A telecommunications system utilizes a central database to determine
characteristics for international calls, to facilitate call routing for
international calls, or both. The central database includes termination
information for telephone numbers in multiple nations outside the North
American Numbering Plan. In one aspect, an interexchange switch receives
a termination number for an international call from a local exchange
carrier and uses information from the central database to help complete
the call. In another aspect, the central database receives a telephone
number from a remote user such as interexchange carrier (IXC) and, in
response, transmits termination information to the remote user to
identify whether the telephone number uses wireless termination. The
remote user may then charge a customer for wireless termination, if
appropriate, possibly even before the remote user receives an invoice
that reflects wireless termination charges from a foreign wireless
carrier.