.  Although international traffic
information is reported in great detail, it is not reported until after U.S. and foreign carriers can
reconcile their books.  Carriers were required to file their 1996 data by July 31, 1997, and
revisions by October 31.

     Starting with 1995 data, carriers were required to file facilities-resale traffic separately
from facilities-based traffic. According to reported data, only a very small percentage of
switched traffic was carried on facilities-resale circuits in 1996.  The report also shows that U.S.
carriers billed about $15.0 billion for international services in 1996, up $.2 billion from 1995. 
In 1996, U.S. customers made about 3.5 billion  international telephone calls  and received
about 2.0 billion calls.  U.S. carriers billed about $661 million for private line services as of
year-end 1996.  

     U.S. and foreign carriers compensate each other for completed calls.  Because U.S.
customers place more calls than do foreign customers, U.S. carriers make a net payment to
foreign carriers.  The net amount was approximately $5.7 billion in 1996, up from $4.9 billion
in 1995.  U.S. carriers retained about $9.4 billion of international revenues, down from $9.9
billion in 1995.
     
          The report is available for reference in the Common Carrier Bureau Reference Room,
2000 M Street, N.W., Room 575.  Copies may be purchased by calling International
Transcription Services, Inc., (ITS) at (202)857-3800.  The report can be downloaded [BBS file
names: 4361A96.ZIP, 4361B96.ZIP, 4361C96.ZIP, 4361D96.ZIP, and 4361E96.ZIP] from the
FCC-State Link internet site, which can be reached through a link from the Common Carrier
Bureau home page (http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/stats) on the World Wide Web.  The report can also
be downloaded from the FCC-State Link computer bulletin board system at (202) 418-0241. 


FCC
     
     For additional information, contact Linda Blake or Jim Lande of the Bureau's Industry
Analysis Division, (202) 418-0940.