Telephone Number Portability

On May 12, 1998, the Commission released a Third Report and Order in CC Docket No. 95-115, adopting measures to distribute the costs of long-term number portability among telecommunications carriers. In this order, the Commission decides that telecommunications carriers shall pay for the shared costs of the number portability regional databases based on each telecommunications carrier's end-user telecommunications revenues in each region, telecommunications carriers shall bear their own carrier-specific costs directly related to providing number portability, incumbent LECs have the option to recover their carrier-specific costs directly related to providing number portability through a five-year end user charge, as well as through number portability query charges to other carriers, and unregulated carriers may recover their carrier-specific costs directly related to providing number portability in any lawful manner. This Third Report and Order ensures that all telecommunications carriers bear the costs of number portability in a competitively neutral manner.