******************************************************** NOTICE ******************************************************** This document was converted from WordPerfect to ASCII Text format. Content from the original version of the document such as headers, footers, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, and page numbers will not show up in this text version. All text attributes such as bold, italic, underlining, etc. from the original document will not show up in this text version. Features of the original document layout such as columns, tables, line and letter spacing, pagination, and margins will not be preserved in the text version. If you need the complete document, download the WordPerfect version or Adobe Acrobat version, if available. ***************************************************************** DA 99-663 NSD File No. 99-31 April 7, 1999 Mr. Ronald R. Conners Director, North American Numbering Plan Administrator 1133 15th St., NW 12th Floor Washington, DC 20005 Re: Emergency Petition of American Cellular Corporation for Numbering Relief Dear Mr. Conners: This letter addresses the March 11, 1999 request by American Cellular Corporation (ACC) that the Federal Communications Commission direct the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) to release immediately two central office codes that have already been earmarked for ACC's subsidiaries under the rationing procedures in place in the 914 Numbering Plan Area (NPA), which covers upstate New York. As is further explained below, we concur with the conclusion of the New York State Department of Public Service that ACC has adequately demonstrated its genuine and immediate need to obtain numbering resources in advance of the assignment schedule provided for in the 914 NPA rationing plan. Pursuant to the FCC's plenary authority over numbering administration, we direct the NANPA to release the referenced central office codes immediately. According to information submitted to the Common Carrier Bureau, ACC has two subsidiaries, Dutchess Cellular Telephone Company, Inc. (Dutchess) and Alexandra Cellular Corporation (Alexandra), that provide cellular telephone service in the vicinity of Poughkeepsie, New York. Dutchess and Alexandra each have central office codes in one of the 164 rate centers in the 914 NPA, Dutchess in the Poughkeepsie rate center, and Alexandra in the Kingston rate center. Under the 914 NPA rationing plan, Dutchess and Alexandra were each allocated an additional central office code, which are not scheduled to be assigned until August 1999, and September 1999, respectively. ACC indicates that when Dutchess first began to experience a severe number shortage in December 1998, ACC arranged for Dutchess to use numbering resources from Alexandra, which not only accelerated the exhaust of Alexandra's own numbering resources, but also resulted in toll charges on some landline calls to Dutchess cellular customers that had been assigned numbers from Alexandra's central office codes. ACC has demonstrated that both Dutchess and Alexandra have very few available telephone numbers in their respective service areas. ACC projects that without extraordinary relief, both Dutchess and Alexandra will be completely out of numbers in the 914 area code within the 66 day period ordinarily required to activate a central office code once it has been assigned to a carrier. In addition, ACC indicates that in December 1998, it reduced its cycle for aging numbers to 30 days, and intends to reduce it again to seven days, where possible, in order to help meet demand for numbers, in spite of the fact that such a reduction may lead to customer confusion, wrong numbers, and incorrect billing of roaming charges. Based on this information, we are satisfied that ACC, and its subsidiaries Dutchess and Alexandra, have met the standard for extraordinary relief articulated by the Commission in the Pennsylvania Numbering Order. ACC has demonstrated that Dutchess and Alexandra are very close to exhaust of all numbers currently assigned to them in the 914 area code, and that they are using extraordinary measures, including significantly shortened aging cycles, and reallocation of numbering resources, in order to provide service to customers in the 914 NPA. If Dutchess and Alexandra do not obtain additional numbering resources very soon, at best, they will be forced to expand their use of these extraordinary measures, and, at worst, may be unable to provide service to customers in the 914 NPA. Therefore, we direct the NANPA to assign and release immediately to ACC the codes that have been earmarked for Dutchess and Alexandra, respectively, in the 914 NPA rationing plan. Because we believe that the industry should consider how to address emergency situations -- possibly by reserving a certain portion of remaining central office codes for needs-based emergency relief -- when formulating a central office code rationing scheme for a particular NPA, we direct the NANPA, in its capacity as the central office code administrator, to convene a 914 industry meeting to reconsider the rationing plan adopted in the 914 NPA. Further, we specifically instruct the industry to consider the issue of how to address emergency requests for relief, like ACC's, that may arise in the future. We request your response to this within 45 days. Sincerely, Yog R. Varma Deputy Chief, Common Carrier Bureau cc: Lawrence Roberts, counsel for American Cellular Corporation James S. Blitz, counsel for American Cellular Corporation Penny Rubin, New York Public Service Commission Janet Hand Deixler, New York Public Service Commission Cheryl Callahan, New York Public Service Commission Alan Hasselwander, Chairman, North American Numbering Council