The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio hosted the third Ohio Local
Number Portability Workshop on November 13, 1996
The meeting was presided over by Chair, Terry Appenzeller and Staff
member Scott Potter.
UPDATES on PUCO, FCC, & NANC
Mr. Potter informed the workshop that the Commission had been
apprised of the current progress and status of the workshop. He
noted that the Commission, had not to this date voiced any major
concerns. However, he did note that there was some discussion of the
workshop decision basing the LNP conversion plan on switch location
as opposed to subscriber location.
Mr. Appenzeller briefed the workshop on the recent meetings of the
NANC and the LNP working group of the NANC. The NANC LNP working
group is to be co-Chaired by Mr. Appenzeller and Woody Kerkeslager of
AT&T. Updates on the NANC and its working groups can be found on the
FCC Web page at "www.fcc.gov" under the Common Carrier Bureau
section. This page will also contain a link to the ICC workshop web
page ("www.ported.com").
Additionally, Mr. Appenzeller gave the workshop his best guess as to
when the FCC would rule on the reconsideration requests and how those
rulings might look.
LNP Pick Lists
Mr. Potter distributed the Master "Pick From" lists to the new
entrants present at the workshop. There was discussion of how the
selection process would proceed and how Staff would merge each new
entrants selection into a prioritized implementation list. The
following was agreed upon:
1. All facilities-based new entrants who have a need for number
portability within Phase 1 of the Ohio workshop process, must
have their "Pick From" list returned to Mr. Potter no later than
January 6, 1996. This is the absolute deadline for inclusion in
the Phase 1 conversion.
2. It is expected that all new entrants making switch selections
will make an honest good faith appraisal of their short-term LNP
needs, and not request switch conversions on a scale beyond
their best guess of short-term facilities-based service
offering. In the event that Staff
finds one or more new entrants have made widespread switch
selections that appear to be beyond our understanding of the new
entrant's short-term service plans, this issue will have to be
addressed further. Mr. Potter suggested that in this event, the
Commission would likely become involved and Staff would probably
recommend that new entrants be required to submit substantial
documentation to support their LNP requests. Mr. Potter noted
that if it is necessary to go to this step, LNP availability
would likely be delayed for all new entrants.
3. Pick lists can be submitted in either hard copy or digital
format. Both hard copy forms and disk forms were distributed by
Mr. Potter. Staff will only accept Pick Lists on the
standardized forms. Mr. Potter requested that if a new entrant
has more than a few switch picks, that they try to submit their
Pick List in digital format.
4. New entrants should simply indicate the switches they need
converted without any prioritization. Staff will developed a
prioritized list based on the number of requests for each
switch. Staff will also take note of any new entrants who have
relatively few switch requests and whether those switch requests
represent unique requests. In these cases, Staff will give
additional weight to these requests to prevent all new entrants
entering the market on a very limited basis who might be the
only new entrant in an area from falling to the bottom of the
prioritized schedule.
5. It was clarified that the Ohio workshop Phase 1 and Phase 2 are
not to be confused with the FCC's schedule for the top 100 MSAs.
Phase 1 is the opportunity for new entrants to request, upfront,
the initial set of switches which will be converted to LNP.
Phase 2 which may follow directly on the heels of Phase 1, is
for carriers to make individual requests to specific LECs for
LNP. Requests made during Phase 2 will be met according to a
timeframe based on the technical status of the network and
switch requested. This Phase 2 timeframe has not been finally
agreed to at this time.
Regional LLC and Operations Committee
Mr. Appenzeller also updated the workshop on the progress of the
development of a regional LLC. The next regional LLC meeting is Nov.
22 in Detroit. This is a meeting for business strategy persons of
any carrier that might be considering joining/or has an interest in
the development of the regional LLC. Mr. Appenzeller noted that
there is already a tentative agreement as to the cost allocation to
the member companies.
Barry Bishop, Chair of the ICC workshop Operations Committee, updated
the Ohio workshop on the effort to build a regional Operations
committee. Mr. Bishop and Mr. Appenzeller stressed that it is
imperative for all interested parties to immediately begin attending
the regional meetings if they wish their organization to have a voice
in the development of the regional LNP system that all will be
subjected to in the near future. If anyone wishes to get more
information on the regional Operations committee, please contact Mr.
Bishop at "barry.bishop@ported.com"
STAFF ADVISEMENT:
The Ohio Workshop is a Commission order process that was meant to be
the forum in which the implementation issues of Ohio LNP would be
decided. The Ohio workshop has decided to participate in the
developing regional system. Any carrier with an interest in having a
voice in the development of the system they will be expected to
operate under should immediately get involved in these regional
meetings (especially the LLC and Operations committee meetings). It
is likely that the Ohio workshop will conclude after the January
meeting.
Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for January 9th, 1997 at 10:30AM in the
PUCO offices.