Federal Communications Commission

Washington, D.C. 20554

##  NSD File No. L-99-65

CC Docket No. 96-98

### April 6, 2001

By U.S. Mail and Facsimile

Mr. Richard L. Mathias

Chairman

Illinois Commerce Commission

160 North LaSalle Street

Suite C-800

Chicago, Illinois 60601-3104

Re: Expedited Petition of the Illinois Commerce Commission To Reset The
Mandatory Expiration Date of its Temporary Waiver of 47 C.F.R. Section
52.19(c)(3)(ii) to Reflect the Exhaust of the 847 NPA, the First of the
Five Area Codes in the Chicago Metropolitan Area to Reach Exhaust

Dear Mr. Mathias:

This letter addresses the Illinois Commerce Commission's (Illinois
Commission or Petitioner) petition to extend its temporary waiver of
Section 52.19(c)(3)(ii) of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC)
rules[^1] for five numbering plan areas (NPAs or area codes) in the
Chicago metropolitan area.[^2] Petitioner requests that the FCC reset
the expiration date of the waiver for a period not to exceed 18 months
from the activation of the 224 overlay NPA, which will relieve the 847
NPA and is scheduled to be the first relief area code to be implemented
in the Chicago metropolitan area. Subsequently, the Illinois Commission
modified its petition and it now seeks a temporary waiver of our
ten-digit dialing rule until March 31, 2002.[^3] As discussed below, we
grant the petition by extending the waiver for an additional nine
months.

Petitioner's original request for waiver of the mandatory ten-digit
dialing rule sought a delay in implementing ten-digit dialing in the
Chicago metropolitan area until the last of four area code overlays was
adopted in that area.[^4] On March 2, 2000, the FCC's Common Carrier
Bureau (Bureau) granted the petition, allowing the Illinois Commission
to delay implementing ten-digit dialing in all areas of metropolitan
Chicago "where overlay area codes have been activated, until such time
as the fourth area code overlay of the four planned overlays is
activated, but **in** **no event later than April 1, 2001"** (emphasis
added).[^5] The Bureau found at that time that the Illinois Commission
needed time to conduct an efficient, one-time customer education
campaign.[^6]

In its January 31, 2001 petition, the Illinois Commission requests that
the Bureau reset the expiration date of the previous waiver to take into
account its successful delay of exhaust in the 847 NPA until the current
calendar year. Petitioner asserts that the April 1, 2001 deadline was
based on a projected exhaust date of the first quarter of 2000 for the
847 NPA, and that the deadline granted it a little more than an 18-month
delay from the time of its original waiver request. The Bureau noted in
the Waiver Order that it was essentially "granting the Illinois
Commission more than an eighteen-month delay, from the time of filing,
approaching the original period for exhaust projected in the Waiver
Petition."[^7]

Petitioner's amended request for a one-year extension of its waiver of
the mandatory ten-digit dialing rule requires the same showing of "good
cause" as the original waiver request.[^8] In the Waiver Order, we
articulated three factors that, if found, would favor granting a
temporary delay of the mandatory ten-digit dialing rule: (1)
insufficient time to adjust telecommunications networks for the change
to ten-digit dialing; (2) insufficient time to educate customers to the
change in dialing patterns; and (3) conditions relating to geographic
uniformity in the areas affected that weighed in favor of a temporary
delay.[^9]

We have carefully considered Petitioner's arguments in support of its
request, and find sufficient good cause to grant an additional limited
waiver of the mandatory ten-digit dialing rule. Although Petitioner has
not asserted, nor do we find, that carriers need additional time to make
changes to their networks to accommodate ten-digit dialing, we do find
that customer education regarding the change in dialing patterns that
will occur once ten-digit dialing is established has not yet begun. As
discussed below, the additional nine months being granted herein should
be more than sufficient time for Petitioner to educate consumers. Also,
we acknowledge that dialing uniformity within the Chicago metropolitan
area continues to be a desirable goal that weighs in favor of extending
the waiver.

We note that the Bureau's original waiver was intended to provide the
Illinois Commission with sufficient time to educate consumers and to
mitigate inconvenience and confusion among callers in the Chicago
metropolitan area that might have resulted from different dialing
patterns. Nevertheless, it was never intended as an open-ended waiver of
the mandatory ten-digit dialing rule, to which all state commissions
choosing relief in the form of an area code overlay are subject.[^10]
The Illinois Commission, in an effort to address our concerns with an
open-ended waiver of the ten-digit dialing rule, has amended its
petition and now seeks a waiver until a date certain.[^11]

We find that compliance with the ten-digit dialing rule is necessary to
further the FCC's national numbering administration and numbering
resource optimization goals. We therefore grant Petitioner's request to
extend the waiver, but only for a period of nine months beginning April
6, 2001 and ending January 7, 2002. In recognition of the waiver
previously granted to the Illinois Commission, a further extension of up
to nine months should be more than sufficient time to educate consumers
and mitigate inconvenience and confusion among callers in the Chicago
metropolitan area. If an area code overlay is implemented before January
7, 2002, ten-digit dialing may be delayed until that time. After January
7, 2002, ten-digit dialing must commence in any overlay and underlay
area codes in existence or later implemented in accordance with the
Commission's rules.

We commend the Illinois Commission's success in implementing number
resource optimization strategies in the Chicago metropolitan area,
thereby extending the life of the 847 NPA. We emphasize, however, the
importance of timely area code relief, to ensure that all carriers have
access to the numbering resources they need to provide service to their
customers. Despite the success of thousands-block number pooling in the
Chicago metropolitan area, carriers that cannot participate in pooling
may soon be foreclosed from implementing or expanding their service
offerings if additional numbering resources are not made available to
them. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator has informed us
that as of March 23, 2001, there remains available for assignment to
carriers only one NXX code in the 847 area code, while six other NXX
codes are in various stages of possible reclamation.[^12] Thus, the 847
area code is now close to complete

exhaust at the NXX level. We therefore strongly urge the Illinois
Commission to implement area code relief in the Chicago metropolitan
area as soon as possible.

> Sincerely,
>
> Dorothy Attwood
>
> Chief, Common Carrier Bureau

cc: Thomas R. Stanton, Illinois Commerce Commission

[^1]: 47 C.F.R. § 52.19(c)(3)(ii). This rule provides: "No area code
    overlay may be implemented unless there exists, at the time of
    implementation, mandatory ten-digit dialing for every telephone call
    within and between all area codes in the geographic area covered by
    the overlay area code."

[^2]: Expedited Petition of the Illinois Commerce Commission To Reset
    The Mandatory Expiration Date of its Temporary Waiver of 47 C.F.R.
    Section 52.19(c)(3)(ii) to Reflect the Exhaust of the 847 NPA, the
    First of the Five Area Codes in the Chicago Metropolitan Area to
    Reach Exhaust, filed January 31, 2001.

[^3]: Letter from Myra L. Karegianes, General Counsel, Illinois Commerce
    Commission, to Yog Varma, Deputy Bureau Chief, Common Carrier
    Bureau, dated March 30, 2001 (Karegianes Letter).

[^4]: *See* Petition of the Illinois Commerce Commission for Expedited
    Temporary Waiver of 47 CFR Section 52.19(c)(3)(ii), filed August 10,
    1999.

[^5]: *In the Matter of Illinois Commerce Commission Petition for
    Expedited Temporary Waiver of 47 CFR Section 52.19(c)(3)(ii)*, Order
    (rel. March 2, 2000) (*Waiver Order*).

[^6]: *Id.* at para. 14.

[^7]: *Id.* at para. 14.

[^8]: *See* 47 C.F.R. § 1.3; Karegianes Letter.

[^9]: *Waiver Order* at para. 12.

[^10]: *Id.* at para. 14.

[^11]: *See* Karegianes Letter.

[^12]: E-mail from Brent Struthers, Director, Regulatory Matters,
    NeuStar, Inc., to Yog Varma, Deputy Bureau Chief, Common Carrier
    Bureau, dated March 23, 2001.