II. Background
All telephone numbers in the United States must conform to the North American Numbering Plan (NANP).1 To conform to the NANP, a telephone
number must have ten digits arranged as follows2:
NXX-NXX-XXXX
N = any digit 2-9
X = any digit 0-9
The first three digits of NANP telephone numbers comprise the area code. The next three digits comprise the central office code or "prefix." The final four digits comprise the line number.3
Pursuant to Section 251(e) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("the Act"), the FCC has exclusive jurisdiction over those portions of the NANP that pertain to the United States4:
The [FCC] shall create or designate one or more impartial entities to administer telecommunications numbering and to make such numbers available on an equitable basis. The [FCC] shall have exclusive jurisdiction over those portions of the North American Numbering Plan that pertain to the United States. Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the [FCC] from delegating to State commissions...all or any portion of such jurisdiction. (47 U.S.C. § 251(e)(1), emphasis added)
The FCC has used its authority under § 251(e)(1) of the Act to delegate to the States the responsibility for introducing new area codes when the supply of telephone numbers in existing area codes becomes exhausted.5 The FCC has also promulgated regulations to govern the introduction of new area codes by the States. The FCC regulations pertinent to this decision are as follows:
State commissions may resolve matters involving the introduction of new area codes...Such matters may include...[d]irecting whether area code relief will take the form of a geographic split, an overlay area code, or a boundary realignment; establishing new area code boundaries; establishing necessary dates for the implementation of area code relief plans; and directing public education efforts regarding area code changes. (47 C.F.R § 52.19(a))
New area codes may be introduced through the use of: (1) A geographic area code split, which occurs when the geographic area served by an area code...is split into two or more geographic parts; (2) An area code boundary realignment, which occurs when the boundary lines between two adjacent area codes are shifted to allow the transfer of some central office codes for which few or no central office codes are left for assignment; or (3) An area code overlay, which occurs when a new area code is introduced to serve the same geographic area as an existing area code, subject to the following conditions: (i) No area code overlay may be implemented unless all central office codes in the new overlay area code are assigned to...entities...on a first-come, first-serve basis...No group of...carriers shall be excluded from assignment of central office codes in the existing area code, or be assigned such codes only from the overlay area code, based solely on that group's provision of a specific type of...service or... technology; and (ii) No area code overlay may be implemented unless there exists...mandatory ten-digit dialing for every telephone call within and between all area codes in the geographic area covered by the overlay area code. (47 C.F.R § 52.19(c), emphasis added)
On December 17, 1998, the Commission issued Order Instituting Rulemaking 98-12-014, which established this proceeding for the purpose of considering policy options to govern the implementation of new area codes. On May 4, 1999, Gilbert J. Yablon filed a motion in this proceeding in which he asked the Commission to allow 8-digit dialing as an option for all calls within an overlay region. Yablon states that subscribers would use 8-digit dialing by dialing the usual 7-digit phone number followed by a suffix digit to indicate the desired area code. The following is an example of how 8-digit dialing could be applied to the 310/424 NPA:
· To reach a number in the 310 area code: dial the 7-digit number + "0" (e.g., 956-1234-0).
· To reach a number in the 424 area code: dial the 7-digit number + "1" (e.g., 956-1234-1).
· For future overlaid area codes in the region: dial the 7-digit number + "2" (or "3" or "4" or "5" etc.).
· Calls to/from regions outside the 310/424 NPA: callers inside the 310/424 NPA would have to use 10-digit dialing to reach a number outside the 310/424 NPA; and callers outside the 310/424 NPA would have to use 10-digit dialing to reach a number inside the 310/424 NPA.
On June 29, 1999, the assigned Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) issued a ruling that took the following actions. First, the ruling denied Yablon's motion to consider in this proceeding the issue of whether to adopt 8-digit dialing. Second, the ruling allowed Yablon and other parties to file comments on whether 8-digit dialing is feasible. Finally, the ruling notified the parties that the Commission would use these comments to decide whether, and to what extent, 8-digit dialing would be considered in a future proceeding.
Yablon filed comments on July 23, 1999. GTE California Incorporated (GTE) and Pacific Bell (Pacific) filed reply comments on August 6, 1999. Yablon filed rebuttal comments on August 20, 1999.
1 In the Matter of Policies and Rules Implementing the Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolutions Act, 8 FCC Rcd. 2331, Release Number FCC 93-87, ¶ 14. We take official notice of all orders of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) referred to herein pursuant to Rule 73 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rules). Each FCC order shall be identified hereafter by its Release Number (e.g., FCC 93-87). 2 FCC 95-283, ¶ 9. Certain telephone numbers, such as 411 and 911, are exempt from the general requirement that all NANP telephone numbers have 10 digits. 3 47 C.F.R. § 52.7. Although telephone numbers must have 10 digits, neither industry practice nor state or federal rules require that 10 digits be dialed for every call. For example, California telephone subscribers currently dial 7 digits (i.e., NXX-XXXX) for calls to a telephone number within the same area code, and 11 digits (i.e., 1+NXX-NXX-XXXX) for calls to a telephone number in a different area code. 4 The Commission recognized the FCC's plenary jurisdiction over numbering issues in Decision (D.) 99-12-051, Finding of Fact 7, and D.99-12-049, mimeo. p. 6. 5 There are 10 million phone numbers potentially available within an area code, but many of the prefixes are reserved for special uses (e.g., 911). As a result, each area code has 7.92 million phone numbers available for assignment to customers.
