30425.pdf

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
April 7, 2009
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF IMPLEMENTING
MEASURES TO CONSERVE TELEPHONE
NUMBERS IN THE 208 AREA CODE
ERRATA
ORDER NO. 30425
CASE NO. GNR-07-
On September 13, 2007, IPUC Order No. 30425 was issued by this Commission.
The following change(s) should be made to that Order:
Page 4, Paragraph 1:
READS:
Applicable carriers will biennially report their number resource
utilization/forecast (NRUF) data at the 1 000-block level for rate centers
marked as Mandatory Pooling (designated as M or M*) by NeuStar. Rural
incumbent local exchange companies are only required to report NRUF data
at the 1 000-block level once they have received a request for LNP. Although
paging companies are exempt from pooling requirements, we encourage them
to participate on a voluntary basis and they should continue to biennially
report NRUF data at the NXX level for all rate centers in the 208 area code.
SHOULD READ:
Applicable carriers will semi-annually report their number resource
utilization/forecast (NRUF) data at the 1 000-block level for rate centers
marked as Mandatory Pooling (designated as M or M*) by NeuStar. Rural
incumbent local exchange companies are only required to report NRUF data
at the 1 000-block level once they have received a request for LNP. Although
paging companies are exempt from pooling requirements, we encourage them
to participate on a voluntary basis and they should continue to semi-annually
report NRUF data at the NXX level for all rate centers in the 208 area code.
DATED at Boise, Idaho this 7-tk day of April 2009.
~L~le D. Jewell
Commission Secretary
bIs/O:GNR- T -07 -- errata
Office of the Secretary
Service Date
September 13 2007
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF IMPLEMENTING
MEASURES TO CONSERVE TELEPHONE
NUMBERS IN THE 208 AREA CODE
ORDER NO. 30425
CASE NO. GNR-07-
In early 2007 the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NeuStar)
informally notified the Commission that Idaho s "208" area code would run out of telephone
numbers (i.
, "
exhaust") in the second quarter of 2010. NeuStar is appointed by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) to manage the assignment and exhaustion of telephone area
codes in North America. On March 29 2007, this Commission petitioned the FCC for authority
to implement measures designed to postpone the exhaustion of our 208 area code by conserving
and optimizing telephone numbers. In particular, the Commission sought authority to implement
mandatory 1 000-block number "pooling" to extend the life of the 208 area code. In an Order
issued August 24, 2007, the FCC delegated authority to the Idaho Commission to implement
mandatory number pooling.l Accordingly, on its own Motion, the Commission orders that all
applicable communications carriers implement 1 ,OOO-block number pooling.
BACKGROUND
Historically telephone numbers were assigned to telephone companies in blocks of
000 numbers. For example, each telephone exchange code such as 334-xxxx within the 208
area code (208-334-xxxx) contains 10 000 telephone numbers (334-0000 through 334-9999).
With the proliferation of wireless telephones, new competitive telephone companies
paging/messaging devices and Voice over Internet Providers (VoIP), the demand for new
telephone numbers in most area codes has significantly increased in recent years.
Petition of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission for Delegated Authority to Implement Number Conservation
Mea:;;ures WC Docket No. 07-118, DA 07-3728 (Aug. 24, 2007). (The FCC Order
2 In October 2000, NeuStar advised the Commission that our single area code would reach exhaustion in the fall of
2003. In August 2001, the Commission determined that before the area code became exhausted, it would be
appropriate to divide Idaho into three area code regions. The southwestern region would retain the 208 area code
while the northern and southeastern regions would each receive new area codes. Order No. 28902 at 12-16. As
explained in greater detail below, the Commission implemented measures in 2002 that postponed the depletion of
the area code and the need for new area codes.
ORDER NO. 30425
To slow the demand for new telephone numbers and to conserve unused telephone
numbers, the FCC in 2000 discontinued the assignment of 10 000-blocks of numbers and
instituted 1 ,OOO-block number "pooling" for most carriers in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in
the United States. In the Matter of Numbering Resource Optimization First Report and Order
15 F.R. 7574 (2000); Fourth Report and Order, 18 F.R. 12472 at 'if 5 (June 18, 2003).
Pooling is a numbering conservation measure in which the 10,000 numbers in a NXX prefix are
divided into 10 sequential blocks of 1 000 numbers and allocated to different carriers (or
different switches) within a rate center. FCC Order at n.
Although Boise was not one of the largest 100 metropolitan areas, the Commission
requested and the FCC approved mandatory pooling for the Boise metropolitan area in early
2002. Order Nos. 28902 and 28981. Pooling in the Boise metropolitan area delayed the
projected exhaust date for the 208 area code from the third quarter of 2003 to the projected
second quarter of 2010. See supra note 2. While pooling conserved telephone numbers in the
Boise area, carriers in other parts of Idaho were still permitted to request telephone numbers in
000-blocks.
THE POOLING PETITION
The proliferation of other carriers and types of communications in both the urban
and rural areas of Idaho has undermined our numbering conservation efforts. During the 18
months ending July 2007, NeuStar had assigned 26 NXXs (260 000 telephone numbers) in
Idaho. Consequently, on March 29 2007, the Commission requested authority from the FCC to
expand mandatory pooling beyond the nine rate centers in the Boise metropolitan area.
In its Petition, the Commission asserted that there were special circumstances which
justified the delegation of authority to implement mandatory 1 000-block pooling. The
Commission noted that all but one of the wireline carriers in Idaho are able to provide local
number portability (LNP).3 LNP was mandated by the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996
as a means to initially promote competition between incumbent telecommunications carriers and
new/other carriers. 47 V.C. ~ 251 (b)(2). In essence, LNP allows customers to switch to a
different service provider without changing their telephone numbers. 47 U.C. ~ 153(30).
In its Petition the Commission also reported that the utilization rate for 208 area code
numbers is only 42.2%. Idaho Petition at 3. This low utilization rate creates concern that
3 Rural Telephone is not LNP-capable in all its rate centers.
ORDER NO. 3042~.
thousands of telephone numbers will be stranded in rural areas, thereby depleting numbering
resources faster than warranted by competitive market conditions.
THE FCC'S ORDER
The FCC found that Idaho s Petition demonstrated "special circumstances justifying
delegation of authority to require pooling.FCC Order at 'if 1. The FCC observed that 1 000-
block pooling will delay the exhaust of the 208 area code but allow carriers with sufficient
resources to meet their numbering needs. Id. at 'if 11. The FCC found that it "is most efficient
and in the public interest to permit (Idaho) to implement mandatory pooling at this time.Id.
Consistent with its Fourth Report and Order the FCC exempted rural carriers that
are not LNP-capable from the mandatory pooling requirement. Id. at 'if 12. In addition to rural
carriers that are not LNP-capable, the FCC exempts Tier III commercial mobile radio service
(CMRS) providers that have not yet received a specific request for the provision of LNP from
another carrier. Fourth Report and Order 18 F.R. 12472 at 'if 18. A Tier III wireless carrier
has fewer than 500 000 subscribers. Id. at n.50. Even if Tier III providers (including paging
companies) are exempt from the pooling requirements, we encourage them to participate in our
number conservation measures by donating unused 1 000-blocks back to the pooling
administrator, thereby furthering our numbering resource optimization goals.
FINDINGS
Consistent with our delegated authority from the FCC, the Commission directs that
those rate centers in the 208 area code currently considered as "optional" or "excluded" will now
become mandatory pooling rate centers and will be labeled as "Mandatory State" (M) rates
centers. Rate centers that currently have only one service provider with numbering resources
will be specifically labeled as "Mandatory State Single Service Provider" (M*). These M* rate
centers will be considered as optional pooling rate centers until a second service provider
receives numbering resources in the rate center. Once a second provider receives numbers, the
designation for the specific rate center shall be changed to "M" and all non-paging carriers must
participate in all aspects of pooling.
With the exception of the rate centers labeled as "M*" and the single non-LNP rural
carrier, all non-paging carriers with numbering resources in the 208 area code must evaluate their
inventories of numbers and be prepared to return to the numbering pool unused 1 000-number
blocks and blocks that have fewer than 10% of the numbers assigned. Such donation should
ORDER NO. 30425
occur in accordance with the industry numbering committee 1 000-block number (NXX-
pooling administration guidelines (A TIS-030066). On a prospective basis, all numbering
resources will be assigned to the applicable carrier in 1 000-blocks based upon the timeline to be
established by the pooling administrator.
Applicable carriers will biennially report their number resource utilization/forecast
(NRUF) data at the 1 000-block level for rate centers marked as Mandatory Pooling (designated
as M or M*) by NeuStar. Rural incumbent local exchange companies are only required to report
NRUF data at the 1 000-block level once they have received a request for LNP. Although
paging companies are exempt from pooling requirements, we encourage them to participate on a
voluntary basis and they should continue to biennially report NRUF data at the NXX level for all
rate centers in the 208 area code.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that mandatory 1 000-block pooling be implemented in
the 208 area code unless a rural carrier is not LNP-capable or an exempt Tier III CMRS provider.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that with the exception of the rate centers labeled as
M*", all non-paging carriers with numbering resources in the 208 area code must evaluate their
numbering resources and donate to the numbering resource pool unused 1 ,OOO-number blocks
and 1 000-number blocks that have fewer than 10% of their numbers assigned.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all numbering resources will be assigned to the
applicable carrier in 1 000-blocks based on the timeline to be established by the pooling
administrator, NeuStar.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that applicable CarrIers shall file the necessary
utilization reports with NeuStar and should attend industry meetings regarding 1 000-block
number pooling in the 208 area code when scheduled by NeuStar.
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order (or in issues
finally decided by this Order) or in interlocutory Orders previously issued in this Case No.
GNR-07-04 may petition for reconsideration within twenty-one (21) days of the service date
of this Order with regard to any matter decided in this Order or in interlocutory Orders
previously issued in this case. Within seven (7) days after any person has petitioned for
reconsideration, any other person may cross-petition for reconsideration. See Idaho Code ~ 61-
626.
ORDER NO. 30425
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this /3f-1-
day of September 2007.
ATTEST:
i7E:ill~Je D. JewellCo ission Secretary
bls/O:GNR- 07-04 dh
ORDER NO. 30425
d~~
MARSHA H. SMITH, COMMISSIONER