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If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Numbering Resource Optimization ) CC Docket No. 99-200 ) ORDER Adopted: July 31, 2000 Released: July 31, 2000 By the Commission: I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 1. On March 31, 2000, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Numbering Resource Optimization (NRO Order). In the NRO Order, the Commission adopted certain administrative and technical measures to allow it to monitor more closely numbering resources use within the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) and promote more efficient use of numbering resources. Among other things, the Commission required carriers to report semiannually on their actual and forecast number usage, and imposed a 45-day limit on the time that a number could be categorized as "reserved" for a particular customer. 2. Numerous parties have requested waivers, stays, or extensions of time to comply with the new reporting requirements and the 45-day reservation limit. We grant petitioners' request to delay implementation of the reporting requirements for all carriers. We will stay until September 15, 2000, the new reporting requirements. The 45-day limit for reserved numbers went into effect on July 17, 2000, and carriers are required to file the new reporting form with the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) on August 1, 2000. We deny petitioners' requests to change the 45-day reservation limit, but extend the deadline for compliance until December 1, 2000. Thus, the 45-day limit for reserved numbers will begin on December 1, 2000. II. DISCUSSION a. Reporting Requirements 1. Monitoring individual carriers' use of numbering resources is a necessary prerequisite to ensure efficient use of these resources and prevent the NANP from being exhausted prematurely. To obtain more consistent, accurate and complete reporting of historical and forecast data, we established new reporting requirements in the NRO Order. The new requirements added detail and specificity to the reporting form and made semiannual reporting mandatory. Our new rules require carriers to comply with the new reporting requirements starting on August 1, 2000. Many carriers have asserted that they would be unable to comply with the new requirements by the August 1, 2000 deadline, and request extensions of time of various lengths to submit the new information. 2. Mandatory reporting of this type was proposed at least as early as June 1999. Carriers have known since March 31, 2000, when the NRO Order was released, the data elements that they would be required to submit by August 1. Moreover, most of the data to be reported actual and forecast usage of a necessary input to the provision of many telecommunications services (numbers) are of a type that carriers should be maintaining as part of the ordinary course of running their businesses. At the same time, we also recognize that the volume of data to be reported is large and, although the reporting requirement was promulgated in March, the actual electronic form for reporting the data has been available only since June. 3. Therefore, to ensure that no carrier is denied access to new numbering resources because of an inability to submit number utilization and forecast data to NANPA on the new form by August 1, 2000, we will stay the effectiveness of our new reporting requirements until September 15, 2000. Carriers are required to comply with the new reporting requirements by that date, and NANPA is directed to begin withholding new numbering resources from non-compliant carriers after that date. We hope, despite this stay, that carriers make every effort to comply with the new reporting requirements on a timely basis. a. Reserved Numbers 4. We reaffirm our finding in the NRO Order that reserved numbers are defined as numbers held by service providers at the request of specific end-user customers for their future use. We also reaffirm our decision that numbers may be held in reserved status for a maximum of 45 days, and after the 45-day reservation period, these numbers should be categorized as available numbers. 5. Some petitioners have asserted that carriers may be unable to implement the new systems necessary to comply with the 45-day limit for reserved numbers in the time frame articulated in the NRO Order. Also, we note that we have asked the NANC for a recommendation on how to implement a system for charging for further extensions of the reservation time limit. We expect to receive the NANC's recommendations in September 2000. With respect to allegations by some carriers that their customers will be unduly harmed by the 45-day period, we note that, if an economically feasible approach for establishing a fee on extensions for reserved numbers can be developed and implemented, we will reconsider our current prohibition on extensions. In light of these considerations, we stay the effectiveness of the 45- day reservation period to December 1, 2000. III. CONCLUSION AND ORDERING CLAUSES 6. For the reasons set forth above, we stay the effectiveness of our new reporting requirements until September 15, 2000. We also extend the deadline for compliance with the 45-day limit for reserved numbers to December 1, 2000. Pending petitions on these issues are granted to the extent indicated herein. 7. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to sections 4(i), 10, 272, 303(r), 47 U.S.C.  154(i), 160, 272, and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, that the effectiveness of the provisions of 47 C.F.R. section 52.15(f)(6) requiring the filing of utilization and forecast data by August 1, 2000, and 52.15(g)(3) (iv) requiring the NANPA to withhold numbering resources from any U.S. carrier that fails to comply with the reporting requirements of that section ARE STAYED until September 15, 2000. 8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, pursuant to sections 4(i), 10, 272, 303(r), 47 U.S.C.  154(i), 160, 272, and 303(r) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, that the effectiveness of the new provision in 47 C.F.R. section 52.15(f)(1)(vi) limiting the time that numbers may be classified as "reserved numbers" to 45 days IS STAYED until December 1, 2000. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Magalie Roman Salas Secretary