I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2439
To ensure the efficient allocation of telephone numbers.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 1, 1999
Mr. KUCINICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Commerce
A BILL
To ensure the efficient allocation of telephone numbers.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The premature exhaustion of telephone area
codes causes economic dislocation for businesses and
unnecessary inconvenience for households.
(2) The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Pub-
lic Law 104–104) was enacted with the objective of
facilitating the development of competitive markets
in telecommunications services. The efficient alloca-
tion of telephone numbers would further the achieve-
ment of that objective.
(3) The technology and procedures for the effi-
cient allocation of telephone numbers are currently
in place in many areas and are in the process of
being implemented nationwide.
(4) The combination of rapid growth in com-
petition for telecommunication services and the inef-
ficient allocation of numbering resources devoted to
such services will result in the creation of scores of
new telephone area codes, almost all of which will
become wholly unnecessary once procedures for the
efficient allocation of telephone numbers are in
place.
(5) The potential exhaustion of available area
codes within the North American Numbering Plan
(‘‘NANP’’) would require that 1 or more digits be
added to all telephone numbers in the United States,
creating massive disruptions and costs for all con-
sumers, businesses, institutions, and governments
comparable to the ‘‘Year 2000’’ computer problem,
except that, unlike the ‘‘Year 2000’’ problem, the
potential for area code exhaustion is entirely avoid-
able if efficient and effective number conservation
measures are adopted and implemented without
undue delay.
(6) State regulatory authorities have the inter-
est and capability to tailor mechanisms to conserve
telephone numbers to the needs of the telecommuni-
cations markets.
(7) Mechanisms for the conservation of tele-
phone numbers can be implemented without imped-
ing competition for telecommunications services.
SEC. 2. EFFICIENT ALLOCATION OF TELEPHONE NUMBERS.
(a) PLAN.—Not later than December 31, 2000, the
Federal Communications Commission shall develop and
implement a plan for the efficient allocation of telephone
numbers.
(b) ELEMENTS.—The plan under subsection (a)
shall—
(1) include mechanisms to ensure full port-
ability of telephone numbers among services and
service providers within individual rating areas, and
establish rules applicable to service providers not
subject to or otherwise not in compliance with such
number portability requirements, including the seg-
regation of services furnished by such service pro-
viders into separate area codes or service access
codes, for the purpose of maximizing the effective-
ness of number conservation measures requiring
number portability within the area codes in which
such measures are to be implemented;
(2) provide for full sharing of unassigned tele-
phone numbers among telecommunications carriers;
(3) take into account any telecommunications
technology widely available as of December 31,
2000, that requires a telephone number; and
(4) consider and take steps to minimize the
total societal costs and impacts of the plan for the
efficient allocation of telephone numbers and any
specific number relief or conservation measures that
may arise therefrom.
(c) DELEGATION OF NUMBERING JURISDICTION.—
Until the Commission has fully implemented the plan re-
quired by subsection (a), the Commission shall, upon the
request of a State commission, delegate to the State com-
mission the jurisdiction of the Commission over tele-
communications numbering with respect to the State
under section 251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of
1934 (47 U.S.C. 251(e)(1)) to the extent that such delega-
tion will permit the State commission to implement meas-
ures to conserve telephone numbers, including measures
as follows:
(1) To establish minimum use and so-called
‘‘fill’’ rate requirements for central office codes.
(2) To conduct audits of the use of telephone
numbers and central office codes.
(3) To require telecommunications carriers to
return unused or underused central office codes and
to return central office codes that have been ob-
tained in a manner contrary to Federal or State
numbering guidelines or protocols.
(4) To establish individual number pooling,
mandatory 1000-block pooling, and interim unas-
signed number porting.
(5) To ration central office codes.
(6) To develop and establish dialing protocols
applicable for calls placed within the same area code
or local calling area (or both) of the calling party
that will consider, in addition to the potential effect
upon competition, matters of public convenience and
safety and the public interest generally.
(7) To develop and implement, where the State
commission finds it to be in the public interest and
supportive of number conservation measures that it
may adopt, area code relief measures involving the
use of overlay area codes applicable to telecommuni-
cations service providers not subject to or otherwise
not in compliance with local number portability, in-
cluding a requirement that existing telephone num-
bers assigned to or in use (or both) by such service
providers be transferred to the overlay area code,
and including a requirement that calls placed within
a calling party’s home area code continue to be
dialable on a 7-digit basis.
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