Somos: FCC Should Transition Numbering Rules to an IP World
Somos filed a petition Friday urging the FCC to make major changes to how phone numbers are assigned, moving the agency away from its legacy systems to an IP world. The petition comes as the FCC shutters the North American Numbering Council (see 2506240074). This transition “is essential as spammers and cyber criminals supercharge their scams with AI to exploit the US telecommunications systems,” Somos CEO Gina Perini said in an email.
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Among the recommended changes, Somos said the agency should transition to using an IP routing guide and retire the local exchange routing guide. “This is an urgent and necessary step to foster the IP transition.” The company called on the FCC to get rid of other rules that no longer make sense. “The Commission can -- and should -- sunset legacy regulations that imperil the transition to all-IP networks and harm consumers.”
The FCC should also consolidate number assignment functions that are currently split between the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, which recently took responsibility for administering number pooling, and the Local Number Portability Administrator, Somos said. “This reform will facilitate long-delayed efforts to modernize numbering assignment and administration to reflect current technology, and it is made more pressing (and more opportune) as a result of the Commission’s recent assumption of responsibilities once delegated to the NANC.”
The commission’s numbering administration and routing rules “have been in place for decades with little change, requiring numerous databases and companies to keep these legacy systems going,” the petition argued. Meanwhile, the regulator “has a renewed focus to bring the nation’s network infrastructure to meet the demands of AI and eliminate outdated rules and regulations that are barriers to achieving a transition to all IP.”
“An all-IP network is necessary to advance the FCC and industry's anti-robocall and anti-fraud efforts,” Perini said. “Telephone numbers play a vital role in this ecosystem by identifying and routing telecommunications traffic and must keep pace with that transition.”