The Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau has adopted several North American Numbering Council (NANC) recommendations pertaining to local number portability (LNP). Number portability is the ability of telecommunications service users to retain existing telecommunications numbers when switching from one carrier to another. The changes will impact LNP “provisioning flows” and include: (1) revising existing processes for cancelling a number port request; (2) clarifying the timeline for re-using disconnected ported numbers, and (3) stopping new service providers from prematurely activating ports. The Bureau also clarified that states still have the option to choose the best means of implementing area code relief for their citizens in situations where area codes are split.
