Several wireless carriers urged FCC Mon. against expanding scope ...
Several wireless carriers urged FCC Mon. against expanding scope of wireless local number portability (LNP) rule. In ex parte filing, Alltel, AT&T Wireless, Dobson Communications and Cingular Wireless said Commission was considering whether to eliminate need for requirement that…
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carriers operating in top 100 metropolitan statistical areas provide LNP and participate in number pooling only upon bona fide request from another operator. NARUC and others have raised concern that bona fide request requirement could provide loophole for carriers to not provide wireless LNP and have urged that that provision be eliminated in agency’s numbering resource optimization proceeding. Wireless carriers said they didn’t think FCC could expand wireless LNP requirement by doing away with bona fide request provision “without first addressing significant issues that have been raised about the legality of the underlying rule requiring CMRS carriers to provide LNP.” Carriers also told FCC they were intervenors in pending challenge in U.S. Appeals Court, D.C., by CTIA and Verizon Wireless of FCC decision not to forbear on wireless LNP deadline of Nov. 24. Carriers cited D.C. Circuit ruling last year in MPAA v. FCC that concluded that where Congress intentionally limited agency authority in certain area, “ancillary authority cannot be utilized to subvert the limitation.” Cingular and others said that meant Congress had “filled the hole” in such cases and there was no room for agency action. They said that language was relevant to wireless LNP because Sec. 251 of Telecom Act applied LNP only to LECs. “The exclusion of carriers other than LECs from LNP requirements and other Section 251 requirements reflects a deliberate choice by Congress, negating any implied power of the Commission to choose otherwise,” filing said.