News media information 202 / 418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov ftp.fcc.gov***************** ***************** ******************** ** NOTICE ********************************* *********************** This document was converted from WordPerfect to ASCII Text format. Content from the original version of the document such as headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers will not show up in this text version. All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the original document will not show up in this text version. Features of the original document layout such as columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins will not be preserved in the text version. If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ********************************* ******************************** PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 1919 M St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 DA 98-802 April 28, 1998 SECTION 43.61(b) QUARTERLY TRAFFIC REPORTS INTERNATIONAL BUREAU EXTENDS DEADLINE FOR FIRST REPORT AND CLARIFIES FILING FORMAT The International Bureau grants additional time to carriers to file their first quarterly traffic reports for 1998 required under Section 43.61(b) of the Commission's rules. Specifically, the report due April 30, 1998 must be filed on or before June 1, 1998. In the Benchmarks Order, the Commission adopted a requirement that international common carriers file traffic reports for each quarter in which their traffic meets any of the following thresholds: (i) their aggregate U.S.-billed minutes of switched telephone traffic exceeds 1 percent of the total of such minutes of international traffic for all U.S. carriers (as published in the most recent Section 43.61 traffic data report); (ii) their aggregate foreign-billed minutes of switched telephone traffic exceeds 1 percent of the total of such minutes of international traffic for all U.S. carriers; (iii) their aggregate U.S.-billed minutes of switched telephone traffic for any country exceeds 2.5 percent of the total of such minutes for that country for all U.S. carriers; or (iv) their aggregate foreign-billed minutes of switched telephone traffic for any foreign country exceeds 2.5 percent of the total of such minutes for that country for all U.S. carriers. The Commission requires carriers subject to this filing requirement to provide the same data called for in the existing Section 43.61 reports; however, the Commission requires that carriers file these data only for switched facilities- based telephone services and switched facilities resale telephone services. Carriers should include only traffic and revenue data for billing codes 1, 2, 11, and 12; carriers need not report data on transit traffic. Carriers may consolidate all U.S. points in their reports but should note in their cover letters any U.S. points for which information is not available. Sprint requested a waiver of this quarterly filing requirement to permit it to file its initial quarterly report for 1998 on June 1, 1998. We hereby grant Sprint's waiver request and find it in the public interest to grant a waiver to all carriers required to make the first quarterly filing for 1998. We observe that the quarterly filing is a new requirement and for the first time will require carriers to file data within thirty days of the end of a quarter. This new quarterly report will require carriers to make changes in their internal traffic reporting systems and processes. Sprint states that it is still implementing its new systems and will be better able to file accurate data after it completes implementation of its new systems. We find that a one month delay in the filing deadline will not unduly impair our ability to monitor the international message telephone service (IMTS) market. We therefore find good cause to extend for all carriers the filing period for the first quarterly report of 1998 until June 1, 1998. By the Chief, International Bureau For further information, please contact Kathryn O'Brien, Attorney Advisor, International Bureau, (202) 418-1439 or Susan O'Connell, Attorney Advisor, International Bureau, (202) 418-1484. - 2 - - FCC -