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Recommended Carrier-to-Carrier LNP Guidelines

LNP Guidelines The following are the guidelines associated with ordering long-term number portability (also known as local number portability or "LNP") from Old Service Provider to New Service Provider, and vice versa. These are recommended guidelines to be used by Telecommunications Carriers (TCs) as a basis for discussion in business and/or legal negotiations. Any portion of the Recommended Carrier-to-Carrier LNP Guidelines may be superseded within an Agreement between the Carriers.

The carrier to which an end-user ports its telephone number(s) and local exchange service will be referred to as the "New Service Provider." The carrier from which an end-user ports its telephone number(s) and local exchange service will be referred to as the "Old Service Provider." The Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will also be referred to as the "Carriers".

Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will follow standard North American Numbering Council (NANC) process flows for LNP.

Forms Old Service Provider and New Service Provider may use the Ordering and Billing Forum (OBF) Local Service Ordering Guideline (LSOG) Local Service Request (LSR) form, as the same may be updated from time to time, for LNP orders.

A separate LSR may be required for each end-user account. However, if the Old Service Provider and New Service Provider are using LSOG v4 they may have a means to port from multiple accounts into a single account on one LSR.

Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will each provide the other with their Service Provider ID (SPID). The most recent list of SPID values can be found on the Internet at the secure NPAC site www.npac.com/xx (where "xx" is a two character placeholder for the NPAC region; e.g., "mw" stands for Midwest). To find the list, click on "Web BBS", and look under "NPA-NXX BBS".

CSR Input

And Confirmation A Customer Service Record (CSR) can be useful in gaining information for porting and/or for providing new service for the ported customer. The mode of exchange of CSR information between carriers is subject to intercompany negotiations and/or agreements. The industry is evolving toward electronic interfaces between companies.

The New Service Provider issues CSR requests to the Old Service Provider. The Old Service Provider makes an interface or interfaces available for CSR requests. The CSR is returned by the Old Service Provider to the New Service Provider through the same means used to submit the request (e.g., if the CSR request is sent electronically, the CSR is returned electronically). The CSR delivery schedule should be negotiated between the Carriers. The industry is evolving toward reducing the cycle time for CSR delivery. The current industry goal is for CSR requests to be followed by CSR delivery within three to five business days from the Old Service Provider to the New Service Provider. The industry will continue to work on improving the cycle time for the CSR return process.

The New Service Provider is required to obtain current authority from the end-user to act as the official agent on behalf of the end-user. If a CSR is requested, a Letter of Authorization (LOA) or other form of generally accepted Certification of Authorization is required to be on file with the New Service Provider. The New Service Provider is responsible for demonstrating this necessary authority in accordance with contracts between the Carriers or in the event of dispute.

The CSR should include, but is not limited to, the following:

End-user customer account name
End-user account telephone numbers
Customer listing information (customer name and location address)
Customer billing information (customer bill name and address)
Customer’s current Services and Equipment information (including PIC carrier information)
If applicable, end-user customer loop circuit number

The CSR information may include Carrier-specific codes (e.g., Universal Service Ordering Codes (USOCs), Field Identifiers (FIDs), Service Provider IDs (SPIDs), and Common Language Line Identifier (CLLI)). If these types of codes are used without any English translation, a translation glossary should be provided.

CSRs will not be received or processed on holidays observed by the Old Service Provider.

Order Input and

Confirmation The New Service Provider will send completed LSR forms, including supplemental orders, to the Old Service Provider. The Old Service Provider will respond to the LSR one of two ways. If the LSR does not contain information sufficient to proceed with LSR processing or contains erroneous information, the Old Service Provider will deliver a reject message to the New Service Provider. If the LSR contains the required entries and accurate information to continue LSR processing, the Old Service Provider will deliver a Firm Order Confirmation (FOC) to the New Service Provider. Note that the term FOC will be used in this document, however, the OBF term to describe the same confirmation is the Local Service Request Confirmation (LSRC). The FOC will provide the date for order completion as well as other required fields from OBF.

As above, the New Service Provider is required to obtain current authority from the end-user to act as the official agent on behalf of the end-user. The New Service Provider is responsible for demonstrating this necessary authority if requested to do so in accordance with contracts between the Carriers or in the event of dispute.

Note 1: The FOC interval begins upon receipt by the Old Service Provider of an LSR with the required entries and accurate information from the New Service Provider.

Note 2: For confirmation of receipt of faxes, Carriers should keep the fax confirmation sheet produced by their fax machine when they fax an LSR or FOC.

FOC RETURN INTERVALS

FOC return intervals will be in accordance with the appropriate intercompany negotiations and/or agreements or industry guidelines.

LSRs will not be received or processed on holidays observed by the Old Service Provider. If part of a FOC interval or order interval falls on a holiday, that day will be skipped in the calculation of the interval. Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will each provide the other with a written list of holidays observed, which list may be modified at any time by written notice.

For the sake of reference, the Number Portability Administration Center ("NPAC") Holidays are: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

Order Provisioning

Intervals In this context, the order provisioning process refers to the time period beginning with the receipt of a FOC by the New Service Provider up until the completion of the physical work required to complete the order. During the order provisioning interval, the possibility exists that the original due date of the order(s) may fall into jeopardy due to the actions of one or both the Old Service Provider and New Service Provider. In these cases, there is a need for jeopardy transactions and/or supplemental orders.

The order provisioning intervals for LNP are listed in the table below.

Note 1: The order provisioning interval begins upon receipt of a FOC by the New Service Provider from the Old Service Provider.

Note 2: If the Old Service Provider is unable to meet the committed due date included on the FOC, then the Old Service Provider will provide a jeopardy notification to the New Service Provider.

Note 3: If the New Service Provider is unable to meet the committed due date included on the FOC, then the New Service Provider will send a supplemental LSR to the Old Service Provider with the new requested due date. [For guidelines regarding the submission of supplemental orders, see the section titled ‘Supplemental Orders’ later in this document]

Note 4: If the Old Service Provider receives an LSR with the required entries and accurate information after a predetermined time established by the Old Service Provider, that is no earlier than Noon Central Time, then the next business day is considered Day 0 in the Due Date calculation (e.g., any LSRs with the required entries and accurate information received after 3pm will be moved to the next business day)

Minimum LNP Cut Interval

Order Type Following F.O.C Delivery

Stand Alone LNP The FOC Due Date is three (3)

Orders Affecting Business Days after the FOC Receipt Date.

Fewer Than 25 The first TN Ported in an NPA-NXX is

Lines or Numbers Five (5) Business Days after FOC Receipt Date.

LNP Orders The interval is the longest single

Accompanying interval required for the services requested.

Loop Orders

LNP Orders for Subject to intercompany negotiations and/or Only Part of agreements

An Account

LNP Orders for Subject to intercompany negotiations and/or Accounts Which agreements

Include or Affect

25 Numbers or More

The differentiation between the Order Types may be regionally specific.

Projects Typically, any LNP order that involves a total of 25 or more lines or trunks (or combination of lines and trunks) is considered a project and Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will negotiate a due date. However, these items are normally negotiated between the Carriers.

Porting DID

Numbers Old Service Provider and New Service Provider allow porting of DID numbers. Blocks of DID Numbers can be split up.

Partial

Conversion A partial conversion is when the end-user elects to port only a portion of its lines/trunks to the New Service Provider and retains existing lines/trunks with the Old Service Provider. If only some of the existing Old Service Provider lines/trunks are to be ported to the New Service Provider, the remainder of the lines/trunks will not be disconnected by the Old Service Provider without customer authorization.

End-User

Returns to

Original An end-user can request to have its number(s) ported back to the Old Service Provider or the New Service Provider, as applicable. However, numbers that were "disconnected" and not ported by the end-user may not be available for their use.

Loop Recovery/

Reuse Loop recovery/reuse, as defined in this section, applies to situations where an end-user disconnects and the loop returns to the loop provider or an end-user transfers local service providers. This list of scenarios may not be all-inclusive, there may be other scenarios not currently contemplated in this section.

If an end-user disconnects from their current local service provider, the current local service provider may release any associated loops for return to the loop provider. If an end-user transfers local service providers, the Old Service Provider may release any associated loops to be used by the New Service Provider to service the end-user. A refusal to allow loop recovery may impair the ability of the New Service Provider to service the end-user.

Supplemental

Order A supplemental order is a new version of a particular LSR. A supplemental order may be issued to identify changes in due dates, changes or corrections to information provided on the original LSR, or to cancel the LSR.

Note: Any changes that were not on the original LSR may impact the confirmed due date. Supplemental orders should be issued as far in advance prior to the due date as possible.

The Carriers should negotiate a time, prior to the confirmed due date, after which supplemental orders will not be sufficient to halt the cut over process. A phone call may need to be generated in these "last-minute" supplemental change situations. In addition to this call, a supplemental LSR must be sent as follow-up.

Cancellation

Requests A cancellation request is one type of supplemental order. Old Service Provider and New Service Provider may accept cancellation of an LSR 30 minutes prior to the due date and negotiated time. This interval may be superseded within intercompany negotiations and/or agreements. If the cancellation is accepted via phone call, then a supplemental LSR should also be sent. Additional requirements may be needed on cancellation requests for after hours cut overs.

Non-Coordinated

Cut Over The non-coordinated cut over process should be automated. However, each carrier will provide the other, in writing, an operations contact in the event manual intervention is required. This contact may be changed at any time by written notice from one carrier to the other. After-hours cut overs may be coordinated. If the Old Service Provider does not offer non-coordinated cut overs, then all cut overs will be coordinated.

Coordinated

Cut Over The Old Service Provider and New Service Provider support a coordinated cut over. The coordinated cut over involves both Carriers simultaneously performing the work on the confirmed due date. Requests for coordinated cut overs are placed on the LSR. The New Service Provider will provide a schedule to the Old Service Provider 24 hours in advance of the next day’s conversions. At least 1 hour prior to the cut, the New Service Provider will call the Old Service Provider to confirm that the cut over is still scheduled. The Old Service Provider will not disconnect the line(s) until asked to do so by the New Service Provider.

After Hours

Cut Over An after hours cut over involves work to be completed at a specific time that is not within the standard hours of operation of the Old Service Provider. The cut over due time must be established no later than 24 hours prior to the due date and time requested. Any cost considerations should be discussed between the Carriers.

Local

Operations

Center A company may have a Local Operations Center. The Local Operations Center is used for the processes of provisioning, escalations, and coordination for LNP orders. The contact telephone numbers, standard hours of operation, and holidays for the Local Operations Center need to be defined. The Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will each exchange this information. This information may be modified at any time by written notice. The Carriers may be able to refer to the LNP National Contact list on the secure portion of www.npac.com as an additional resource.

Expedite

Process A request for an expedite is any request of a date for provisioning which is shorter than what otherwise would have been scheduled. Expedite requests must be approved by appropriate personnel.

Escalation

Contacts Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will each exchange a list of points of escalation. This list may be modified at any time by written notice. The Carriers may be able to refer to the LNP National Contact list on the secure portion of www.npac.com as an additional resource.

Some examples of escalations include, but are not limited to:

If the FOC has not been received within the specified time frames.
If the work requested has not been completed on the FOC due date.
Emergency Service Restorals required

Line Information

Database (LIDB) The Old Service Provider will delete the ported TNs from its LIDB.

CARE The Old Service Provider will provide the New Service Provider with accurate terminating access usage records for intraLATA and interLATA toll calls terminated to end-users whose numbers have been ported to the New Service Provider. The Old Service Provider will notify the end-user’s PIC’d IXC that the Old Service Provider no longer will be the end-user’s local exchange carrier. Such notice will be provided through a 2231 Customer Account Record Exchange (CARE) transaction. The Working Telephone Number (WTN) field and the Ported Telephone Number (PTN) field should match.

E9-1-1 For Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1), national standards have been established regarding LNP and the appropriate 9-1-1 database(s) changes. Enhanced 9-1-1 is that form of 9-1-1 which supplies a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) with the address of the caller. E-9-1-1 services also route to the appropriate PSAP based on certain address information.

The national standards are designed to ensure accurate routing, along with correct subscriber and service provider information. This information will be available during and immediately after the porting from one service provider to another.

The standards covering wireless LNP (i.e., wireline to wireless, wireless to wireless, and wireless to wireline) in relation to E9-1-1 database(s) are being developed.

The E9-1-1/LNP recommended standards are established by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) utilizing a committee structure that includes representation from service providers, switch vendors, E9-1-1 database providers, and PSAP representatives.

The current standards can be found at the NENA web page located at www.nena9-1-1.org. E9-1-1 procedures may be established through interconnection agreements and other contractual arrangements between service providers and E9-1-1 database providers.

The Carriers should verify that each has adopted E9-1-1 NENA Recommended Standards.

For the porting of a phone number in which the location is not being changed, a special procedure of unlock/migrate for the E9-1-1 database is used to avoid interruption or degradation of a customer’s E9-1-1 service during the transition from one service provider to another. For procedures regarding the unlock/migrate process, please reference the NENA web page. (Note: in a non-LNP customer change, a delete/add for the E9-1-1 database is used.)

For the porting of a phone number in which the location is also changing, a special procedure of delete/migrate for the E9-1-1 database is recommended to ensure that inaccurate information regarding the customer is not retained within the E9-1-1 database during the transition from one service provider to another.

Careful attention needs to be paid by the Old Service Provider and New Service Provider during a postponement and/or a cancellation, so that unlock and migrate records are not exchanged inappropriately with the E9-1-1 provider.

The New Service Provider needs to register for a company specific ID via the NENA website, www.nena9-1-1.org. Additional details regarding the company specific ID are available on the above website.

E9-1-1 testing should be performed when a New Service Provider begins to provide LNP in an area. Additional testing information and test scripts are available on the following websites: www.nena9-1-1.org and www.ported.com under the Illinois LNP FCC Field Test Plan, and from ATIS at www.atis.org/atis/clc/niif/niifdocs.htm under the title, NIIF Reference Document, Part XI, NIIF Local Number Portability (LNP) Interconnection Testing Document. (Note: this list may not be all-inclusive.)

Calling Cards The Old Service Provider will deactivate calling cards associated with ported numbers at the time of the disconnection of the end-user’s service.

10-Digit Trigger Use of the 10-digit trigger is preferred, however it is optional. When used, the 10-digit trigger will be applied prior to the desired due date in order to overcome network delays associated with the disconnection of the end-user. After update of its databases the Old Service Provider removes translations (including the 10-digit trigger, if used) associated with the ported TN. The specific time for removal of translations may be specified on a regional basis or between Carriers.

Repair Flow Several Network Operations Teams have defined LNP repair flows. These process flows may be regionally specific. If the contacted service provider is not serving the reported telephone number then the contacted service provider should instruct the end-user that they have not reached the correct service provider and that the end-user should contact their current service provider for assistance.

Electronic

Interfaces Old Service Provider and New Service Provider both support the implementation of an electronic ordering interface for the electronic submission of LSRs.

End-user Movement

Within Rate Center An end-user may geographically relocate provided that the relocation occurs within the same rate center/rate district. If two geographic NPAs are utilized within one rate center/rate district, then the relocation needs to occur within the same geographic NPA in that rate center/rate district.

Current Exceptions

To LNP Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will only provide LNP services and facilities according to local tariffs and agreements and per the FCC Orders. LNP is currently not offered for mass calling NXX codes, 555 NXX codes, content services (e.g., 976 NXX codes), 950 NXX codes (i.e., carrier access codes), and as identified in local tariffs. This list may not be all-inclusive.

Porting Numbers on

Suspended Lines Old Service Provider and New Service Provider may port end-users with numbers on suspended lines.

Reserved TNs Old Service Provider and New Service Provider will port reserved telephone numbers if the customer is paying for the numbers on reserve or other local agreements are in effect.