Sorry for the off-topic, but perhaps this will be of interest to other asterisk based ITSPs. We are starting service in a rural area where the ILEC has the rural "monopoly". From what we have read in the FCC docs this does NOT exempt them from number portability, but what does it take for us to qualify to receive their numbers? To date we simply have a few voice trunks to them, and a set of DID numbers we purchase from them. Do we have to be a full CLEC to participate as a carrier? Does this imply we must have an SS7 connection to the PSTN? Thanks for any info, j
Your chances are likely slim to none. But good luck. First to port numbers you have to be a recognized carrier, which for the most part means getting numbers from NANPA : North American Numbering Plan Administration. To do that you have to be certified by your state PUC or be a CMRS (cell phone) carrier. They would give you a block of 10,000 numbers designated to the rate center of the ILEC in question. Then you designate on of those numbers as a "local routing number" (LRN) which is like a "pathfinder" number for ported numbers. And, you work out an Interconnection agreement with the local Telco (probably with them kicking and screaming for months or a year) because they really don't want you there, and you aren't a big cell phone company, but a local wire line competitor, which then is approved by the state PUC. What some others have done is to operate as a "PBX Service provider" or some other business term. They get a PRI from the local company, and become the agent for the customer, move the service delivery to their PRI, and then distribute the calls to the appropriate customer via SIP and Asterisk or other solution. That has worked in Casa Grande, AZ for one place. (Not ours.) Cary Fitch -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Jeff LaCoursiere Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 8:34 AM To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com Subject: [asterisk-users] OT - Number Portability Sorry for the off-topic, but perhaps this will be of interest to other asterisk based ITSPs. We are starting service in a rural area where the ILEC has the rural "monopoly". From what we have read in the FCC docs this does NOT exempt them from number portability, but what does it take for us to qualify to receive their numbers? To date we simply have a few voice trunks to them, and a set of DID numbers we purchase from them. Do we have to be a full CLEC to participate as a carrier? Does this imply we must have an SS7 connection to the PSTN? Thanks for any info, j _______________________________________________ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
Two more comments. Yes, to join the PSTN call distribution system you must have SS7. While rural ILECs are not exempt from number portability, there is a court injunction that saves them from having to transport the call out of their local rate center, so getting calls from a distant RILEC to a central point is at a cost to the requesting carrier. There are other complexities. Cary Fitch -----Original Message----- From: asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com [mailto:asterisk-users-bounces at lists.digium.com] On Behalf Of Jeff LaCoursiere Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 8:34 AM To: asterisk-users at lists.digium.com Subject: [asterisk-users] OT - Number Portability Sorry for the off-topic, but perhaps this will be of interest to other asterisk based ITSPs. We are starting service in a rural area where the ILEC has the rural "monopoly". From what we have read in the FCC docs this does NOT exempt them from number portability, but what does it take for us to qualify to receive their numbers? To date we simply have a few voice trunks to them, and a set of DID numbers we purchase from them. Do we have to be a full CLEC to participate as a carrier? Does this imply we must have an SS7 connection to the PSTN? Thanks for any info, j _______________________________________________ -- Bandwidth and Colocation Provided by http://www.api-digital.com -- asterisk-users mailing list To UNSUBSCRIBE or update options visit: http://lists.digium.com/mailman/listinfo/asterisk-users
On Sat, 31 Oct 2009, Cary Fitch wrote:> Two more comments. > > Yes, to join the PSTN call distribution system you must have SS7. > > While rural ILECs are not exempt from number portability, there is a court > injunction that saves them from having to transport the call out of their > local rate center, so getting calls from a distant RILEC to a central point > is at a cost to the requesting carrier. There are other complexities. > > Cary Fitch >Thanks Cary! We figured as much, and I appreciate the confirmation. We are not afraid of the battle and will be heading into this anyway. Feel a bit like Don Quixote :) j