WASHINGTON-The wireline industry late Tuesday asked the Federal Communications Commission to delay local number portability until it is possible for most wireless consumers to port to wireline carriers and warned that if the FCC does not act by Thursday it will go to court.
“Real competition is a two-way street. This is government-managed competition at its worst. These rules place the FCC in the role of ‘traffic cop,’ directing consumers away from wireline companies and toward wireless ones. Consumers don’t have a real choice to move in the opposite direction, which means local telecommunications companies don’t have the opportunity to compete on an equal footing for their business. This is a victory for regulatory favoritism rather than head-to-head competition. All we ask is that the FCC take the time to do it right and live up to its repeated pledge that it would not implement any system that discriminates between wireline and wireless carriers,” said Walter McCormick Jr., president and chief executive officer of the United States Telecom Association.
Whether or not the FCC will adhere to the USTA deadline is unclear. The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association made a similar threat, which it carried out, to have the FCC rule on wireline-to-wireless porting by Labor Day but it was Nov. 10 before the rules were announced.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell downplayed the success of any lawsuit at a press conference on Capitol Hill, where he joined Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Capitol Hill to hail Monday’s implementation of LNP.
“I can’t imagine a legal claim that at the end of the day we can’t overcome,” said Powell. Such a claim would “be good for their shareholders, but bad for their customers.”
At another point in the press conference, Powell hinted that the FCC would deal with the USTA petition so “it doesn’t hang out there as an uncertainty.” But he stressed, “parties don’t dictate our schedule.”
State regulators were pleased about the apparent meeting of the minds between Capitol Hill and the FCC, but said that any technical glitches that occur come Monday are the industry’s fault.
“Sen. Schumer has led the charge on Capitol Hill to make sure his colleagues were not confused by wireline and wireless industry rhetoric. The FCC has stuck to its guns in the face of tremendous industry pressure for more delay of the deadline,” said Stan Wise, president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. “As with most technical issues, the logistics of a smooth rollout are squarely in the hands of industry. It is not like they haven’t had adequate notice.”
At a press conference Tuesday, before USTA filed its petition, Powell dismissed the carriers-mostly wireline at this point-that still want to stop LNP. “The only people who are afraid of local number portability are the people who are afraid to compete,” he said.
