III

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. CON. RES. 58

Expressing the intent of the Congress with respect to the collection of fees

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 15, 1996

Mr. D’AMATO submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the intent 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 Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Telephone

5 Number Ownership Resolution 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

10 owner, of telephone numbers, and has no authority
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1 to auction, or impose user fees for, any number

2 within the North American Numbering Plan, nor

3 does any other Federal agency;

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

5 consumer fraud and confusion by allowing competi6 tors to profit from the established reputation associ7 ated with existing toll-free numbers;

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

9 North American Numbering Plan, including the

10 United States of America, Canada, and most Carib11 bean countries, and decisions affecting universally

12 available toll-free numbers should not be made with13 out a consensus among the participating nations;

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

15 derived solely from the efforts of the holder to create

16 value in it; and

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

18 toll-free numbers that have become a unique brand

19 identity will ensure that customers reach their in20 tended service provider.

21 SEC. 3. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.

22 It is the sense of the Congress that—

23 (1) the Federal Communications Commission

24 lacks legal authority to conduct auctions or other

25 revenue raising activities in connection with the allo-
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1 cation of any number within the North American

2 Numbering Plan;

3 (2) if the Congress is to authorize such activi4 ties, procedures will be required—

5 (A) to protect any value attaching to new

6 toll-free numbers by reason of a private busi7 ness investment in the advertisement or public

8 awareness of the corresponding 800 number, by

9 granting a right of first refusal or other protec10 tion to the subscriber to that corresponding 800

11 number;

12 (B) to prevent unjust enrichment and inef13 ficient use of toll-free numbers by measures de14 signed to prevent speculation, hoarding, and

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

16 (C) to protect consumers from fraud and

17 confusion by preventing the misrepresentation

18 of established toll-free numbers; and

19 (3) the Federal Communications Commission

20 should submit to the Congress a plan for the alloca21 tion of toll-free 888 numbers that contains proce22 dures described in paragraph (2), together with its

23 recommendations for legislative authorization of

24 such allocation.

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