Broadening Broadband

In order to meet the Congress imposed deadline of February 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun the process of developing a national broadband plan. As part of the evaluation process in determining how to best bring high-speed Internet service nationwide, in early April, acting FCC Chairman Michael J. Copps solicited public and industry input regarding its availability, quality and affordability. Copps indicated methods used to develop this plan will be "open, inclusive, out-reaching and data-hungry".

As the plan moves forward, the FCC is certain to face noteworthy debate regarding inclusion of various policies. In fact, telecom companies and public interest groups have already shared their input and concerns. Issues brought forward thus far include regulating the fees large telecom operators may apply for utilization of parts of their networks; and, requests to redirect a $7 billion federal rural phone subsidy to broadband.

Other areas of FCC focus, Copps indicated would be strategy for identifying highest-need areas - as well as determining speed parameters - for high-speed Internet. Another issue for assessment will be urban and rural high-speed Internet demand differentials.

Senior counsel for Consumers Union, a public advocacy group, Chris Murray summarized the process by saying the FCC plan will review existing policies and determine if and how they may be modified to improve broadband availability and appeal. Murray stated "The proper goal of the program is filling holes in our national broadband strategy, not creating broadband networks from the ground up."

With the FCC plan deadline of February 2010, there is concern that much of the $7.2 million in government stimulus funds for broadband development will be claimed by Internet providers before plan completion; and, therefore without much agency influence, clear guidelines or measure of project needs. The hope is that, with senses heightened to this possibility, extra care and consideration will be taken with any monies designated prior to the FCC’s final plan.

Alabama Deregulation

The Alabama Senate voted 19-8 to pass legislation to deregulate all home and business phone services giving landline rates the same standing as cell and Internet phone services. Should this legislation become law, the Alabama Public Service will no longer oversee rates and AT&T and other local phone companies will be able to set rates for local service as they wish.

While this bill positions Alabama landline phone service providers to better compete with the already deregulated cell and Internet phone providers, it would also result in less protection for consumers against huge rate hikes. Of course, the next step for this piece of legislation is to make it through the House – and then be signed by Alabama’s governor.

Tele-Tech Talk

We’ve changed! And, if we do say so ourselves, we’re a bit easier on the eye. That’s right, we’ve released our new website featuring easier navigation and an extremely informative yet straightforward content design. We’ve added a crisp functionality to the site with all the same information we’ve always provided.

With a clean tabbed format, it’s easy to peruse the site features; then, identify and zero in on exactly what you’re looking for. So, from our Home page, you move about the site by selecting tabs to take you to detailed information about Products, Why Tele-Tech, Contact and Free Resources. In addition to the new look and functionality of the site, a couple of options worth highlighting are:

• Live Chat -- this added feature makes it easier to access us and get the information you need! This option is available on each website page, and also as one of the ways to Tell Tele-Tech on the Contact tab.
• Kim’s Telecom Blog – Join in the conversation! Let us know what you think about a particular article, topic or product highlight. Or, you tell us what telecom issues you want to discuss – what’s top of mind for you?!
• Webinars – Select this option to take a look at upcoming events. Also, we’ll list past webinars and provide links to allow access to the slides and/or audio so you may review at your leisure.

So why did we do all of this? It’s really quite simple! We wanted to enhance the customer experience when visiting Tele-Tech’s website. In a nutshell, we wanted to brag without boring! Visit when you can at www.telecomdb.com and let us know what you think!

Telecom News

Two reports providing significant information regarding utilization of telephone number resources were released in March.

On March 31st, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), Neustar, released the NANPA 2008 Annual Report. The document includes both historical and forward-looking information on the assignment of NPA codes and central office codes. Key data include:

• A total of three new NPAs were introduced in 2008: NPAs 581 and 587 went into effect as overlays on September 19th in Quebec and Alberta, respectively; and NPA 657 went into effect in California as an overlay on September 23rd.
• Nine NPAs are currently scheduled for activation. Those with 2009 in service dates include: NPAs 385 (UT), 442 (CA), 681 (WV), and 747 (CA); with, NPAs 343 (Ontario), 364 (KY), 458 (OR), and 534 (WI) each having 2010 in service dates.
• 2,946 Central Office Codes (COCs) were assigned in 2008, and 10,590 COC changes were made to code assignment information, such as the Operating Company Number (OCN) or switch.
• 93 new Feature Group D Carrier Identification Codes (FG D CICs) were assigned in 2008, and 97 FG D CICs that were not in service or assigned to companies no longer in business were reclaimed/returned.
• 132 of the 328 currently assigned geographic NPAs are projected to exhaust in the next 10 years.

The NANPA Annual Report may be downloaded from http://nanpa.com/reports/reports_annual.html.

Also released in March was the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) latest Numbering Resource Utilization in the United States report. This 51-page report is an overview of the data and ongoing procedures used to determine if the industry is making efficient use of limited numbering resources. A few of the report findings are:

• Utilization by Carrier Type – Over 1.3 billion telephone numbers are spread among reporting carriers, with 652 million assigned to customers, around 619 million available, and about 84 million used for administrative and other purposes. A breakdown of utilization stats by carrier type (6/30/08) is:
• ..... 48.1% = (Of all) telephone numbers were assigned to end users.
• ..... 50.3% (down from 50.7% 6 months prior) = Overall utilization rate of Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (LECs) for the numbers they’ve been assigned.
• ..... 65.3% (up from 65.0%) = Overall utilization rate of Cellular/PCS Carriers for the numbers they’ve been assigned.
• ..... 30.4% (up from 26.9%) = Overall utilization rate for Competitive LECs for the numbers they’ve been assigned.
• Smaller Block Pooling Successful in Conserving Numbering Resources – Thousands-block pooling is available in areas with the most demand for additional numbering resources. This practice saved about 355 million phone numbers from being assigned unnecessarily.
• Millions of Telephone Numbers Returned for Reassignment– The FCC’s Numbering Resource Optimization (NRO) Order requires that carriers return large quantities of telephone numbers they do not need to the NANPA in order to avail them for more immediate use needs. During 2008, the telephone numbers returned included 0.96 million in second quarter, rising to 1.49 million numbers in third quarter.
• Customers Moving Millions of Telephone Numbers to New Carriers – Since 2007, more than 21 million subscribers have taken their wireline numbers with them when switching to another wireline carrier. During the same time period, a little over 1 million subscribers have ported their wireline telephone number to a wireless carrier for use on their wireless device. Wireless customers moved more than 18 million telephone numbers to other wireless carriers as they switch service providers, and only 62,000 wireless subscribers have moved their number to a wireline carrier.
• Most Utilized Area Codes in the United States –New York’s area code 646 (which overlays New York City’s area code 212) is the most utilized, with 77.0% of numbers assigned to customers. Arizona’s area code 480 is next, with 75.3% of numbers assigned to customers.

The full FCC Report may be downloaded from http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-289173A1.pdf.