# Before the

# Federal Communications Commission

# Washington, D.C. 20554

In Re Petition of )

MCI Worldcom, Inc. )

)

for Declaratory Ruling Pursuant ) File No. ISP-PDR-19990802-00007

to Section 63.16 of the Commission's )

Rules to Provide Switched Services Via )

International Private Lines Interconnected )

to the Public Switched Network Between )

The United States and Singapore )

# DECLARATORY RULING AND ORDER

**Adopted: November 23, 1999 Released: November 23, 1999**

By the Chief, Telecommunications Division:

# INTRODUCTION

1.  On August 2, 1999, MCI Worldcom filed a Petition for Declaratory
    Ruling pursuant to section 63.16[^1] of the rules of the Federal
    Communications Commission (Commission) seeking a ruling that
    authorizes MCI Worldcom to provide switched services between the
    United States and Singapore via international private lines
    interconnected with the public switched network at one or both ends
    (International Simple Resale or ISR).[^2] Specifically, MCI Worldcom
    contends that the requirements in the Commission's rules to provide
    ISR have been satisfied. In particular, MCI Worldcom claims
    that: (1) Singapore is a Member country of the World Trade
    Organization (WTO) and that (2) at least fifty percent of
    U.S.-billed traffic on the U.S. Singapore route is being settled at
    or below the applicable benchmark rate.[^3] Therefore, MCI Worldcom
    requests that we approve the provision of ISR on the U.S.-Singapore
    route.

2.  After placing the *Petition* on public notice on August 11,
    1999,[^4] we received comments from Singapore Telecommunications
    Limited (SingTel), a foreign carrier presumed to possess market
    power in Singapore.[^5] SingTel states that it filed comments to
    make certain that the status of ISR in Singapore is accurately
    reflected in the record. According to SingTel, ISR is currently
    prohibited in Singapore.[^6]

# DISCUSSION

3.  Singapore is a Member country of the WTO; therefore, a
    U.S.-authorized carrier seeking to provide ISR on the U.S.-Singapore
    route must either comply with the benchmark condition set forth in
    rule 63.16(b)(1) or demonstrate that equivalent resale opportunities
    are available to U.S. carriers in the foreign country.[^7] In this
    case, we determine that the benchmark condition, which requires that
    at least fifty percent of the U.S.-billed traffic on the route is
    settled at or below the relevant benchmark, has been met.[^8]

4.  We find that the accounting rate modifications we have accepted for
    the U.S.-Singapore route that MCI Worldcom and AT&T filed are
    compliant with the Commission's benchmark rate of \$.15 cents for
    Singapore.[^9] Because of the volume of traffic AT&T and MCI
    Worldcom handle in aggregate, at least fifty percent of the
    U.S.-billed traffic on the route is being settled at or below the
    applicable benchmark settlement rate adopted in the Commission's
    *Benchmarks Order*.[^10] Therefore, we find the request of MCI
    Worldcom to be in accordance with rule 63.16(b)(1) and our policies
    regarding the provision of ISR.

5.  Our expectation is that the provision of ISR on the U.S.-Singapore
    route, if permitted by the relevant authorities in Singapore, would
    allow U.S. and Singaporean carriers to route traffic between
    countries outside of the traditional settlements system to the
    benefit of consumers in the U.S. and Singapore through lower calling
    prices, more service options, greater consumer demand for services,
    and increased technological innovation. For these reasons,
    Commission policy promotes the use of ISR to the extent possible,
    consistent with the need to prevent one-way bypass that harms U.S.
    consumers. In approving this petition, however, we are finding
    solely that the petition complies with Commission policies and
    regulations. We make no determination as to whether parties may
    actually implement the terms of an agreement. As a result of this
    approval, all carriers authorized by the Commission to provide ISR
    on other routes may also provide ISR on the U.S.-Singapore route.

# ORDERING CLAUSES

6.  Accordingly, it is ORDERED that MCI Worldcom's request for the
    approval of ISR between the U.S. and Singapore satisfies Section
    63.16, 47 C.F.R. §63.16, and is consistent with the policies set
    forth in the *Foreign Participation Order* and the *Benchmarks
    Order* and is in the public interest, and therefore GRANTED.

7.  It is further ORDERED that MCI Worldcom's Petition for Declaratory
    Ruling is GRANTED.

8.  This Order is issued under Section 0.261 of the Commission's rules,
    47 C.F.R. §0.261, and is effective immediately. Petitions for
    reconsideration under Section 1.106 or applications for review under
    Section 1.115 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §§1.106 and 1.115
    respectively, may be filed within 30 days of the date of public
    notice of this Order (*see* 47 C.F.R. § 1.4(b)(2)).

> FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Rebecca Arbogast

Chief, Telecommunications Division

International Bureau

[^1]: 47 C.F.R. §63.16.

[^2]: *In the Matter of MCI Worldcom, Inc.: Petition for Declaratory
    Ruling Pursuant to Section 63.16 of the Commission's Rules to
    Provide Switched Services Via International Private Lines
    Interconnected to the Public Switched Network between the United
    States and Singapore*, File No. ITC-PDR-19990730 (filed Aug. 2,
    1999) (*Petition*).

[^3]: *Petition* at 2-3.

[^4]: Public Notice, DA 99-1595 (August 11, 1999).

[^5]: *Comments of Singapore Telecommunications Limited*, File No.
    ISP-PDR-19990802-00007 (filed Aug. 18, 1999) (*SingTel Comments*);
    *List of Carriers Presumed to Possess Market Power in Foreign
    Telecommunications Markets*, Public Notice, DA 99-809 (June 18,
    1999).

[^6]: *SingTel Comments* at 1.

[^7]: *Rules and Policies on Foreign Participation in the U.S.
    Telecommunications Market*, IB Docket Nos. 97-142 and 95-22, Report
    and Order on Reconsideration, 12 FCC Rcd 23,891 at 23,927-28, para.
    79 (1997), *petition for recon. pending* (*Foreign Participation
    Order*).

[^8]: 47 C.F.R. §63.16(b)(1).

[^9]: MCI Worldcom filed an accounting rate modification containing an
    accounting rate of \$.30 effective Jan. 1, 1999. AT&T subsequently
    filed a modification containing the same rate. *See* Letter from
    Tally Frenkel, MCI Worldcom, Inc. to Magalie Roman Salas, Secretary,
    FCC (July 1, 1999), Letter from Michael Behrens, AT&T Corp. to
    Magalie Roman Salas, Secretary, FCC (July 14, 1999).

[^10]: To determine whether the benchmarks condition has been satisfied,
    we examine the difference in settled minutes between traffic billed
    in the U.S. (the 50 states and the District of Columbia) that
    terminates in a foreign point and foreign-billed traffic that
    terminates in the U.S. Such traffic does not include hubbed,
    refiled, or ISR traffic. According to the most current information
    about traffic data available to the Commission, we confirm that AT&T
    and MCI Worldcom in aggregate handle greater than fifty percent
    (50%) of these settled minutes for the U.S.-Singapore route.
    *International Settlement Rates*, IB Docket No. 96-261, Report and
    Order, 12 FCC Rcd 19,806 (1997) (*Benchmarks Order*).