PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 1919 M St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 July 15, 1997 CLARIFICATION OF SECTION 43.61 INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC DATA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS All carriers that provided international telecommunications services in 1996 must file a report of their international traffic data for calendar year 1996 by July 31, 1997. The detailed filing requirements are contained in the "Manual for Filing Section 43.61 Data" (Manual). There has been some confusion among both carriers and the general public on what data must be filed and how the Section 43.61 international traffic data reports relate to the Section 43.82 international circuit data reports. All carriers that billed for international service in 1996, including pre-paid calling card and international call-back service providers, must file Section 43.61 international traffic data by July 31. Both underlying carriers and pure resale carriers must file. Some carriers do not resell international services, but do include on their bills to customers international service charges clearly identified as the charges of other carriers. Such carriers are not required to file Section 43.61 international traffic data. Section 43.61 filing requirements depend on both the type of service provided and how carriers provide the service. The simplest filing requirements are for "pure resale" services. Carriers provide "pure resale" services by reselling the international switched toll services of other carriers. Thus, "pure resale" calls do not go over international circuits that are either owned or leased by the carrier. The Manual contains simplified filing requirements for such "pure resale" services. Carriers that provided switched services over international circuits that they own or lease must provide significantly more information for these services than they would for "pure resale" services. Carriers that use owned or leased circuits are termed "facilities-based" and "facilities-resale" carriers, respectively. Carriers must file annual data on a country-by-country basis for these services and must include information on international settlement payments and receipts. All private line services are provided on a facilities-based or facilities-resale basis. Carriers that provided private line services in 1996 have already filed some information on their international private line circuits in their Section 43.82 circuit data reports. [FOOTNOTE: Carriers that own their international circuits file circuit data in accordance with Section 43.82 of the Commission's Rules. 47 C.F.R §43.82. Carriers that lease their international circuits file circuit data in accordance with Section 63.15(b) of the Commission's Rules using the format specified in the manual for filing Section 43.82 international circuit data. 47 C. F. R. §63.15(b)]. In general, the Section 43.61 traffic reports collect information on international services provided to customers or to other carriers. The Section 43.82 circuit reports collect information on the circuits used to provide international services. The following summarizes some similarities and differences between these two types of reports: - The Section 43.61 traffic reports contain data for activated circuits, meaning circuits that were in service on December 31 of the calendar year. The Section 43.82 circuit reports contain data for both activated and idle circuits. - The Section 43.82 circuit reports contain breakdowns for satellite, submarine, and terrestrial circuits. The Section 43.61 traffic reports do not contain this breakdown. - The Section 43.61 traffic reports show breakdowns for six categories of private line service. The Section 43.82 circuit reports contain only 2 private line service categories. [FOOTNOTE: On July 3. 1997, Sprint Communications Company L.P. (Sprint) received a partial waiver of Section 43.61(d) of the Commission's Rules to permit them to use in their Section 43.61 traffic data reports the Section 43.82 private line service categories. Letter from Peyton L. Wynns, Chief, Industry Analysis Division, FCC, to Marybeth M. Banks, Director Federal Regulatory Affairs, Sprint, (July 3, 1997)]. - The Section 43.82 circuit reports require circuit information for circuits used to provide switched services and for idle circuits, but do not require any information on the amount of switched traffic actually carried on these circuits. The Section 43.61 traffic reports contain information on switched service traffic, but not on the circuits used to carry that traffic. - The Section 43.82 circuit reports contain the number of bearer circuits in Data Field #1. This represents the total capacity of the circuits expressed in 64 Kilobits per second circuits. The same information, referred to as "voice equivalent circuits", is reported in Data Field #2 in Section 43.61 traffic reports. - The Section 43.82 circuit reports contain the number of derived circuits in Data field #2. Carriers frequently use multiplexing equipment to derive multiple channels from a single bearer circuit when the carrier provides switched services. Carriers usually do not have derived circuits for private line services. The Section 43.61 traffic reports do not contain information on derived circuits. - The Section 43.61 traffic reports contain the number of leased circuits in Data field #1. The data is based on the count of actual circuits provided to customers irrespective of the type or capacity of the circuits. Section 43.82 circuit reports do not contain this information. - The Section 43.61 traffic reports contain the revenue billed for private line service for the prior calendar year. Section 43.82 circuit reports do not contain revenue information. The Manual is available in the reference room maintained by the Common Carrier Bureau at 2000 M Street, N.W., Room 575. Copies of the Manual can be purchased by calling International Transcription Service, Inc. (ITS) at (202) 857-3800. The Manual can be downloaded [file name MANUAL95.ZIP] from the FCC-State Link internet site (http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/stats) on the World Wide Web. -FCC- For additional information, contact Linda Blake or Jim Lande of the Common Carrier Bureau's Industry Analysis Division, (202) 418-0940.