CenturyLink, USTelecom Urge 988 Implementation Waivers; NIMH Applauds FCC Work
The telecom industry has put forward "a reasonable transition path" for rolling out the 988 suicide hotline given the 10-digit dialing transition and translations work needed to make it universal, and a phased-in approach is the only route that works,…
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CenturyLink representatives told aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, per a docket 18-336 posting Friday. The draft order and its two-year deadline "grossly underestimates" the complexity of numerous simultaneous 10-digit dialing transitions, it said. CenturyLink -- which services all but one of the 87 numbering plan areas (NPA) that will have to transition to 10-digit dialing -- said more than 1,100 of its rate centers will need 10-digit dialing conversions, each taking up to 80 hours of work. It said the draft order is wrong to suggest the ongoing IP transition will speed up or coincide with 988 implementation. "Nothing in the record suggests a two-year timeline is possible, and to the contrary, much in the record plainly states a two-year timeline is not possible," it said. If commissioners go ahead with a two-year timeline at Thursday's meeting, that clock should start ticking only once the North American numbering plan administrator has developed a transition schedule for the 87 NPAs, or require the administrator develop an implementation schedule with the two-year deadline starting after a final FCC order explaining the criteria for wireline providers to get waivers, CenturyLink said. In calls with aides to Pai and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, USTelecom said waivers might be necessary. The National Institute of Mental Health backs the FCC efforts, NIMH Director Joshua Gordon tweeted Friday. "A 9-8-8 three-digit number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will help callers quickly and simply access help in times of crisis."