Agenda Date:  November 15, 1999

Item Number:

Docket:  UT - 991627

Company Name: Washington Exchange Carrier Association

Staff:   Dave Dittemore, Utility Engineer
   Rebecca Beaton, Regulatory Consultant
   David Griffith, Utility Engineer

Recommendation:

Staff recommends that the Commission order WECA to initiate an investigation 
into possible methods of number conservation.

Discussion:

The Washington Exchange Carrier Association (WECA) has produced a report 
(Docket 99-01), that recommends that the Commission open an investigation into 
the issue of numbering resources, beginning with proposals for rate center 
consolidation.  Rate centers are geographic points used by the 
telecommunications industry to route and rate telephone calls.  Typically each 
telephone exchange has a rate center. 

 The purpose of rate center consolidation is to reduce the waste of telephone 
number prefixes. Telephone companies typically assign one prefix, which has 
10,000 numbers, to each rate center. With multiple companies assigning prefixes 
to multiple rate centers, hundreds of thousands of numbers can be wasted with 
small rate centers. 

The initial proposal includes rate centers served by U S WEST Communications or 
GTE Northwest.  In total, twenty-five rate centers would be consolidated into 
six.  The basis of selection for these areas are:  identical calling scope and 
identical local exchange rates.  Further consolidations may be possible in 
other areas of the state, particularly if these conditions are relaxed.

The only present concern is possible effects to 911 systems.  These concerns 
have been directed to 911 officials, and no consolidations will begin until any 
problems are resolved.  The WECA report recommends that 911 issues be the first 
topic of investigation for the number conservation docket and that a meeting on 
the subject be convened for December 13.  Staff supports this recommendation.

The Commission may in the near future decide to obtain delegated authority on 
number conservation from the Federal Communications Commission.  If it does so, 
the WECA docket could be used to pursue those additional conservation tools, 
including pooling of thousand-number blocks, utilization reporting, and 
enforcement of standards. 

WECA is an association of incumbent local exchange companies that operates 
under the direction of the WUTC.  While the association itself does not include 
competitive local exchange companies or wireless companies, the number 
conservation group would be open to all members of the industry.

Conclusion:

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the telephone industry’s traditional 
methods for administering telephone numbers must be overhauled.  Rate center 
consolidation is a useful first step in that effort, though further steps will 
be necessary.  Staff recommends that the Commission initiate the number 
conservation investigation using the WECA docket procedure as a vehicle for 
full industry participation.