VI. Comments on Draft Decision
The alternate draft decision of Commissioner Lynch in this matter was mailed to the parties in accordance with Pub. Util. Code § 311(e)(1) and Rule 77.6(d) of the Rules and Practice and Procedure. Comments were filed on Assignment of Proceeding
Loretta M. Lynch is the Assigned Commissioner and Thomas R. Pulsifer is the assigned Administrative Law Judge in this proceeding.
1. There are substantial telephone resources in the 310 area code with over two million numbers unused and available and therefore area code relief is not needed at this time.
2. The Commission has undertaken reasonable audit and conservation measures to assure that telephone numbers in the 310 area code are being utilized as efficiently as possible.
3. In D.00-09-073, the Commission previously approved Alternative #1A, a geographic split, as the designated back-up plan to be implemented for creating additional number in the 310 area code.
4. The Commission has a responsibility to California consumers to efficiently manage California's telephone numbers, and to implement all possible number conservation measures before imposing the burden of an area code split or overlay on consumers.
5. In view of the consistent pattern of carriers' significant over-forecasting of demand for thousand blocks, carriers' forecasts of blocks required to meet six-month inventory needs are also likely to be overstated and should be better defined by specific guidelines based on actual historical use by carriers.
6. There remains in carrier inventories an excess of telephone numbers beyond carrier needs that carriers are unwilling to return to the 310 number pool.
7. There exist 9 whole prefixes available in the 310 area code, one more than was available when the Commission last considered splitting the 310 area code.
8. Only one net NXX code has been opened in the 310 area code since wireless pooling began in November 2002.
9. There are 413 one-thousand blocks of numbers that have been returned to the 310 number pool since August 2003.
10. As of September 2003 there were only 328 one-thousand number blocks in the 310 pool.
11. There were 148 one-thousand blocks returned to the 310 number pool since September 2003 resulting in 476 one-thousand number blocks by the end of July 2004 that are already assigned to various rate centers and currently available to be used by carriers within the 310 number pool.
12. There remain adequate number resources in 310 rate centers to support carrier needs either in the 310 number pool or carrier inventories.
13. Beginning in November 2002, the 310 number pool was the only way for wireless carriers to acquire new telephone numbers or to build up their respective six-month inventories in the 310 area code.
14. Carrier draws from the 310 number pool spiked significantly in November and December 2002 after wireless companies joined the number pool and no longer received 10,000-number blocks of numbers through the monthly lottery.
15. There are currently adequate telephone numbers for the 310 area code to meet carrier and customer needs.
16. An increased level of allowable contamination, or usage, rates for poolable thousand-blocks (from current 10% to 25%) increases the number of thousand-blocks that are available to all carriers through each area code's number pool.
17. FCC rules required wireless carriers to implement LNP technology by November 24, 2003.
18. Wireless LNP could also expand the industry's participation in other number conservation measures that would allow carriers to receive numbers in even smaller increments from an area code number pool.
19. Accessing currently stranded numbers through new methods of number conservation will extend the life of the 310 area code.
20. Returning all blocks of numbers less than 25% contaminated in carrier inventories as well as in the inventories of intermediate carriers will extend the life of the 310 area code.
21. The setting of guidelines for six-month carrier inventories will more effectively manage telephone number resources and extend the life of the 310 area code.
22. Developing an appropriate method of forecasting exhaust in area code that utilizes pooling to distribute telephone numbers to carriers will more accurately determine the life of an area code.
1. The Commission's telephone number conservation policies and actions to date have spared customers the risk and inconvenience of being prematurely forced to undergo an area code change.
2. It is important to carefully scrutinize carriers' claims of impending number exhaust, and to analyze the remaining numbers in the 310 area code in the context of the rate that carriers are withdrawing those numbers from the number pool, and the Commission's options for managing those remaining numbers.
3. Flexibility exists to reallocate 10,000-number blocks between the pool inventory and the lottery allotment as deemed necessary to best provide for carriers' number resource needs.
4. The significant draw on the 310 number pool resources was precipitated by the wireless carriers' joining the pool for the first time in November 2002.
5. Wireless local number portability will continue to help to decrease the demand for new telephone numbers in the 310 and other area codes, as customers exercise the option to keep their existing telephone number(s) if they switch carriers.
6. The Commission must implement all possible and reasonable numbering conservation measures before splitting an area code as directed in Pub. Util. Code § 7930
7. The Commission must first perform a number utilization study before splitting an area code as directed by Pub. Util. Code § 7930.
8. It is premature to implement the 310/424 area code split until the data indicates that demand exceeds supply of numbers, and until the effects of other number conservation measures such as the increased contamination threshold, wireless local number portability, and a technology specific overlay, have been evaluated.
9. The wireless carriers' implementation of local number portability technology will be another important number conservation tool for the 310 area code, as well as California's other area codes.
10. The existing 310 area code number pool should continue pursuant to the federal number pooling program.
11. Lottery rationing of 10,000-number blocks in the 310 area code should continue.
12. It is in consumers' best interests that an independent staff verification of carrier-reported numbers be made prior to adoption of a back-up plan for that area code.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. It is not necessary at this time to implement the back-up area code split plan for the 310 area code adopted in Decision (D.) 00-09-073
2. The Director of TD is hereby delegated the task of continuing to review the current lottery allotment and readjusting the allotment of 10,000 number blocks for the 310 area code between the lottery and the number pool as appropriate.
3. Commission staff is directed to develop an area code exhaust methodology that is more appropriate to the distribution of telephone numbers in California through pooling.
4. Commission staff is directed to explore and propose methods for accessing stranded telephone numbers in carriers' inventories including but not limited to: intermediate number distribution; expanding Local Number Portability to allow the distribution of number blocks in even smaller components; increasing the contamination threshold.
5. Commission staff is directed to evaluate and propose ways in which wireless carriers can hold inventories in fewer rate center and still be able to serve their customers located in any rate center.
This order is effective today
Dated__________________, at San Francisco, California.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I certify that I have by mail, and by electronic mail to the parties of which an electronic mail address has been provided; this day served a true copy of the original attached Alternate Draft Decision of Commissioner Lynch] on all parties of record for proceeding R.94-04-043/I.95-04-045 or their attorneys of record.
Dated August 25,2004, at San Francisco, California.
Ernesto Melendez |
NOTICE
Parties should notify the Process Office, Public Utilities Commission, 505 Van Ness Avenue, Room 2000, San Francisco, CA 94102, of any change of address to insure that they continue to receive documents. You must indicate the proceeding number on the service list on which your name appears.
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