Toll Free Assignment Modernization; Toll Free Service Access Codes

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) revises its rules to allow the Commission to assign numbers by competitive bidding, on a first-come, first-served basis, by an alternative assignment methodology, or by a combination of methodologies. The Commission further establishes a single round, sealed-bid Vickrey auction for roughly 17,000 mutually exclusive numbers in the 833 code, set aside in the process of opening that code. Government and non-profit entities may file a petition seeking that a number be set aside from the auction for use for public health and safety purposes, and net proceeds from the auction will offset the costs of toll free numbering administration. Full auction procedures will be established in subsequent public notices. The Commission also revises its toll free rules to allow for the development of a secondary market for toll free numbers assigned in an auction, and to modernize its toll free rules to make them consistent with the other revisions adopted in this document and with industry terminology and practice.