NTCA, OPASTCO and USTA late Tues. asked the U.S. Appeals Court, D...

best chance to reverse the LNP mandate. The Small Business Administration is expected to file an amicus brief in support of the rural arguments. Oral arguments in the case are set Nov. 18. “The FCC did not consider calibrating its new rule to the economic needs and realities of small business [local exchange carriers],” the groups said in their pleading. “The FCC failed to consider either the disproportionate expense or the minimal competitive benefit that application of its new intermodal porting requirements would bring if applied to those small entities, or whether there were ways to tailor the new rule to meet the agency goals with less impact on small businesses.” The groups argued that the LNP violated the Administrative Procedure Act by adopting a new intermodal number portability rule without first asking for comments through a rulemaking. The 3 parties said the mandate failed to follow procedures required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act. “The FCC hardly confronted and never resolved the basic issues of law and policy that would make intermodal number portability possible,” the groups told the court. “In resolving those issues in the order, the FCC imposed new, enforceable obligations and costs without following the procedures that federal law mandates.”