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JSI e-Lert
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Number Porting Requirements for Carriers and
Interconnected VoIP Providers |
This e-lert summarizes the
following new porting requirements for carriers and
interconnected VoIP providers:
(I) New Porting Obligations for Interconnected VoIP Providers
and Their
Numbering Partners
(II) Small Wireline Carriers Must Begin Porting to Wireless
Carriers (Intermodal
LNP)
(III) New Requirements for Validating Port Requests
(IV) Dates for Compliance
On November 8, 2007 the FCC released a Report and Order
clarifying local number portability (LNP) obligations for all
carriers and interconnected VoIP providers. The FCC's Order
provides clarification in three key areas: (1) new porting
obligations for VoIP providers and their numbering partners; (2)
intermodal porting implementation for small carriers; and (3)
new requirements for validating port requests.
JSI has summarized these three requirements, as well as upcoming
dates for compliance, in this e-lert and will release the full
details of these requirements in the next several weeks. In
addition, JSI has scheduled a webinar on December 12 to provide
more detailed intermodal porting implementation assistance for
clients. The webinar details are discussed below.
I. New Porting Obligations for Carriers, VoIP Providers
and Their Numbering Partners
The FCC's new porting requirements require the porting of
numbers between VoIP providers and wireline and wireless
carriers. Carriers will not be permitted to refuse to port when
an end user is purchasing VoIP service. Similarly, VoIP
providers can no longer refuse to port numbers back to the local
exchange carrier that wins a customer back.
According to the FCC's rules and the North American Numbering
Plan Administrator's (NANPA) standards, only carriers authorized
to provide service in an area, and are capable of providing
services in that area within sixty (60) days, may obtain
numbering resources for that area. Therefore, most VoIP
providers must work with a numbering partner, including local
exchange carriers and wireless carriers, to port a number.
The FCC now requires wireline and wireless carriers to
accommodate porting with VoIP services. Any ILEC must port out a
telephone number to: (a) a VoIP provider that partners with a
wireless carrier for numbering resources, where the partnering
wireless carrier's coverage area overlaps with the geographic
location of the porting-out wireline carrier's rate center; or
(b) a VoIP provider that partners with a wireline carrier for
numbering resources, where the partnering wireline carrier has
facilities or numbering resources in the same rate center as the
ILEC. Wireless carriers must port out a telephone number to: (a)
a VoIP provider that partners with a wireless carrier; or (b) a
VoIP provider that partners with a wireline carrier for
numbering resources, where the partnering wireline carrier is
within the number's originating rate center.
Any VoIP provider partnering with a wireline carrier must port
out a telephone number to (a) a wireless carrier with a coverage
area that overlaps with the geographic location of the
porting-out numbering partner's rate center; (b) a wireline
carrier that has facilities or numbering resources in the same
rate center; or (c) another VoIP provider whose numbering
partner meets the requirements of (a) or (b). A VoIP provider
partnering with a covered CMRS provider for numbering resources
must port out a telephone number to: (a) another wireless
carrier; (b) a wireline carrier within the telephone number's
originating rate center; or (c) another VoIP provider whose
numbering partner meets the requirements of (a) or (b).
II. Small Wireline Carriers Must Begin Porting to
Wireless Carriers (Intermodal LNP)
As of the effective date of the FCC's rules, any carrier
qualifying as a "small entity" under the FCC's Regulatory
Flexibility Analysis must begin intermodal porting.
Specifically, small entities are required to provide wireline-to-wireless
intermodal porting to a requesting wireless carrier. The
wireless carrier's coverage area must overlap the geographic
location in which the customer's wireline number is provisioned,
and the porting-in carrier must maintain the number's original
rate center destination following the port.
ILECs not already porting with wireless carriers need to be
prepared to begin testing or commencing porting on the effective
date of the order. As we send this e-lert, the effective date
has not been established, but JSI anticipates that it will be
set for the beginning of January. Once a firm date is
established, JSI will send out an update. On the effective date,
companies that have a request from a wireless carrier will need
to:
• have an LNP-capable switch;
• be registered with the Number Portability Administration
Center (NPAC) for porting;
• determine how the company will submit port requests to NPAC;
• have an arrangement with a database provider to query calls;
• understand the translations required for routing based on the
location routing number; and
• set up a process to receive and implement port requests.
Once again, JSI will conduct a webinar on December 12 at 10 a.m.
EST to review the basic LNP implementation steps and answer
questions about intermodal porting requirements.
III. New Requirements for Validating Port Requests
Beginning February 6, 2008, any porting-out carrier verifying a
port request for a simple port may not require more information
than is a "minimal but reasonable amount" from the porting-in
provider. The FCC has specified four fields of information that
may be requested by a carrier to validate and complete a simple
port: (1) 10-digit telephone number; (2) customer account
number; (3) 5-digit zip code; and (4) pass-code (if applicable).
Accordingly, carriers will need to modify their local service
order forms to comply with this requirement. The national
standards organizations (ordering and billing forum), North
American Numbering Council (NANC), and JSI are working to update
procedures. JSI is working to update its LNP Operations Manuals
that many clients have used to communicate their procedures to
wireless carriers and competitive local exchange carriers to
incorporate the changes in the service order.
IV. Dates for Compliance
The new LNP obligations established in the FCC's Report and
Order become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal
Register, which JSI expects to occur any day, making the
effective date early January 2008. However, the FCC's new
validation requirements are effective for all carriers as of
February 6, 2008, 90 days following the date of release of the
FCC's order.
Please also look for this upcoming information and assistance
from JSI:
• JSI will release the full details of these new requirements
and their implications for clients in an upcoming e-lert.
• JSI will provide more detailed intermodal porting
implementation assistance for clients in a webinar on December
12 at 10 a.m. EST.
• JSI plans to conduct a second webinar in early January to
address the VoIP porting requirements and the new validation
process.
If you have any general questions about the FCC's new porting
requirements, please contact Bridget Alexander
(balexander@jsitel.com),
Karen Hoffman
(khoffman@jsitel.com), Valerie Wimer
(vwimer@jsitel.com),
John Kuydendall
(jkuydendall@jsitel.com), or Terri Parrilla
(tparrilla@jsitel.com)
in JSI's Maryland office, at 301-459-7590, or Lans Chase
(lchase@jsitel.com) in
JSI's Atlanta office at 770-569-2105.
|
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NTCA Applauds Report Finding that Landline Still King:
Pew Internet Survey says landline youth's most popular
communication method
December 21, 2007, Arlington, Va. - The National
Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA) today hailed a
recently released report by the Pew Internet & American Life
Project that debunks the myth that communications landlines are
going the way of the horse and buggy. The report found that the
landline telephone is the number one method of communication for
teens ages 12 to 17.
The study validates NTCA, Foundation for Rural Service (FRS),
and other industry reports that indicate that there will always
be an overarching need for landlines and their superior
characteristics. In fact, the most recent survey of rural youth
communications habits by NTCA and FRS found that, when given a
choice, 70 % of respondents selected the landline as their
method of communication at home.
"Despite dire predictions of the demise of landline telephone
service, today's communications-oriented teens rely most heavily
on landlines wired to the wall for their day to day social
interactions," said NTCA Chief Executive Officer Michael E.
Brunner. "To paraphrase Mark Twain, 'reports of landlines' death
are greatly exaggerated.'"
The study suggests that rather than abandoning older
technologies in favor of newer ones, today's educated and
tech-savvy youth are adapting to their environments by utilizing
technologies and approaches that are most applicable to the
current need-in the same way rural communications providers have
adapted their business plans to deliver consumers the services
they demand.
"The study validates the experience that rural telcos have been
committed to for many years: Continuing to offer and value the
traditional landline while expanding their offerings to meet the
changing needs of consumers-particularly the younger
generation," Brunner said. "Rural telcos provide the security
and dependability of landline service and the innovation of
newer technologies, and their commitment to the new vision of
telecommunications-including landlines, wireless and
broadband-means they will continue to be relevant well in the
future." |
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Embarq Begins Testing Fixed-Mobile Convergence Services in
Florida
Regional telephone carrier, Embarq,
is rolling out two new fixed-mobile convergence services.
Telecommunications Industry News |
|
AT&T to offer TV service in N.C.
Frank Norton, Staff Writer
The News & Observer |
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The Road To WiMAX
How Intel's Sean Maloney shepherded through the
technology that's poised to rewrite the rules of wireless.
By Cliff Edwards, with Moon Ihlwan in Seoul
BusinessWeek |
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Can small business count on VoIP?
Last week's Skype outage left many small
businesses in the lurch and emphasized the importance of having
a backup for when IP services fail.
By Marguerite Reardon
Staff Writer, CNET News.com |
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