With just 14 days remaining before the implementation of local number portability (LNP), the FCC officially reaffirmed that wireline carriers must port numbers to wireless carriers under its current rules. In the new order, the FCC clarified that porting from a wireline carrier to a wireless carrier is required where the requesting wireless carrier's coverage area overlaps the geographic location in which the wireline number is provisioned, including cases where the wireless carrier does not have a point of interconnection or numbering resources in the rate center to which the phone number is assigned. The FCC also sought comment on how to facilitate wireless-to-wireline porting in cases where the rate center associated with the wireless number is different from the rate center in which the wireline carrier seeks to serve the customer. Finally, the FCC sought comment on whether to reduce the duration of the porting interval for ports between wireline and wireless carriers.
The FCC also said that wireless carriers do not need to negotiate interconnection agreements with wireline carriers solely for the purpose of porting numbers. In cases where parties are unable to reach an agreement on porting terms, the FCC requires that carriers port numbers upon request and receipt of appropriate technical information, with no conditions.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell said the order endorses "a customer's right to untether themselves from the wireline network -- and take their telephone number with them."http://www.fcc.gov
- In response to the order, Gary Lytle, Qwest Communications' senior vice president for federal affairs said "Unfortunately, over the long-term, customers stand to be the biggest losers with today's announcement. This is a one-way street that will leave millions of customers stranded without the ability to convert wireless numbers to wireline. "
