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DATA MINE Nov. 2, 1999 Cheap Talk The cost of international phone calls has plunged in the past year thanks to plenty of capacity in undersea cables and a rollicking free market in phone service. Nothing typifies the trend more than the emergence of burgeoning electronic exchanges, where minutes of international phone service are bought and sold by phone carriers like pork bellies or copper futures. On one exchange based in San Francisco, the average price of a minute has dropped 31% since February. These are the wholesale prices that phone carriers charge each other to carry traffic. Average retail prices are about twice as much. Ten largest declines in spot market prices for an international minute from the U.S.:   Feb. 1 June 1 Oct. 1 Decline Hong Kong $0.15 $0.04 $0.03 80% Belau $0.56 $0.30 $0.14 76% Taipei $0.13 $0.07 $0.04 72% Jakarta $0.24 $0.14 $0.07 71% Taiwan (excluding Taipei) $0.15 $0.09 $0.06 63% San Marino $0.31 $0.17 $0.12 63% St. Pierre & Miquelon $0.21 $0.16 $0.08 62% Moscow $0.13 $0.08 $0.05 62% American Samoa $0.25 $0.14 $0.08 59% Rio de Janeiro $0.18 $0.13 $0.07 58% DATA: M.J. Scheele & Associates _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					MORE NUGGETS The Mother Lode Collected nuggets from Data Mine