[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 80 (Tuesday, April 27, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 22562-22563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10443]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 52

[WT Docket No. 98-229, CC Docket No. 95-116; FCC 99-19]


Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's Petition for 
Forbearance From Commercial Mobile Radio Services Number Portability 
Obligations and Telephone Number Portability

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: In this Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Commission grants a 
petition filed by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association 
(CTIA) requesting that the Commission forbear from imposing service 
provider local number portability (LNP) requirements on broadband 
commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers until the expiration 
of the five-year buildout period for broadband personal communications 
service (PCS) carriers. Accordingly, the Memorandum Opinion and Order 
extends the deadline for CMRS providers to support service provider LNP 
in the top 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) until November 24, 
2002. The Memorandum Opinion and Order finds that extension of the 
deadline will provide the industry with the flexibility to allocate its 
immediate resources toward network construction, a goal proven to 
promote a competitive marketplace.

DATES: Effective May 27, 1999.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Furth at (202) 418-0632 or Joel 
Taubenblatt at (202) 418-1513 (Wireless Telecommunications Bureau).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Memorandum Opinion 
and Order, FCC 99-19, adopted February 8, 1999 and released February 9, 
1999. The complete text of the Memorandum Opinion and Order is 
available for inspection and copying during normal business hours in 
the FCC Reference Center, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. and 
also may be purchased from the Commission's copy contractor, 
International Transcription Services, (202) 857-3800, 1231 20th St., 
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. The document is also available via the 
internet at http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/Orders/1999/index.html.

Introduction

    1. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Commission grants a 
petition filed by CTIA seeking forbearance from LNP requirements for 
CMRS carriers until the completion of the five-year buildout period for 
broadband PCS carriers. In granting the petition, the Commission 
extends the deadline for CMRS carriers to implement service provider 
LNP until November 24, 2002.

Background

    2. Under the Commission's prior LNP decisions, broadband CMRS 
carriers (cellular, broadband PCS, and some specialized mobile radio 
(SMR) providers) were required to implement LNP in the top 100 MSAs, 
and to support nationwide roaming, by March 31, 2000. Implementation of 
LNP by CMRS providers would enable wireless customers to ``port'' their 
telephone numbers in the event that they switch from one wireless 
carrier to another, or from a wireless to a wireline carrier.

Findings

    3. In this Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Commission finds that 
extending the deadline is consistent with the statutory standard for 
granting forbearance under section 10 of the Communications Act of 
1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. 160. The Commission notes that the wireless 
industry requires additional time to implement LNP in part because, 
unlike wireline carriers (who are already required to provide LNP in 
the top 100 MSAs), wireless carriers face certain unique technical 
issues regarding implementation of LNP in their networks and in 
supporting roaming by customers with ported numbers. The Commission 
also states that extending the deadline until November 2002 is 
consistent with the public interest for competitive reasons because it 
will give CMRS carriers greater flexibility in that time-frame to 
complete network buildout, technical upgrades, and other improvements 
that are likely to have a more immediate impact on enhancing service to 
the public and promoting competition in the telecommunications 
marketplace.
    4. The Commission emphasizes that its decision in the Memorandum 
Opinion and Order does not relieve CMRS carriers of their underlying 
obligation to implement LNP. As wireless service rates continue their 
downward trend and the use of wireless

[[Page 22563]]

service increases, there is a greater likelihood that customers will 
view their wireless phones as a potential substitute for their wireline 
phones, making LNP more important to consumers.
    5. Because LNP provides a platform for certain number conservation 
techniques, including number pooling, the Commission also stresses the 
importance of efficient utilization of numbering resources. The 
Commission states that the decision to grant forbearance in this 
instance is not intended to limit Commission ability to require, 
through a rulemaking proceeding on number utilization, CMRS 
participation in pooling at an earlier date, if doing so were deemed 
necessary to address specific number exhaust problems. The Commission 
states that, as an initial step, it intends to initiate a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking in the next few months that will propose both LNP 
and non-LNP based numbering optimization techniques applicable to all 
telecommunications carriers, and that it will move forward with 
additional proceedings on other number conservation methods possibly 
including one or more pooling methods.
    6. Appendix A of the Memorandum Opinion and Order contains the full 
text of section 52.31 of the Commission's rules, as revised to reflect 
the service provider LNP implementation deadline established in the 
Memorandum Opinion and Order and corrections made in an erratum to the 
Memorandum Opinion and Order. Cellular Telecommunications Industry 
Association's Petition for Forbearance From Commercial Mobile Radio 
Services Number Portability Obligations and Telephone Number 
Portability, WT Docket No. 98-229 and CC Docket No. 95-116, Erratum 
(released April 20, 1999). The erratum corrected the following items: 
the amended date in section 52.31(a)(1)(ii) of the Commission's rules 
by which carriers must submit requests for LNP deployment to CMRS 
carriers in the top 100 MSAs; several inadvertent deletions of certain 
amendments to section 52.31 of the Commission's rules that occurred in 
past proceedings in CC Docket No. 95-116; and certain typographical 
errors.

List of Subjects in 47 CFR Part 52

    Telecommunications.

Federal Communications Commission.
Magalie Roman Salas,
Secretary.

Rule Changes

    For the reasons discussed in the preamble, the Federal 
Communications Commission amends 47 CFR part 52 as follows:

PART 52--NUMBERING

    1. The authority citation for part 52 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Sec. 1, 2, 4, 5, 48 Stat. 1066, as amended; 47 U.S.C. 
Sec. 151, 152, 154, 155 unless otherwise noted. Interpret or apply 
secs. 3, 4, 201-05, 207-09, 218, 225-7, 251-2, 271 and 332, 48 Stat. 
1070, as amended, 1077; 47 U.S.C. 153, 154, 201-05, 207-09, 218, 
225-7, 251-2, 271 and 332 unless otherwise noted.

    2. Section 52.31 is amended by revising paragraph (a) to read as 
follows:


Sec. 52.31  Deployment of long-term database methods for number 
portability by CMRS providers

    (a) By November 24, 2002, all covered CMRS providers must provide a 
long-term database method for number portability, including the ability 
to support roaming, in the MSAs identified in the Appendix to this part 
in compliance with the performance criteria set forth in section 
52.23(a) of this part, in switches for which another carrier has made a 
specific request for the provision of number portability, subject to 
paragraph (a)(1) of this section. A licensee may have more than one 
CMRS system, but only the systems that satisfy the definition of 
covered CMRS are required to provide number portability.
    (1) Any procedure to identify and request switches for development 
of number portability must comply with the following criteria:
    (i) Any wireline carrier that is certified (or has applied for 
certification) to provide local exchange service in a state, or any 
licensed CMRS provider, must be permitted to make a request for 
deployment of number portability in that state;
    (ii) For the MSAs identified in the appendix to this part, carriers 
must submit requests for deployment by February 24, 2002;
    (iii) A covered CMRS provider must make available upon request to 
any interested parties a list of its switches for which number 
portability has been requested and a list of its switches for which 
number portability has not been requested;
    (iv) After November 24, 2002, a covered CMRS provider must deploy 
additional switches serving the MSAs identified in the Appendix to this 
part upon request within the following time frames:
    (A) For remote switches supported by a host switch equipped for 
portability (``Equipped Remote Switches''), within 30 days;
    (B) For switches that require software but not hardware changes to 
provide portability (``Hardware Capable Switches''), within 60 days;
    (C) For switches that require hardware changes to provide 
portability (``Capable Switches Requiring Hardware''), within 180 days; 
and
    (D) For switches not capable of portability that must be replaced 
(``Non-Capable Switches''), within 180 days.
    (v) Carriers must be able to request deployment in any wireless 
switch that serves any area within the MSA, even if the wireless switch 
is outside that MSA, or outside any of the MSAs identified in the 
Appendix to this part.
    (2) By November 24, 2002, all covered CMRS providers must be able 
to support roaming nationwide.
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[FR Doc. 99-10443 Filed 4-26-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P