NEWS
	Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554	News media information 202 / 418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 202/418-2555
	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. Circ 1974).
	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 11, 2000 NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Mike Balmoris at (202) 418-0253 Email: mbalmori@fcc.gov
	FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RELEASES STATISTICS OF COMMUNICATIONS COMMON CARRIERS This Year's Edition Marks the 60th Anniversary of Publication
	Washington, D.C. - Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the Statistics of Communications Common Carriers, marking the 60th anniversary of the publication. The 1939 volume, published in 1941, consisted of 267 pages and sold for 25 cents. About 18 million telephones were in use at year-end 1939, and only 36% of the households had telephone service. Additionally, each community was served by only one carrier. The landscape today is totally different. More than 180 million telephone lines were in use at year-end 1999 and 94.6% of the U.S. households had telephone service. A number of carriers provided these services in an increasingly competitive marketplace. The electronic version of today's publication is available to the public free of charge. This year, the Commission has shortened the production cycle in order to reduce the delay in publication. In order to further expedite release of the information, the FCC is making all of the data available electronically prior to the report's formal publication. A second notice will be issued when printed versions can be purchased from the U.S. Government Printing Office. The 260-page volume contains a wealth of data on telecommunications costs, revenues, prices, and usage, and is divided into five sections: general information on industry structure; financial and operating data relating to telephone carriers; data on international communications and COMSAT Corporation; historical financial, economic, and rate tables; and data on industry trends. The full report is now available for reference in the FCC's Reference Information Center, Courtyard Level, 445 12th Street S.W. The publication can be downloaded [file names: 99SOCC.zip, 99SOCC.pdf] from the FCC-State Link internet site at http://www.fcc.gov/ccb/stats. Copies of the publication also may be purchased by calling International Transcription Services, Inc. (ITS) at (202) 857-3800. - FCC - Common Carrier Bureau contact: Industry Analysis Division at (202) 418-0940; TTY (202) 418- 0484.