[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 175 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 175

Expressing the intention of the Congress with respect to the collection 
 of fees or other payments from the allocation of toll-free telephone 
                                numbers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 10, 1996

Mr. Frisa (for himself, Mr. King, Mr. Tauzin, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Fields of 
 Texas, Mr. Klink, and Mr. Weller) submitted the following concurrent 
      resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the intention of the Congress with respect to the collection 
 of fees or other payments from the allocation of toll-free telephone 
                                numbers.

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Telephone Number Ownership Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

      The Congress finds that--
            (1) under existing law, the Federal Communications 
        Commission is the administrator, not the owner, of telephone 
        numbers, and has no authority to auction, or impose user fees 
        for, any number within the North American Numbering Plan, nor 
        does any other Federal agency;
            (2) auctions of toll-free numbers will increase consumer 
        fraud and confusion by allowing competitors to profit from the 
        established reputation associated with existing toll-free 
        numbers;
            (3) there are a total of 21 countries in the North American 
        Numbering Plan, including the United States of America, Canada, 
        and most Caribbean countries, and decisions affecting 
        universally available toll-free numbers should not be made 
        without a consensus among the participating nations;
            (4) the value of a toll-free telephone number is derived 
        solely from the efforts of the holder to create value in it; 
        and
            (5) the right of first refusal for companies with toll-free 
        numbers that have become a unique brand identity will ensure 
        that customers reach their intended service provider.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the Federal Communications Commission lacks legal 
        authority to conduct auctions or other revenue raising 
        activities in connection with the allocation of any number 
        within the North American Numbering Plan;
            (2) if the Congress is to authorize such activities, 
        procedures will be required--
                    (A) to protect any value attaching to new toll-free 
                numbers by reason of a private business investment in 
                the advertisement or public awareness of the 
                corresponding 800 number, by granting a right of first 
                refusal or other protection to the subscriber to that 
                corresponding 800 number;
                    (B) to prevent unjust enrichment and inefficient 
                use of toll-free numbers by measures designed to 
                prevent speculation, hoarding, and other ``gaming'' of 
                the allocation system; and
                    (C) to protect consumers from fraud and confusion 
                by preventing the misrepresentation of established 
                toll-free numbers; and
            (3) the Federal Communications Commission should submit to 
        the Congress a plan for the allocation of toll-free 888 numbers 
        that contains procedures described in paragraph (2), together 
        with its recommendations for legislative authorization of such 
        allocation.
                                 <all>