REGULATORS MOVE TO CUT PHONE RATES.(BUSINESS)

Byline: -- Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators agreed Thursday to move forward on a plan intended eventually to lower international phone rates and possibly save U.S. callers billions of dollars.

But while U.S. long-distance companies like the Federal Communications Commission's plan, foreign telecommunications groups are opposed and will get the chance to weigh in before the FCC takes a final vote.

The proposal is designed to bring international phone rates closer to the costs of actually providing them by setting benchmarks above which U.S. companies would not pay foreign carriers to complete calls. Countries that don't meet the …