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Issues and Positions
Area Code Update
- August 2002
The El Segundo Chamber
participated in the July 15 forum conducted by Congresswoman Jane Harman
with special guest CPUC President Loretta Lynch. Carl Jacobson, Chamber
Board member and Government Affairs Committee member, offered testimony
on behalf of the El Segundo Chamber businesses.
During the forum,
attendees were informed that there is little recognition by the FCC
that local number portability is important to consumers. This was substantiated
in an excerpt from a statement published by FCC Commissioner Kathleen
Q. Abernathy. "Today, I find little record support for the conclusion
that consumers would readily prefer LNP to better coverage, lower prices,
or more innovation services."
Over the next three
years, more area code splits will be imminent in California (and across
the nation) unless the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) changes
the way that numbers are assigned. Area code changes have an enormously
detrimental impact, both financially and operationally, to businesses
and consumers.
On July 16 the FCC
considered extending the implementation of wireless local number portability
requirements, which have already been extended twice. In an email sent
on July 15, the Chamber strongly urged the FCC to OPPOSE this extension.
A broadcast email was sent to all members recommending that they also
contact the FCC. Listed below are the five actions that the Chamber
recommended be included in the email and any actions to report.
Maintain the
November 2002 deadline for local number portability by all wireless
companies.
While the FCC did
not approve the initial request to provide permanent forbearance on
wireless local number portability (LNP), they did extend the deadline
for implementation to November 2003.
Assign wireless
companies blocks of numbers no larger than 1,000 (not 10,000), and return
unused numbers back to the pool.
The Commission determined
that all carriers, including wireless carriers, would be required to
participate in thousands-block number pooling once they became LNP-capable.
The pooling deadline is November 24, 2002 for wireless carriers operating
in the largest 100 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).
Raise the "contamination
threshold" from 10% to 25% ensuring that more unused numbers will be
released.
There is conflicting
information about this issue. Look for clarification in a future update.
Approve the CPUC's
(California Public Utility Commission's) Petition Number CC99200 permitting
the implementation of SB1741 (Bowen) signed into law in California on
Sept. 29, 2000.
No action to report.
The Chamber will continue to urge approval of this law and will report
on progress.
Begin a study
now that will identify long-term solutions for solving the area code
exhaust problem.
The North American
Number Plan Administration (NANPA) is responsible for studying and recommending
long-term solutions to the problem. The FCC adopted several administrative
and technical measures to allow it to closely monitor the use of numbering
resources. The Chamber will monitor the FCC and NANPA for proposed solutions.
Harman Calls For
Alternatives To Impending 310 Area Code Split - 6/26/02
"Few issues arouse
sharper feelings than this one, and it is critical that the FCC act
to help."
WASHINGTON D.C.
- At the request of Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), the House Energy and Commerce
Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet today held a hearing
on area codes and the harmful impact splitting them has on consumers
and businesses alike. California Public Utilities President Loretta
Lynch appeared before the committee as an expert witness.
During the hearing,
Harman stated, "Seniors and small businesses are seriously harmed when
area codes change. When the doctor's phone number is different, a senior
can panic. And when businesses need to reprint stationary and change
advertising, profits suffer. Few issues arouse sharper feelings than
this one, and it is critical that the FCC act to help."
During her testimony,
Lynch stated, "Over the next three years, there will be 25 more area
code splits in California unless the federal government take steps to
change the way the FCC assigns numbers. There are two million unused
telephone numbers in the 310 area code that cannot be assigned because
of current rules. By changing the threshold for considering a block
of numbers 'contaminated' we can reduce the number of 'stranded' telephone
numbers and make them available for assignment, avoiding the need for
new area codes. Telephone number portability is also essential, and
the FCC should not extend the November 2002 deadline.
Harman and Lynch
said that the hearing provided an opportunity to persuade the FCC and
industry representatives about the urgency of solving the area code
exhaust problem.
Opposition to 310/424
Area Code Split
Summary:
The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) will give California regulators the opportunity to
avoid a proposed split of the South Bay's 310 area code. Under the FCC's
order, State regulators will be given the flexibility to impose separate
area codes for technology devices, including pagers and cellular phones,
which over the last decade have exploded in use and accelerated the
demand for new telephone numbers. The FCC must approve the overlay proposals,
but before the order, technology-specific area codes had been banned
altogether.
Senator Debra Bowen
sponsored SB1741 - signed into law on September 29, 2000 - authorizing
technology overlays in California, but the CPUC was unable to implement
it without required FCC approval. Then, last spring a proposed 310/424
area code split was announced. The El Segundo Chamber with the City
of El Segundo and a coalition of South Bay chambers and cities immediately
began opposing the area code split. The South Bay Chamber met with Congresswoman
Jane Harman and enlisted her help.
At FCC Chairman
Michael Powell's first appearance before the Commerce Committee, on
which Harman serves, and in repeated correspondence to Powell, Harman
pressed for the FCC to permit technology overlays and for a quick resolution
to area code exhaustion. Harman also wrote several times to the California
Public Utility Commission and met with its chairman, Loretta Lynch,
asking the CPUC to slow the proposal to split the 310 code while the
FCC had the issue under consideration.
The Chamber applauds
Senator Bowen and Congresswoman Harman for their many efforts in seeking
relief from repeated area code splits for their constituents.
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/News_Releases/2001/nrcc0149.html
April 4, 2001
Michael K. Powell, Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20554
Re:
Petition Number CC99200 from California Public Utilities Commission
Dear
Mr. Powell:
On
September 29, 2000, Governor Davis signed a bill (SB1741 Bowen) requiring
the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to apply a "technology
overlay" before subdividing an existing area code in California
due to a shortage of numbers. This technology overlay would give the
"unseen numbers" (data lines, ATM connections, etc.) a new
area code before existing land line telephone area codes are split.
The CPUC petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for approval
of this technology overlay, which the commission has not yet granted.
In
the absence of FCC approval of the technology overlay, the CPUC will
be forced to subdivide our area code due to a pressing shortage of numbers
in the Los Angeles Basin. Our area is a particularly important business
center in Los Angeles and home to many multinational and Fortune 500
corporations. In fact, El Segundo is home to more Fortune 500 companies
than any other California community except for San Francisco. An area
code change would have an enormously detrimental impact, both financially
and operationally to our business community. At a time when the Bush
administration is aggressively trying to stimulate our economy in response
to a variety of challenges, business can ill afford these negative impacts.
The
El Segundo Chamber of Commerce and its members urge the FCC to approve
Petition CC99200 as rapidly as possible.
Sincerely,
Bill Crigger
President
cc. Congress Member Jane Harman
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