FCC Takes Further Steps Toward Nationwide Number Portability

The Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order that:

• Eliminates the “dialing parity” rule that was intended to ensure that consumers could choose and access a stand-alone long-distance provider without dialing extra digits. However, stand-alone long-distance service is disappearing with the rise of all-distance plans, VoIP and wireless, and the FCC in 2015 eliminated the rule for most local providers. The July 12 action eliminates the rules for competitive providers, and for stand-alone services grandfathered in 2015.
• Provides flexibility in call routing by easing the “N-1” rule that currently requires the next-to-last carrier in a call – typically the long-distance provider – to query the number portability database. The modification allows other carriers in the chain to query the database. This will open new opportunities for call routing as the industry prepares for nationwide number portability.