WASHINGTON-A rumored effort to amend a bill dealing with media ownership restrictions to delay the implementation of wireless local number portability did not come to pass on Thursday when the Senate Commerce Committee met for a business meeting.
The amendment, reportedly to have been offered by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), would have pushed back the wireless LNP implementation deadline to 2005.
Efforts on Capital Hill to delay wireless LNP are not over, however. Stevens is chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which means the amendment is likely to reappear in the bill that funds the Federal Communications Commission. In addition, the Senate Commerce Committee next week will consider the FCC reauthorization bill.
Also on the LNP front, the Cellular Telecommunications & Industry Association responded to yesterday’s results of a Web-based survey conducted by telecommunications consulting firm TMNG that found 29 percent of respondents said they would change carriers if they could keep their phone numbers. CTIA countered by pointing to a recent study by the General Accounting Office that showed general satisfaction with call quality.
