**DA 02-2822**

**WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON THE PETITION OF THE
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION AND THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA FOR WAIVER OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION'S
CONTAMINATION THRESHOLD RULE**

**CC Docket No. 99-200**

**Release Date: October 24, 2002**

**Comment Date: December 13, 2002**

**Reply Comment Date: December 23, 2002**

The Wireline Competition Bureau seeks comment on the petition for waiver
of the Commission's contamination threshold requirement,[^1] filed on
September 5, 2002, by the California Public Utilities Commission and the
People of the State of California (California Commission). [^2] The
Commission's rules require that "\[a\]ll service providers required to
participate in thousands-block number pooling donate thousands-blocks
with ten percent or less contamination to the thousands-block number
pool for the rate center within which the numbering resources are
assigned."[^3] The California Commission requests that the Commission
grant a waiver of this rule so that it can increase the contamination
threshold to 25 percent in California.

The California Commission asserts that permitting it to increase the
contamination threshold will allow more numbers to be donated to active
number pools in California and will maximize the amount of available
numbering resources in the areas where number pooling has been
implemented.[^4] Specifically, the California Commission states that
almost 7,000 more blocks could be placed in pools in California.
According to the California Commission, this would add approximately 5.2
million to 6.2 million numbers to pools in California.[^5]

We seek comment on the California Commission's petition. Specifically,
we ask commenters to address the technical implications of increasing
the contamination threshold to 25 percent, including specific impacts on
local number portability. We ask the North American Numbering Council
(NANC), the Commission's advisory committee on numbering issues, to
evaluate the technical viability of increasing the contamination level,
and to submit its findings to the Bureau no later than December 13,
2002.

We further seek comment on the policy implications of increasing the
contamination threshold to 25 percent, and on alternative methods for
increasing the availability of numbers in California. Commenters should
also address the advantages and disadvantages, including the associated
costs, of increasing the contamination threshold to 25 percent. Finally,
commenters should address the extent to which increasing the
contamination threshold will improve numbering resource optimization or
otherwise serve the public interest in California.

Interested parties may file comments on or before **December 13, 2002**
and may file reply comments on or before **December 23, 2002**. Comments
may be filed using the Commission\'s Electronic Comment Filing System
(ECFS) or by filing paper copies. *See Electronic Filing of Documents*,
63 Fed. Reg. 24121 (1998).

Comments filed through the ECFS can be sent as an electronic file via
the Internet to \<http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html\>. Generally, only
one copy of an electronic submission must be filed. In completing the
transmittal screen, commenters should include their full name, U.S.
Postal Service mailing address, and the applicable docket or rulemaking
number. Parties may also submit an electronic comment by Internet
e-mail. To get filing instructions for e-mail comments, commenters
should send an e-mail to ecfs@fcc.gov, and should include the following
words in the body of the message, \"get form \<your e-mail address\>.\"
A sample form and directions will be sent in reply. After filing your
comments electronically, please notify Sheryl Todd at <stodd@fcc.gov>
that comments have been filed.

Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and four
copies of each filing. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger
delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or
overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (although we continue to experience
delays in receiving U.S. Postal Service mail). The Commission\'s
contractor, Vistronix, Inc., will receive hand-delivered or
messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission\'s Secretary at 236
Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Suite 110, Washington, D.C. 20002. The
filing hours at this location are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand
deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any
envelopes must be disposed of before entering the building. Commercial
overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority
Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD
20743. U.S. Postal Service first-class mail, Express Mail, and Priority
Mail should be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20554.
All filings must be addressed to the Commission\'s Secretary, Office of
the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission.

In addition, one copy of each pleading must be sent to the Commission's
duplicating contractor, Qualex International, 445 12^th^ Street, S.W.,
Room CY-B402, Washington, D.C. 20554; e-mail: <qualexint@aol.com;>
facsimile: (202) 863-2898; phone: (202) 863-2893.

Pursuant to section 1.1206 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. §
1.1206, this proceeding will be conducted as a permit-but-disclose
proceeding in which *ex parte* communications are permitted subject to
disclosure.

Parties making oral *ex parte* presentations are reminded that memoranda
summarizing the presentation must contain a summary of the substance of
the presentation and not merely a listing of the subjects discussed.
More than a one or two sentence description of the views and arguments
presented is generally required.[^6] Other rules pertaining to oral and
written presentations are set forth in Section 1.1206(b) as well.

Comments in this proceeding will be available on ECFS. They will also be
available for public inspection and copying during regular business
hours at the FCC Reference Information Center, Portals II, 445 12th
Street, SW, Room CY-A257, Washington, DC, 20554. They may also be
purchased from the Commission\'s duplicating contractor, Qualex
International, Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW, Room CY-B402,
Washington, DC, 20554, telephone 202-863-2893, facsimile 202-863-2898,
or via e-mail <qualexint@aol.com>.

For further information, please contact Pam Slipakoff, Wireline
Competition Bureau, Telecommunications Access Policy Division, at
202-418-7400, or via e-mail at [pslipako@fcc.gov](mailto:dkrech@fc.gov).
The TTY number is 202-418-0484.

\###

[^1]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 52.20(c)(1). Contamination occurs when at least
    one telephone number within a block of telephone numbers is not
    available for assignment to end users or customers. *See* 47 C.F.R.
    § 52.7(h).

[^2]: *See Petition of the California Public Utilities Commission and
    the People of the State of California for Waiver of the Federal
    Communications Commission's Contamination Threshold Rule*, CC Docket
    No. 99-200 (filed Sept. 5, 2002) (California Commission Petition).

[^3]: 47 C.F.R. § 52.20(c)(1).

[^4]: California Commission Petition at 1-2.

[^5]: *Id*. at 4-5.

[^6]: 47 C.F.R. § 1.1206(b)(2).