WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission may propose charging carriers for telephone numbers.
Also at its open meeting on Thursday, the FCC is expected to tell the wireless industry that in addition to being ready to convert to local number portability by Nov. 24, 2002, the industry also must be ready to pool numbers.
Finally, the FCC will ask for comment on a proposal recently submitted by the Personal Communications Industry Association, AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Nextel Communications Inc., Verizon Wireless, Verizon Wireless Messaging Services and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. that would allow states to create a technology-specific overlay as a way to conserve numbers.
Charging for telephone numbers
FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth has long championed the idea that telephone numbers-like spectrum-should be distributed using market forces.
Details of what formula would be used to charge for numbers were not yet available. It appears the FCC staff is still drafting the proposed rule.
There is no mention of charging for numbers on the official agenda released late last week, but the agency plans to address numbering issues.
This is at least the second time the FCC has asked the telecommunications industry to comment on whether there should be a charge for telephone numbers.
“The commission has raised this before and everyone said it wasn’t a good idea so I am a little puzzled as to why the commission is raising it again,” said Andrea Williams, assistant general counsel to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association.
In addition, Williams said CTIA does not believe the FCC has the authority to charge for numbers.
When asked whether CTIA had presented this to Furchtgott-Roth (who consistently dissents from anything not expressly written in the communications act) Williams said she had not had the opportunity to discuss this with the commissioner or his staff.
While it appears most of the telecom industry would oppose charging for numbers, the director of the Toll-free Commerce coalition welcomed such a move.
“I very much support it. There is wide-spread hoarding of numbers,” said Robert Tate, director of the group 1-800 subscribers, which want to protect their toll-free numbers.
Tate said companies are hoarding toll-free and other numbers and making companies pay for numbers could alleviate the problem.
Be ready to port and pool
In a related matter, the FCC is expected to rule this week that as soon wireless carriers are able to port numbers, they must be able to pool them.
Last year the FCC gave the wireless industry a reprieve from local number portability rules, giving the industry until Nov. 24, 2002, to prepare for the technological challenge.
Thousand-number block pooling would change the way numbers are allocated and could slow the exhaustion time for area codes. Today, numbers are allocated in 10,000-number blocks, but some carriers do not use all of the numbers in the blocks they are allocated, so a regime is being readied that would allow carriers to turn back unused 100-number blocks, which then would be reissued.
Thousand-number block pooling is a popular idea with state regulators, many of whom have asked for interim authority to implement the idea. It is also popular with some members of Congress. Last year, Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) attempted to amend the FCC spending bill to allow states to implement number pooling. However, the measure failed.
The wireless industry has argued that in order to maintain roaming abilities, all carriers in all areas-not just the top 100 metropolitan service areas-must flash cut to number portability on the same day.
Since the wireline industry was given time to transition to pooling, the wireless industry had assumed it would also be given a transition period before being required to pool numbers.
“PCIA and many segments of the industry thought there should be a reasonable transition period because it will be close to the holiday period and when [the FCC] will be choosing a new numbering administrator among other reasons,” said Harold Salters, PCIA director of government relations.
PCIA and others propose phasing in TSOs
Last month, PCIA and others presented a plan to the FCC that would allow a technology service overlay to be implemented by states in lieu of other rationing efforts.
This was a 180-degree turn from previous stances, where the wireless industry has opposed TSOs, saying that in a competitive landscape, a TSO would unduly distinguish wireless service from wireline service.
The FCC is expected to ask the industry to now comment on the PCIA proposal.
The PCIA proposal would also institute 10-digit dialing whenever an overlay was instituted.
