570 Area Code: OCA Comments
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BEFORE THE PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION Relief Plan for the 570 NPA : P-2009-2117193 __________________ COMMENTS OF THE OFFICE OF CONSUMER ADVOCATE __________________ I. INTRODUCTION The Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) hereby files these Comments in response to the Order adopted by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Commission) in the above-captioned matter on July 29, 2009 and published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on August 8, 2009. In this Order, the Commission discusses the recurrence of area code exhaust for the 570 Numbering Plan Area (NPA) that comprises northeastern Pennsylvania.1 In its July 29th Order, the Commission seeks Comment on “how to implement the new area code” and “when the new area code needs to be implemented.” July 29th Order at 9. As indicated in the Commission’s Order, a petition was filed on July 1, 2009 by Neustar Inc., (Neustar), the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, in its role as neutral third party area code relief planner for Pennsylvania. In that petition, Neustar requested that an “all services distributed overlay for the geographic area covered by the 570 NPA” be implemented. Neustar Petition at 1. With an “all services distributed overlay,” a new area code is assigned to the same geographic area as the existing area code. July 29th Order at 7. This form of area code relief requires “10-digit dialing” for all calls but eliminates the need for approximately half of the area code to automatically change their number to a new area code. In contrast, implementing 1 The geographic area covered by the 570 NPA is comprised of 21 north-central counties and includes the cities of Williamsport, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and Stroudsburg. July 29th Order at 4. 1 area code relief through a “geographic split” allows customers to retain 7-digit dialing for all calls, but approximately half of the population would need to change signage and printed material, as well as reprogram any auto-dialing equipment, to recognize the new area code.2 Neustar estimated that the 570 NPA was projected to exhaust, i.e., run out of assignable telephone numbers, during the third quarter of 2011. The OCA has been active on area code issues at both the state and federal levels for more than a decade. In addition to its involvement in area code issues before the Commission, the OCA has long advocated consumer interests regarding area code issues on behalf of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA) before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the North American Numbering Council (NANC). NANC advises the FCC on numbering issues. The OCA appreciates the extensive efforts of this Commission over the past decade to judiciously implement new area codes in a manner that is both pro-competitive and pro- consumer. This Commission, and particularly Commissioner Kim Pizzingrilli, has been a leader nationwide in number conservation efforts for many years. This is particularly important given the fact that not only are telephone numbers in each area code diminishing, but that the total number of areas codes is diminishing as well. Such leadership has benefitted consumers not only in Pennsylvania, but throughout the country. At this time, the OCA submits that area code relief should only be approved after it is determined by the Commission that a new area code is in fact truly needed. Once such a determination has been made, the OCA concurs with the recommendation that area code relief 2 See, July 29th Order at App. A, for a complete list of advantages and disadvantages of the various forms of area code relief. 2 should be implemented for the 570 NPA in the form of an all services overlay. In support of these Comments, the OCA submits as follows: II. SUMMARY OF COMMENTS The Commission should first determine whether an additional area code is truly needed. It is important to recall that this Commission was asked to grant virtually the same relief nearly a decade ago when Neustar filed a Petition in July 2000 stating that the numbers in the 570 area code would be exhausted by the first quarter of 2002. Needless to say, that relief was not granted at that time, and the Commission and the industry instead took steps to preserve the 570 area code in its present form for another decade. As it has done in the past, the Commission should assure itself that area code relief is needed now. Such a determination requires examining whether the telephone numbers previously distributed have been used efficiently, and reclaiming those telephone numbers that have been found to be used inefficiently. The Commission should continue its proactive approach to numbering issues and ensure that the existing telephone numbers assigned in the 570 area code are being used efficiently and reclaim those numbers that are not. This is important given the history of the 570 area code as well as current indications that telephone numbers could be used more efficiently in lieu of implementing a new area code. The OCA commends the Commission for its recent Petition to the FCC seeking authority to implement thousands-block pooling throughout Pennsylvania.3 The OCA supports the Commission’s Petition as an effective form of ensuring that numbering 3 Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s Petition for Delegated Authority to Implement Number Conservation Measures, In the Matter of Numbering Resource Optimization, CC Docket No. 99-200 (dated July 13, 2009) (July 13th Petition). 3 resources are being utilized efficiently and intends to file Comments at the FCC in support of this Petition. In the meantime, however, the OCA submits that, if it is determined that an additional area code is needed, the OCA concurs with the industry recommendation that the Commission should implement an area code overlay in the 570 NPA. An area code overlay will provide the necessary numbering resources without unduly burdening consumers. All existing customers would retain the 570 area code and would not have to change their telephone number. The overlay will create less financial impact on business customers because there will be no need to change signage, advertising, stationery, etc. unless they currently only show the 7-digit numbers. An overlay also avoids the disruption associated with drawing a new boundary required when implementing a geographic split. The benefits of area code overlay relief outweigh any detriments.4 III. COMMENTS A. Introduction. The Pennsylvania Commission has been at the forefront of area code proliferation issues nationwide for more than a decade. Even before the introduction of local exchange competition brought about with the passage of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (TA-96), Pennsylvania experienced one of the first new area codes in the country when the 215 NPA in southeastern Pennsylvania was geographically split and the 610 NPA was introduced. Following 4 The OCA would note in this regard that when this question last arose nearly a decade ago, the OCA supported a geographic split primarily because of concerns over customer confusion with 10-digit dialing and potential anti- competitive impacts on those entities that received the new overlay codes. Based on our experience with overlay codes in other portions of Pennsylvania over the last 10 years as described above, however, the OCA would now agree with the recommendation in favor of an overlay at this time. 4 the passage of TA-96, which included specific provisions regarding numbering administration, see, 47 U.S.C. § 251(e), the Commission recognized the value of thousands-block pooling when it petitioned the FCC for authority to conduct pooling trials. Thousands-block pooling is the distribution of telephone numbers to carriers in blocks of 1,000 (NXX-X), instead of in blocks of 10,000 (NXX). That petition led to the FCC’s seminal “Pennsylvania Numbering Order,”5 one of the FCC’s first major Orders on area code issues. Since the FCC’s Pennsylvania Numbering Order, this Commission has also been proactive in petitioning the FCC for additional numbering authority, including most recently filing a Petition for Delegated Authority to Implement Number Conservation Measures filed on July 13, 2009 wherein the Commission seeks authority to mandate thousands-block pooling throughout Pennsylvania. Currently, the Commission is only permitted to mandate thousands- block pooling in certain rate centers, but the July 13, 2009 Petition to the FCC would allow the Commission to mandate thousands-block pooling in every rate center. Once the Comment period is opened, the OCA intends to file Comments at the FCC in support of that Petition. The Commission’s number conservation efforts have even included ordering the rescission of area code relief proposed for the 835 area code in southwestern Pennsylvania and the 445 area code for southeastern Pennsylvania once the Commission determined the additional area codes were not needed. The Commission should be commended for its efforts to manage scarce numbering resources in a pro-competitive and pro-consumer manner. Commissioner Pizzingrilli has been particularly active on number conservation for the Commission throughout her tenure as Commissioner. Commissioner Pizzingrilli has recognized 5 Petition for Declaratory Ruling and Request for Expedited Action on the July 15, 1997 Order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission Regarding Area Codes 412, 610, 215 and 717, Memorandum Opinion and Order and Order on Reconsideration, 13 FCC Rcd at 19027 (1998). 5 that “[a]dding new area codes has