WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission made good on its plans to require wireless carriers to have the ability to pool telephone numbers as of November 2002-a move the wireless industry finds disconcerting.
The commission also said it would seek comment on whether market-based mechanisms should be used to allocate numbers and on a proposal by the Personal Communications Industry Association to allow technology-specific overlays.
Marrying porting with pooling
“We are disappointed that the FCC denied our request for a decoupling of pooling and porting numbers,” said Jeffrey Nelson, spokesman for Verizon Wireless.
The FCC has given the wireless industry until Nov. 24, 2002, to prepare for the technological challenge of enabling wireless number portability-the ability for a user to keep his number when he changes service providers. The commission ruled last week that as soon as a carrier begins porting numbers, it also must be able to pool numbers.
The FCC has said it would require wireless portability since early 1999. Wireline carriers have been phasing in number portability for several years.
Along with porting, the commission is working toward nationwide number pooling.
Thousand-number block pooling would change the way numbers are allocated and could slow the exhaustion of 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. A plan is being developed that would allow carriers to turn back unused 100-number blocks, which then could be allocated to other carriers.
Numbering is a `nightmare’
All of these actions are done in an effort to conserve numbers, FCC members said. FCC Commissioner Michael Powell said “numbering continues to be a nightmare.”
There are many reasons for the continuing number crisis, some dealing with the rise of local competition and some dealing with technology advancements as noted by FCC Commissioner Susan Ness.
“We have numbers used in areas we didn’t expect. [For example,] in portions of the car,” said Ness, noting that where the average American family used to have only one telephone number, it has many today.
FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth again expressed his strong support for charging for numbers and noted the money could be used to pay for universal service.
However, it does not appear the FCC has the authority to charge for numbers and may have to go to Congress to request such authority.
Powell and FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani said they liked the idea, but wanted ideas from the industry on the jurisdictional question.
The telecom industry is opposed to the issue.
On the issue of technology-specific overlays, FCC Chairman William Kennard signaled his support for the proposal, commenting, “We are continuing to update the numbering system to find new and perhaps even more powerful ways to conserve numbers, like technology-specific overlays.”
Last month, PCIA, AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Nextel Communications Inc., Verizon Wireless, Verizon Wireless Messaging Services and VoiceStream Wireless Corp. presented a plan to the FCC that would allow a TSO to be implemented by states in lieu of other rationing efforts.
“We are extremely pleased that the commission has voted to put our phased-in overlay proposal out for public comment. … We are confident that this proposal, crafted by PCIA and members of the industry, offers a practical solution that will provide a win-win situation for everyone,” said PCIA spokeswoman Melinda Johnson.
The FCC, however, declined to adopt on a nationwide basis a necessary element of TSOs-10-digit dialing. States will continue to have the authority to mandate 10-digit dialing.
The FCC also modified its rules on how many numbers a carrier must use in an area code before asking for more. This is known as the fill-rate. The FCC lowered its fill rates from 75 percent to 60 percent, but this is only a temporary solution. After three years, the fill rate again will rise to 75 percent. Some relief was granted by allowing carriers to reserve numbers for 180 days, rather than the current 45 days.
The telecom industry likes the lower fill rate, noting that some numbers are not available to carriers. For example, aging numbers-a telephone number out of play for 90 days because a subscribers has dropped service-contribute to the number shortage.
Software-defined radios
The commission also proposed rules to enable the development of software-defined radios.
SDRs are a new technology that would allow communications equipment to adapt to multiple standards and add service features without changes to the equipment’s hardware.
“I am bullish about the prospect of SDR,” said Ness, noting it could be especially useful for public-safety interoperability, where multiple agencies use multiple frequencies.
“Today’s proposal is particularly important because it clarifies that SDR is permitted under the current rules, and launches a proceeding that is designed to reduce the regulatory burdens of recertifying and relabeling,” said the SDR Forum, an international industry association.
One of the regulatory burdens the FCC proposes to eliminate is labeling. By allowing an FCC label to be displayed on a screen rather than attached to the equipment, the label can be easily changed as authorization is granted. The authorization process is also being streamlined.
Last week’s meeting was the last one for Dale Hatfield, chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology. The commission took 20 minutes in the middle of its meeting to shower him with accolades. He responded by giving most of the credit to OET staff.
