The National Telecommunications Cooperative Association today announced plans to support requests by some small local phone companies to seek extensions of an FCC-imposed deadline requiring them to implement systems that will allow customers to keep their number if they defect to a wireless carrier.
Phone companies outside of the 100 largest markets must support local number portability rules by May 24. Last November, wireless carriers operating in the biggest U.S. cities were required to comply with LNP regulations.
NTCA said it supports a petition filed by North-Eastern Pennsylvania Telephone Co. for a limited and temporary waiver.
"NTCA is stunned by the vehement attempts by large carriers to oppose valid requests from these small carriers. It looks like a case of the giants trying to beat down on the little guys because they are disappointed by the dismal performance of LNP," NTCA CEO Michael E. Brunner said in a statement. "These small wireline carriers do not have the vast resources of the larger wireless carriers. While they are working hard to comply with these burdensome rules, asking for a small time extension is not unreasonable. Therefore, we fully support these requests."
