Report No. WT 98-27 WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACTIONSeptember 1, 1998 WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS BUREAU GRANTS CTIA PETITION TO STAY LOCAL NUMBER PORTABILITY REQUIREMENT BY 9 MONTHS (CC Docket No. 95-116) Today, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, acting on delegated authority, issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order (Order) granting a petition filed by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) requesting a nine-month stay of the requirement that all cellular, broadband personal communications service (PCS), and covered specialized mobile radio (SMR) carriers provide service provider number portability by June 30, 1999, while supporting nationwide roaming. The Bureau finds that extending the deadline from June 30, 1999 to March 31, 2000 is necessary to ensure the efficient development of wireless number portability. "Based on the record before us, we feel it is in the public interest to grant this extension," said Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief, Daniel Phythyon. "The majority of CMRS providers are not going to be able to make the current deadline. They need additional time to develop and test standards in order to provide wireless number portability. The next step in this process will be for the Commission to address CTIA's petition for forbearance of local number portability which has a statutory deadline of December 16, 1998." In July of 1996, the Commission set forth rules and deployment schedules for the implementation of number portability by local exchange carriers (LECs) and commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers. It mandated that cellular, broadband PCS, and covered SMR providers have the capability to deliver calls from their networks to ported numbers anywhere in the country by December 31, 1998, and to offer service provider portability, including the ability to support roaming, throughout their networks by June 30, 1999. The Commission subsequently clarified that by June 30, 1999, CMRS providers must (1) offer service provider portability in the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), and (2) be able to support nationwide roaming. When the Commission established the implementation schedule for wireless carriers, it recognized that due to the technical complexities of implementing wireless number portability, wireless carriers would require more time than LECs to develop standards and protocols to overcome the technical burdens unique to the provision of seamless roaming on cellular, broadband PCS, and covered SMR networks. The Commission also found that additional technical issues could arise as the wireless industry transitions from the development of standards and protocols to the actual implementation of number portability. To accommodate these additional technical issues, the Commission delegated authority to the Bureau to extend the dates contained in the implementation schedule for a period not to exceed nine months. - over - On November 24, 1997, CTIA filed its petition on behalf of the CMRS industry to extend the service provider number portability deadline by nine months. On December 9, 1998, the Bureau issued a Public Notice seeking comment on the relief requested in the petition. The Bureau has received sixteen comments and fourteen reply comments in response to the petition. The Bureau's finding that most CMRS providers are unable to meet the June 30, 1999 deadline is based in part on the technical delays experienced by a majority of the wireless industry in finalizing standards necessary for full implementation of number portability. Because the standards must be in place before network testing and implementation can occur, delays in finalizing the standards cause delays in meeting the June 30, 1999 deadline. Once the CMRS industry adopts standards for implementation of wireless number portability, manufacturers will need additional time to develop and test the necessary software products, produce the software, and deliver the software to carriers for roll out in the top 100 MSAs. Various commenters have expressed concern that a delay in number portability may harm number administration policies, such as number pooling. While the Bureau shares these concerns, if CMRS providers are required to adhere to the existing number portability schedule with incomplete and untested standards, their billing systems would be unmanageable, and seamless roaming would be difficult. The Bureau urges the CMRS industry to work both formally and informally with the states and through industry fora to examine numbering conservation solutions that will preserve and increase numbering resources. The Bureau believes that granting the nine-month extension at this time, will allow the industry to work cooperatively towards full implementation of wireless number portability and decrease the need for individual carrier requests for deployment. Therefore, the Bureau has decided to stay until March 31, 2000, the requirement that all cellular, broadband PCS, and covered SMR providers offer number portability in the top 100 MSAs, including the ability to support nationwide roaming, throughout their networks. Action by the Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, September 1, 1998, by Memorandum Opinion and Order (DA 98-1763) -FCC- News media contact: Meribeth McCarrick at (202) 418-0654. Wireless Telecommunications Bureau contact: Jeanine Poltronieri at (202) 418-7384.