Voice service number portability

(a)

In general

Title VII of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 714 the following:

715.

Number portability

(a)

In general

A provider of voice services has the duty to provide, to the extent technically feasible, number portability in accordance with requirements prescribed by the Commission. (b)

Standards

(1)

In general

Within 270 days after the date of enactment of the Same Number Act of 2007, to facilitate consumer choice among voice service providers the Commission shall establish number portability performance standards for voice service providers that, at a minimum— (A)require voice service providers to port numbers in an expeditious and efficient manner that is technically feasible; (B)institute a uniform porting process in which the porting-out provider may require only the minimum information necessary to validate the requesting customer and complete the port; (C)prohibit the porting-out provider from deactivating and removing a number from its switch for at least forty-eight (48) hours after the scheduled port request is completed; and (D)encourage the reasonable automation of the porting process. (2)

Flexibility

In adopting performance standards under paragraph (1), the Commission may— (A)take into account differences between simple and complex ports; and (B)grant a waiver of such standards for any provider or class of providers that can show that such standards would result in unreasonable compliance costs for that provider or class, except that any such waiver shall be of limited duration. (3)

Public access to timeframes

The Commission shall make available to the public on its Internet website any standard timeframes established by the Commission under paragraph (1). (c)

Porting reporting

(1)

Providers

Beginning 1 year after the date on which the Commission issues a final rule under subsection (b) establishing number portability performance standards for voice service providers, a voice service provider shall submit a report each year to the Commission on its number portability activity during the preceding 12 months, including a statement of the number of ports it failed to complete within the time required by the standards, and an explanation of the reason for such failures. (2)

Commission

Beginning 1 year after the date on which the Commission issues the final rule under subsection (b), the Commission shall submit a report each year to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on the effectiveness and efficiency of the number portability performance standards for voice service providers established under this section. (3)

Sunset

The requirements of this subsection shall cease to apply 60 months after the date on which the Commission issues such final rule. (d)

Numbering administration

(1)

Commission authority and jurisdiction

The Commission shall designate 1 or more impartial entities to administer telecommunications and voice service numbering and to ensure that numbers are available on an equitable basis. The Commission has exclusive jurisdiction of those portions of the North American Numbering Plan that pertain to the United States. Nothing in this subsection precludes the Commission from delegating to State Commission or other entities all or a portion of such jurisdiction. (2)

Costs

The costs of establishing numbering administration arrangements and number portability shall be borne by all voice service providers on a competitively neutral basis, as determined by the Commission. (3)

Universal emergency telephone number

The Commission and any agency or entity to which the Commission has delegated authority under section 715(e) shall designate 9–1–1 as the universal emergency telephone number within the United States for reporting an emergency to appropriate authorities and requesting assistance. The designation shall apply to both wireline and wireless telephone service. In making the designation, the Commission (and any such agency or entity) shall provide appropriate transition periods for areas in which 9–1–1 is not in use as an emergency telephone number on the date of enactment of the Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999. (e)

Voice service defined

In this section, the term voice service means— (1)a telecommunications service; or (2)any service that is not a telecommunications service, but that otherwise is an IP-enabled voice service as defined in section 9.3 of the Commission’s regulations (47 C.F.R. 9.3), as those regulations may be amended by the Commission from time to time.

(b)

Conforming amendments

Section 251 of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 251) is amended— (1)by striking subsection (b)(2) and redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subsection (b) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively; and (2)by striking subsection (e) and redesignating subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i) as subsections (e), (f), (g), and (h), respectively.