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Telecommunications equipment industry

True Local Number Portability Solution Demonstrated by Leading Telecommunications Companies

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

A team of leading telecommunications companies, including MCI and MCImetro, has demonstrated a true local number portability solution that enables consumers to keep their telephone number when switching to a competing local telephone company. This solution was showcased at the Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS) conference in Washington, DC, and represents a significant step towards removing a major barrier to effective local telephone competition. The demonstration involved software developed by a team of vendors, including DSC Communications, Nortel, Siemens Stromberg-Carlson, and Tandem Computers, Inc., which operates with existing industry standards and currently deployed switching and signaling equipment.

Key Takeaways:

  • The true local number portability solution enables consumers to keep their telephone number when switching to a competing local telephone company, removing a major barrier to effective local telephone competition.
  • A nationwide Gallup survey showed that nearly 90 percent of business customers would not switch to a competing local telephone company if they could not keep their phone number.
  • The solution uses a three-digit Carrier Portability Code (CPC) which communicates routing instructions to the network by identifying the carrier that is to receive the call.
  • The CPC software used in the signaling between different telecommunications networks allows customers to receive calls directly from their chosen service providers without changing numbers and without having to dial additional digits to complete calls.
  • The true local number portability solution is consumer-friendly, protects the customer's access to advanced Caller ID services, produces faster call set-up, and improves data and voice transmission compared to call-forwarding.
  • The CPC solution is also competition-friendly, giving customers and their new service providers control over the switching of calls to and from the customer.
  • The solution employs a database design and hardware compatible with systems used to complete 1-800 calls nationwide and systems being deployed for Advanced Intelligent Networks (AIN).

Statistics:

  • 90% of business customers would not switch to a competing local telephone company if they could not keep their phone number (Gallup survey).
  • The solution can be deployed in some locations as early as six months pending local regulatory mandate.
  • The CPC software is compatible with systems used to complete 1-800 calls nationwide and systems being deployed for Advanced Intelligent Networks (AIN).

Sources:

  • [Washington, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- PR Newswire]
  • [Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS)]
  • [Terry Adams of DSC, 214-519-4358]
  • [Bob Major of Tandem, 408-285-6176]
  • [Ted Hudak of Nortel, 214-684-2758]
  • [Alice Andors of Siemens, 202-434-4820]

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