NARUC Members Support State Role in VoIP Numbering, Won’t Force 10-Digit Dialing
NARUC members may tweak a resolution on 10-digit dialing ahead of their meeting next week in La Quinta, California, state commissioners said in recent interviews. District of Columbia Public Service Commission Chairwoman Betty Ann Kane told us she wants to make sure the item isn’t read as a mandate, and sponsor Commissioner Paul Kjellander of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission said he’s open to edits to ease others’ concerns. Meanwhile, a separate item on VoIP phone numbers is receiving some scrutiny from industry. Wide NARUC support is expected for the final versions of all four telecom resolutions teed up for the meeting (see 1611010042 and 1611020045).
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Kane said she planned to speak with Kjellander about the 10-digit dialing draft resolution, which recommends that state commissions use area code overlays to solve number exhaustion and encourages nationwide adoption of 10-digit dialing. NARUC resolutions don't usually tell states what to do, cautioned Kane, who chairs the North American Numbering Council. As a best practice for area codes facing number exhaustion, the NANC has recommended overlays, in which an additional area code is added for new numbers and callers in the area must dial 10 digits, she said. But the NANC recommendation still allowed states to make their own determinations, she said.
“It’s not a mandate,” Kjellander told us. Instead, his resolution is meant to provide “resources” and “best practices” for dealing with area code exhaustion, particularly for state commissioners who might not be familiar with NANC or numbering issues, he said: He welcomes revisions that give other members “additional comfort.” Moving to 10-digit dialing nationwide is key to making the transition to IP-based services, Kjellander said. But the state commissioner doesn’t want the FCC to require 10-digit numbering, he said. “It’s up to the states through their jurisdiction and through their authority to make any call they want.”
Most states and territories are 10-digit dialing already, but area code exhaustion is a continuing issue, Kjellander said. Neustar, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, said Tuesday that it has assigned an additional area code (223) to the 717 area code in south-central Pennsylvania that includes Harrisburg, Lancaster and Gettysburg. In a news release, Neustar said that the 717 area code will be exhausted by Q3 2017.
Two other NARUC draft resolutions under consideration aim to keep states involved in key telecom issues, Kane said. A VoIP numbering resolution seeks an FCC requirement ensuring that states are told when VoIP providers request numbering resources, said Kane. “It’s just to remind the FCC that the states are part of this system, and under their rules they’re supposed to be notified.” While states may not regulate VoIP, they maintain authority over access to numbers, she said. VoIP companies used to request digits from carriers, and the carriers would notify states about requests, Kane said. Earlier this year, the FCC allowed VoIP providers to obtain numbers directly from numbering administrators, a decision NARUC is challenging in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (NARUC v. FCC, No. 15-1497).
“In some cases, [VoIP providers are] applying for nationwide numbers, which means they’re skipping the NANC, and sometimes they’re even filing confidentially,” said Kane. The D.C. chairwoman predicted wide support among NARUC members for the resolution, though there might be some “industry pushback,” she said. Kjellander supported the resolution. The VON Coalition, representing VoIP providers, is “still analyzing the implications of the resolution but would be concerned about any new regulatory requirements that would delay the FCC approval process or otherwise impede VoIP provider access to telephone numbers,” Executive Director Glenn Richards emailed Tuesday.
A separate draft resolution on the Connect America Fund has a similar bent, said Kane, who co-sponsored the item. The draft asks the FCC to require CAF eligible telecom carriers to report data to state, tribal and territorial authorities. “States have experienced the problem” of not getting the data, and she expects support from members on the item, she said. The VoIP and CAF resolutions speak to a larger issue, Kane said. “My observation over the years is that the industry would prefer not to have to deal with the states.”
After a NARUC meeting this summer with no substantive telecom resolutions, Kjellander said it’s good to have four teed up for the La Quinta meeting. “Actually, that was kind of nice in a way,” he joked, “because we didn’t have to avoid people in the industry in the hallways.”