Quarterly Pooling Tip – January 2016

Part 4 Obligations

As a reminder, there is no need to wait until you receive a Part 4 Reminder Notice to submit your Thousands-Block Application Form Part 4. You may submit a Thousands-Block Application Form Part 4 as soon as you’ve placed the NPA-NXX-X in service and assigned a number out of it.  The definition of In Service per the Thousands-Block Number (NXX-X) Pooling Administrator Guidelines (TBPAG) is, “a code or block for which local routing information appears in the LERG Routing Guide, and one or more telephone numbers within the NXX code or NXX-X block has been Assigned to an end user (FCC 00-104, ¶240). Numbers that are categorized as Administrative, Aging, Intermediate, Reserved, or Available cannot also be Assigned and do not satisfy the In Service requirement.”

 

Per the FCC clarification in FCC 15-70: … “Numbers provided to carriers, interconnected VoIP providers or other non-carrier entities by numbering partners should be reported as “intermediate,” and do not qualify as “end users” or “customers.” (FCC 15-70, ¶32)”.  Based on this clarification Intermediate Numbers may only be reported as Assigned Numbers when those numbers have been assigned to an “end user” or “customer” by the receiving carrier. 

“A thousands-block assigned to an SP should be placed in service by the applicable activation deadline, that is, six months after the original effective date returned on the Part 3 and entered on the BCD/BCR screen in BIRRDS. Confirmation that the block has been placed in service is mandatory. If the PA does not receive the Part 4 – Confirmation of NXX-X Block In Service, the PA will start the reclamation process within 60 calendar days of the expiration of the applicable activation deadline by referring instances of unactivated thousands-blocks to the relevant state commission (see Section 9.1.3). If the SP identifies that it will not meet the activation deadline, due to circumstances beyond its control, the SP may request an extension from the state commission.”, per section 8.3.12 of the TBPAG.

Below are the definitions of Assigned Numbers and Intermediate Number from the TBPAG for reference.

• Assigned Numbers is defined as “Assigned numbers are numbers working in the PSTN under an agreement such as a contract or tariff at the request of specific end users or customers for their use, or numbers not yet working but having a customer service order pending. Numbers that are not yet working and have a service order pending for more than five calendar days shall not be classified as assigned numbers. (FCC 00-104 §52.15 (f)(1) (iii)) Ported-out numbers should be included as a subcategory of assigned numbers. (FCC 00-104 ¶ 36).”

·         Intermediate Numbers are numbers that are made available for use by another telecommunications carrier or non-carrier entity for the purpose of providing telecommunications service to an end user or customer.  Numbers ported for the purpose of transferring an established customer’s service to another service provider shall not be classified as intermediate numbers (47 CFR § 52.15 (f) (1) (v)). Numbers such as dealer number pools should be included as a subcategory of intermediate numbers (FCC 00-104 ¶ 36). An “intermediate” number is one that is made available to a carrier or non-carrier entity from another carrier, but has not necessarily been assigned to an end-user or customer by the receiving carrier or non-carrier entity (FCC 15-70 ¶30). Numbers provided to carriers, interconnected VoIP providers, or other non-carrier entities by numbering partners should be reported as “intermediate,” and do not qualify as “end users” or “customers” (FCC 15-70, ¶32).

If you have any questions, please contact the Number Pooling Customer Support at 1-866-NEUPOOL or poolingsupport@team.neustar. 

To view previous Quarterly Pooling Tips (formerly Pooling Tips of the Month), click here.