Is the decline in settlement rates more a result of market forces or of the Benchmark Order itself?
It’s been a one-two punch. Procompetitive policies, such as the benchmark order and the WTO Agreement (an agreement by member states to deregulate their telecommunications markets), were the first punch. The second punch was the marketplace. Q: Is there anywhere where the benchmark order has failed or had less than ideal results? A: The policy has worked quite well. But we’re in enforcement mode right now. Overall, 92% of settled minutes are at or below a benchmark rate of 15 cents. We phased in benchmarks based on extent of development in countries. Upper income countries were scheduled to be at benchmark by Jan. 1, 1999, and 92% of them are compliant. Upper middle income countries are scheduled to be at a rate of 19 cents by Jan. 1, 2000, and 80% of those countries are settling minutes at or below that rate. Where most countries are compliant, it’s been an overwhelming success. With those that aren’t, we’re taking enforcement actions. If a U.S. carrier has noncompliant accounting rat
