IV

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 175

Expressing the intention of the Congress with respect to the collection of

fees or other payments from the allocation of toll-free telephone numbers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 10, 1996

Mr. FRISA (for himself, Mr. KING, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. COBURN, Mr. FIELDS

of Texas, Mr. KLINK, and Mr. WELLER) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the intention of the Congress with respect to

the collection of fees or other payments from the allocation of toll-free telephone numbers.

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Telephone Number

5 Ownership Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) under existing law, the Federal Communica9 tions Commission is the administrator, not the
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1 owner, of telephone numbers, and has no authority

2 to auction, or impose user fees for, any number

3 within the North American Numbering Plan, nor

4 does any other Federal agency;

5 (2) auctions of toll-free numbers will increase

6 consumer fraud and confusion by allowing competi7 tors to profit from the established reputation associ8 ated with existing toll-free numbers;

9 (3) there are a total of 21 countries in the

10 North American Numbering Plan, including the

11 United States of America, Canada, and most Carib12 bean countries, and decisions affecting universally

13 available toll-free numbers should not be made with14 out a consensus among the participating nations;

15 (4) the value of a toll-free telephone number is

16 derived solely from the efforts of the holder to create

17 value in it; and

18 (5) the right of first refusal for companies with

19 toll-free numbers that have become a unique brand

20 identity will ensure that customers reach their in21 tended service provider.

22 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

23 It is the sense of the Congress that—

24 (1) the Federal Communications Commission

25 lacks legal authority to conduct auctions or other
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1 revenue raising activities in connection with the allo2 cation of any number within the North American

3 Numbering Plan;

4 (2) if the Congress is to authorize such activi5 ties, procedures will be required—

6 (A) to protect any value attaching to new

7 toll-free numbers by reason of a private busi8 ness investment in the advertisement or public

9 awareness of the corresponding 800 number, by

10 granting a right of first refusal or other protec11 tion to the subscriber to that corresponding 800

12 number;

13 (B) to prevent unjust enrichment and inef14 ficient use of toll-free numbers by measures de15 signed to prevent speculation, hoarding, and

16 other ‘‘gaming’’ of the allocation system; and

17 (C) to protect consumers from fraud and

18 confusion by preventing the misrepresentation

19 of established toll-free numbers; and

20 (3) the Federal Communications Commission

21 should submit to the Congress a plan for the alloca22 tion of toll-free 888 numbers that contains proce23 dures described in paragraph (2), together with its
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1 recommendations for legislative authorization of

2 such allocation.

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