Industry Reacts To Latest LNP Order

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 11:50:45 -0800
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>

Wireless Week
Breaking News Alert
November 11, 2003
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Industry Reacts To Latest LNP Order
By Mark Rockwell

WASHINGTON -- The FCC late yesterday handed the wireless industry a
win in how wireline numbers are ported, but also removed the last
strong argument wireless carriers had in resisting implementation of
the rules.

The FCC issued a clarifying order that said it would require wireline
carriers to port wireless numbers when the requesting wireless
carrier's coverage area overlapped the wireline carrier's. The point
is a fine one, but one that wireless carriers had been fighting for
because it allows wireline customers a greater ability to switch to
wireless phones in certain areas. Wireline switches cover specific
"rate centers" that determine what a caller is charged and have blocks
of phone numbers assigned to them. The rate centers complicated the
wireline-to-wireless porting requirements because wireless carriers'
networks have far fewer rate centers and subsequently, wireline
carriers said they couldn't effectively port to them and would deplete
numbering resources.

The FCC's ruling yesterday covered only wireline-to-wireless porting
in the same overlapping geographic area, however. Wireline carriers in
the top 100 markets have to comply with the order by Nov. 24, with the
remainder of the country's markets meeting the requirements by May 24,
2004.

In addition to unveiling the clarification, the commission asked for
comments on how it should handle wireline-to-wireless porting outside
overlapping areas served by both carriers. It also sought comment on
how long porting should take between wireline and wireless carriers.

The commission did give wireline carriers a way out of some of the
porting requirements. It said wireline carriers must comply "unless
they can demonstrate that complying with these requirements would be
technically infeasible."

The move drove a final stake through the heart of a movement on
Capitol Hill to attach an amendment to a Senate funding bill that
would have given the wireless industry a 90-day reprieve on
implementing LNP. The move apparently had been resurrected after being
discussed by a number of senators last week, according to Capitol Hill
sources. "This order takes away the last strong argument the wireless
industry has" for not implementing LNP, said Brad Ramsay, general
counsel at the National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners.

"It ain't over 'til it's over, but it looks like the wireless
industry's efforts to stop portability from going into effect are
pretty much dead. Today's rule from the FCC effectively eliminates the
last argument that the wireless industry was using to stop
portability, namely that it was unfair to treat wireline carriers
differently from the wireless companies. It's a win-win day for
consumers who are about to go from having a handful of service options
to a bushel full of them," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a
statement.

FCC Chairman Michael Powell hailed the order as a "landmark on the
path to full fledged facilities-based competition."

Other commissioners said they were sympathetic to wireline carrier
arguments that they were disadvantaged by the rules, but ultimately
consumers should benefit from them. "I recognize that wireline network
architecture and state rating requirements will prevent many (if not
most) consumers from porting wireless numbers to wireline carriers.
Although, in the short term, wireline carriers will have more limited
opportunities to benefit from intermodal LNP than wireless carriers
will, I was simply not willing to block consumers from taking
advantage of the porting opportunities that are technologically
feasible today," said Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy.

Reaction to the wireline ruling from wireless carriers was
enthusiastic. "The FCC struck down a major barrier to competition in
the near-monopoly landline telephone market - and consumers are the
real winners. Competition has proven to be the strongest force for
falling prices and increased innovation, and America's landline
telephone customers will have choices like never before," said Steve
Largent, president and CEO of CTIA.

In the wake of the FCC's action, some carriers accelerated their use
of LNP as a competitive weapon. Verizon Wireless unveiled two new Web
sites that would allow potential residential and business customers
not only to review the rules and gather information on how to switch,
but to pre-register to switch over to Verizon Wireless' service. The
company also issued a set of guidelines for consumers to use in making
their switch.

"It appears to be a strong pro-consumer decision. Landline-to-wireless
local number portability has the potential to introduce competition in
a market that has traditionally offered little choice for consumers,
residential landline service," said Doug Brandon, vice president of
federal affairs at AT&T Wireless.

Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>

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