INTERNATIONAL BUREAU REPORT 2013 International Telecommunications Data (Filed as of October 31, 2014) Linda Blake Strategic Analysis and Negotiations Division The report is available [file name: CREPOR13.ZIP or CREPOR13.PDF] on the International Bureau’s home page at http://www.fcc.gov/international-bureau. The report also is available for reference in the FCC Reference Information Center, Courtyard Level, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 2013 Annual Section 43.61 International Telecommunications Data Table of Contents Page Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……....…... 1 Highlights…....……..…………………………………………………...….………………………….…………….……...………..…... 1 Table 1 International Telecommunications Traffic Measures and Revenues, 2013…...…...………………………………...….…...…. 2 Definitions…......……….…………………………..……………………………………………………….………………..…….…….. 3 Reporting Requirements…...…….……………………………………….…………………..….……………………………………….. 5 Table 2 International Telecommunications Reporting Requirements….………………………..………….……..………………..…… 6 Table 3 International Telecommunications Revenue Relationships…....………………………………...…………..…………….……. 8 Presentation of Data………………………………………………………………..…….…...……….…...………………..….……….. 10 Table 4 Carriers Filing International Traffic Data for 2013….………..…..………...….....……….….………….……….….………... 12 Addendum to Table 4…......….….…………..……………………….…………….…………….….…...………….…..…..……….….. 38 Table 5 2013 U.S.-Billed Revenues for Facilities-Based and Facilities-Resale Services….……….…….…...……...……….…….….. 42 Table 6 2013 Net Revenues for Facilities-Based and Facilities-Resale Services..…...……….......…..…..………….…………..…….. 43 Table 7 2013 Facilities-Based and Facilities-Resale Revenue Per-Minute Data for Top Five and All Other Carriers..….……....…..... 44 Statistical Tables: Combined Data for Facilities-Based and Facilities-Resale Services A: Switched Services B: Private Line C: International Telephone Services Miscellaneous Services (Table / Page) (Table / Page) (Table / Page) All U.S. Points; All U.S. Carriers A1 (p1) B1 (p1) C1 (p1) Traditional Settlement A2 (p7) Non-Traditional Settlement A3 (p13) Excludes Country-Beyond, Country-Direct, and Reorigination A4 (p19) Country-Beyond and Country-Direct A5 (p25) Reorigination A6 (p31) Facilities-Based traffic B2 (p6) Facilities-Resale traffic B3 (p11) Summary Traffic Data D: Pure Resale Services (Table / Page) International Message Telephone D (p1) 2013 International Telecommunications Data July 15, 2015 Introduction This is the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) annual report on telecommunications service between the United States and international points. The data are for the year 2013. The data are compiled from reports submitted to the FCC by U.S. carriers pursuant to Section 43.61 of the Commission’s rules. Section 43.61(a) directs carriers to file reports by July 31 which summarize international telecommunications service provided during the preceding calendar year. Carriers submit corrections of the data by October 31. The specific filing requirements are set forth in the Manual for Filing Section 43.61 Data (June 1995) (Filing Manual) at http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/iatd/intl.html.1 Highlights The average per-minute rate for international calling charged by facilities-based U.S. common carriers rose 8% from $0.049 per minute in 2012 to $0.053 per minute in 2013. From 2000 to 2013, the per-minute rate decreased 89%, from $0.47 per minute to $0.053 per minute. International “U.S.-billed” traffic – primarily traffic originating in the United States – decreased 5.5%, from 77.9 billion minutes in 2012 to 73.6 billion minutes in 2013. Calls to five countries account for 64% of outgoing international U.S.-billed minutes. The five most heavily used routes in 2013 were U.S.-Mexico (22.6%), U.S.-India (22.2%), U.S.-Canada (13.5%), U.S.-Colombia (3.0%), and U.S.-United Kingdom (2.7%). In 2013, 61 U.S. facilities-based and “facilities-resale” carriers (providers of facilities- based services that lease their circuits rather than own them, see definitions on page 3) together reported that they billed $3.87 billion for international telephone service, and $444.3 million for international private line and other miscellaneous services, compared to $3.80 billion and $422.5 million, respectively, in 2012. U.S. carriers’ net settlement payments – the amount paid to foreign carriers to compensate those carriers for completing calls less settlement amounts received from foreign carriers – decreased 1.4%, from $2.259 billion in 2012 to $2.227 billion in 2013. Retained international revenues – revenues billed by U.S. carriers, less settlement amounts 1 See Reporting Requirements for U.S. Providers of International Telecommunications Services; Amendment of Part 43 of the Commission’s Rules, IB Docket No. 04-112, Second Report and Order, FCC 13-6, 28 FCC Rcd 575 (2013) (2013 International Reporting Requirements Order). Although the rule changes adopted in the 2013 International Reporting Requirements Order, which revised the annual reporting requirements for international service providers, went into effect on February 11, 2015, only the changes to the reporting requirements for international services resale traffic and international miscellaneous services were in effect for the 2013 data discussed in this report. Carriers made their 2013 filings under the old requirements. See Carriers Should Continue to File Annual International Traffic and Revenue Reports and Circuit-Status Reports Pursuant to Sections 43.61 and 43.82 of the Commission’s Rules, DA 13-165, 28 FCC Rcd 1054 (Int’l Bur. 2013). 1 owed to foreign carriers for U.S.-billed traffic, plus settlement amounts due to U.S. carriers for foreign-billed traffic – increased 6.7%, from $1.96 billion in 2012 to $2.09 billion in 2013. Pure resale providers resell the services of underlying U.S. facilities-based and facilities- resale carriers. The number of reporting pure resale carriers increased 4.6% from 1,351 in 2012 to 1,413 in 2013. Pure resale minutes decreased from 90.4 billion in 2012 to 81.4 billion in 2013. Resale providers’ billed revenues decreased 9.6%, from $5.2 billion in 2012 to $4.7 billion in 2013. Interconnected VoIP services 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. Table 1 summarizes the traffic and revenue data reported by all U.S. facilities-based and facilities-resale carriers for 2013, but does not include pure resale service. Inclusion of pure resale would result in double-counting, since all minutes and revenue are reported by facilities-based and facilities-resale carriers. Table 1. International Telecommunications Traffic Measures and Revenues, 2013* Traffic Revenues Billed Net Settlements Net Measures** by U.S. Carriers with Foreign Retained (millions) Carriers Revenues*** (millions) (millions) Message Telephone 89,472 $3,874 $2,227 $1,647 (millions of minutes) Private Line 320,474 $439 not applicable $439 (number of circuits) International Other Miscellaneous**** $5 $0 $5 Total $4,318 $2,227 $2,091 * Traffic measures and revenues include information for all carriers, including those requesting confidential treatment for their individual data. ** Traffic measures for international message telephone include both U.S.-billed traffic and foreign-billed traffic that terminates in the United States, but excludes most traffic that transits the United States. *** Net U.S. carrier retained revenues equal billed revenues less net settlement amounts with foreign carriers. The net settlement payments equal the amount paid to foreign carriers less the amount received from them. See Table 3, below. Details may not match totals due to rounding. **** In 2013, carriers reported frame relay/ATM, switched ethernet, TDM/TDMA, and virtual private network as international other miscellaneous services. Aggregated totals for international other miscellaneous services can be found in Section C (International Miscellaneous Services, page 1) of this report. 2 Definitions International services are provided either on a facilities-based, facilities-resale or pure resale basis. Facilities-based traffic refers to services provided using international transmission facilities owned in whole or in part by the carrier providing the service. Facilities-based carriers use one or more international channels of communications to provide international telecommunications service. An international channel (or circuit) is a wire or radio link that facilitates electronic communications between a U.S. point and a point outside the United States. A facilities-based carrier is “a carrier that holds an ownership, indefeasible-right-of-user or leasehold interest in bare capacity in the U.S. end of an international facility, regardless of whether the underlying facility is a common carrier or non-common carrier submarine cable or a satellite system.”2 Facilities-resale traffic refers to services provided by a carrier utilizing international circuits leased from other reporting international carriers. The determination as to whether international private line services are reported as facilities-based or facilities-resale generally is based on the first international link of a circuit. If the carrier has an ownership interest in that link, or leases it from an entity that does not report that link, then service provided over that circuit will be reported as facilities-based. Otherwise, the international private line