FCC asked to delay handoff of phone number system

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is coming under pressure to delay handing over control of the little-known system that allows people to keep their phone number after they change providers.

A report filed by the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute on Monday warned that changes to the system “will have broader and evolving public interest implications.”

{mosads}“There are legitimate concerns that Ericsson, a leading manufacturer of equipment for telecom companies, is closely tied to the largest carriers and has other conflicts as well,” the advocacy group warned.

Later this month, the FCC is scheduled to vote on a plan to switch over control of the system allowing people to take their phone numbers with them when they switch carriers, such as from Verizon to AT&T. The current plan would replace Neustar — the current operator of the Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA) — with Telcordia, a subsidiary of Swedish tech giant Ericsson.

Critics have raised concerns that Telcordia has a conflict of interest in the role, and have always worried that the FCC’s plan could lead to higher costs for smaller companies or eliminate some public safety powers currently wielded by law enforcement agencies. For instance, officials from the FBI, Secret Service and Drug Enforcement Agency have warned that they need the ability to access the phone number system without a lapse that might occur as result of a handover.

“[W]e believe the commission should review and clarify the future role of the number portability system and the LNPA through a public notice and comment rulemaking before finalizing a vendor selection,” the Open Technology Institute said.

Neustar has been active in trying to maintain control of the phone system role. In recent months it hired former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to come to its defense, among other efforts.