Deeper Dive Into Nationwide Number Portability Questions Sought
NASHVILLE -- The FCC should open a public inquiry on moving to nationwide number portability (NNP), numbering experts said on a Tuesday panel at the 2016 NARUC Summer Committee meetings. They agreed with the recommendation of a May 16 North American Numbering Council report that the FCC should seek comments on technical and policy issues of a transition to national portability, including potential costs and the impact for state regulators (see 1605170007).
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Panelists supported a transition to NNP, which would allow users to carry their 10-digit phone numbers with them when relocating to different areas of the country. Under today's local number portability, consumers can keep their numbers when changing carriers locally. “NNP is a pro-competitive, pro-consumer policy,” said SIP Forum Chairman Richard Shockey. The U.S. Census found 12 percent of Americans move every year, he said. It doesn’t specify how far they're moving, “but we know America continues to move.” Brent Struthers, Neustar senior policy adviser, said "it is time for those long-oppressed phone numbers to break free from their bondage, rise up and move as free numbers beyond the official boundaries of the rate center!"
But the officials said many key questions remain, including how it will be implemented and whether to wait until the end of the IP transition. Nationwide number portability is "more than a concept but not a final product," said Mark Lancaster, an AT&T technical specialist in numbering management support. States may have to change some current rules to make it happen, he said. Some -- including Michigan, Oklahoma and California -- have rules “that would have to be undone to allow the numbers to move more freely,” he said. States should do an analysis now to see what steps will need to be taken, he said.
The cost of moving to NNP could be “huge” for providers and others, warned Michele Thomas, T-Mobile national director-state regulatory affairs and numbering policy. Determining the precise price tag will require a deeper dive into the details of how NNP will be implemented, she said. The NANC’s Future of Numbering working group said doing NNP in advance of the IP transition could result in “unnecessary and possibly duplicative costs,” she said. The IP transition is moving along, and having an all-IP network in place would make it technically easier to implement NNP, said Shockey. But policymakers must ask if it’s worth waiting for the IP transition to conclude before moving ahead on NNP, said Struthers.
Panelists said the FCC and stakeholders should discuss NNP in greater detail to begin answering questions. Shockey said the transition isn’t likely to be as involved as the DTV transition, but said the NNP transition could still take at least five to six years. But the FCC must issue a notice to get the ball rolling, said Shockey. “Let’s go.”