NANC Numbering Portability Directive Draws Dissent
A North American Numbering Council working group report on use of IP local routing numbers for nationwide number portability (NNP) drew fire Tuesday, with the FCC advisory group unable to get unanimous support for it and the focus on IPLRN coming under criticism. Others argued that IPLRN focus is what the FCC wanted in its charge letter to the working group. The FCC didn't comment. NANC also adopted a working group report on interoperable video calling.
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Comcast was the sole "nay" vote against adopting the NNP working group report, with Tim Kagele saying the report wasn't clear enough on next steps and its lack of attention to NNP options available to service providers other than use of IPLRN. SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) Forum Chairman Rich Shockey, who voted to adopt the NNP report, also criticized the IPLRN focus. He said alternative options include a national LRN system and commercial agreements among providers, with NLRN optimal. Shockey said the eighth floor has numerous policy and tactical issues that need resolving before deployment of any solution.
Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith in a 2019 letter to the NNP WG directed it "to develop more specific recommendations" for the IPLRN option, with its report due Tuesday.
According to the WG, carrier expenses for database inquiries and transport costs will vary widely among the different types of service providers. It said those with legacy TDM networks will face the biggest cost, given the amount of network updates required. It said service providers that charge for long-distance calling services might need to educate their customers or change their service offerings. Seek comment on the impacts of and costs for implementing IPLRN, it recommended.
The Interoperable Video Calling (IVC) WG report on implementing a numbering database approach recommended creating a new database rather than using an existing one, as well as starting work toward defining standards on such issues as IP-based video call signaling and security. "We're not interested in finding yet another bolt-on” but parallel and independent system to the traditional phone network, said co-Chairman David Bahar of the National Association for State Relay Administration.
That distributed database approach should support general IVC calling with telecom relay services and connecting to public safety answering points, said co-Chairman Chris Wendt of Comcast.
There was back and forth between the working group and Shockey, who said he had reservations about a new database creating complexity for service provider implementation. Wendt said distributed database technology is “a very-well solved problem,” with numerous commercial options.
NANC heard a pitch from Pierce County, Washington, Councilman Pam Roach, a former state senator, on enhanced 211 as a referral route to local drug addiction services. E-211 would have callers to United Way-operated local 211 community referral lines receive a prompt to be directed to drug addiction services, and the idea is backed by the United Way and National Association of Counties, she said. “It's just line splitting, it's very inexpensive to implement." She hoped NANC will bring the idea to the FCC.