It doesn't matter what's done with the money. It could be paid into the federal treasury or distributed among phone ratepayers or used to pay for certain telephone network costs. It could be chucked into the ocean.
Some phone numbers have inherent value that can change over time.
Some phone numbers may never have more than a negligible value. The holder of a phone number pays a portion of the value of the number into the pool. The higher the value paid into this pool, the greater the likelihood that this number will be sold to some entity that can fully exploit its advantages. He's a speculator if he refuses to sell, or if he doesn't fully exploit the number in light of its rising value. I have done that for a number of people and companies.