BEFORE THE WASHINGTON UTILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF THE ) DOCKET NO. UT-991627 INVESTIGATION INTO THE ISSUE ) OF-NUMBERING RESOURCES ) ORDER DESIGNATING ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ) AN ADMINISTRATOR I. FINDINGS OF FACT A. Background 1. On July 20, 2000, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC or Commission) the authority to implement number conservation measures, including thousand-block number pooling. Thousand-block number pooling involves the allocation of blocks of one thousand sequential telephone numbers within the same NXX code to different service providers. In re Numbering Resource Optimization Implementation of Local Competition Provisions of Telecommunications Act of 1996 , Order, CC Docket No. 99-200 and CC Docket No. 96-98, 2000 WL 991629, ¶ 52 (rel. July 20, 2000). 2. The FCC requires that state commissions receiving delegated number pooling authority select a neutral entity to administer the number pooling trial. In re Numbering Resource Optimization Implementation of Local Competition Provisions of Telecommunications Act of 1996 , Order, CC Docket No. 99-200 and CC Docket No. 96-98, 2000 WL 991629, ¶ 20 (rel. July 20, 2000). Such a number pooling administrator will assist the telecommunications industry in developing an implementation schedule (consistent with a final implementation date established by the WUTC) and collecting the information necessary to establish number pools in each rate area. Once number pooling is implemented, the administrator fills requests from individual carriers for thousand-number blocks and maintains an adequate supply of numbering resources for each rate area. B. WUTC Process for Selecting Administrator 3. Consistent with this authority, the WUTC on October 3, 2000, issued a request for proposals (RFP) to persons who may be interested in serving as interim number pooling administrator for Washington. Bidders were to base their proposals on the Generic Pooling Plan for Washington developed by the Washington Exchange Carrier Association pursuant to the Second Supplemental Order in this docket. The RFP included detailed information on the scope of work to be performed and the way in which technical, management, and cost criteria would be evaluated. 4. Once selected, the interim number pooling administrator will be paid, consistent with its proposal, by telecommunications companies using numbering resources within the state of Washington. The pooling administrator contract will be negotiated through the North American Portability Management, LLC (NAPM). C. Evaluation of Proposals by Commission Staff 5. Two firms, Telcordia Technologies and NeuStar, Inc., submitted proposals. On October 24, 2000, Commission Staff interviewed each firm. Staff met with each firm for about three hours to hear their oral presentations and to question them. Based on the written proposals and the interviews, Staff evaluated each of the proposals according to the criteria set out in the Commission’s request for proposals. The Staff evaluations in each category are set out below: Category Possible Points Telcordia Technologies NeuStar, Inc. Technical Proposal 60 60 52 Management Proposal 50 44 47 Cost Proposal 90 90 0 Total 200 194 99 6. Staff found both firms to be very highly qualified to perform the work of number pooling administration. The major difference in the two proposals was cost. Both firms included one-time costs for establishing number pools in each area code and costs for each request for numbers made by a service provider. In each category of cost, Telcordia Technologies proposed significantly lower costs. Based on the evaluation criteria, the difference in cost was such that NeuStar received zero points in this category. In sum, based on its findings, Staff recommended to the Commission that Telcordia receive the designation. 7. A more detailed evaluation of the proposals was presented to the Commission at the Commission’s special open public meeting on October 31, 2000. D. Presentation of Staff Recommendation to Commission 8. On October 31, 2000, at a special open public meeting called to consider the Staff recommendation to designate an interim number pooling administrator, Commission Staff presented its findings. Telcordia and NeuStar also made presentations. 9. At the open meeting, the representative for NeuStar made allegations, unsupported by any objective evidence, that Telcordia had engaged in “ plagiarism” of one or more of NeuStar’s documents on its website and, therefore, the Commission should reject the Staff recommendation that Telcordia receive the Commission’s designation. However, after listening to the allegations of NeuStar, there appears to be no evidence sufficient to justify any further delay. Any dispute that may implicate NeuStar’s copyright interests in one or more of its documents can be resolved in a forum outside this Commission. 10. Based on the presentations of Staff and both companies, and based on the written record developed, the Commission finds, consistent with the findings of Commission Staff, that Telecordia scored higher on the preagreed upon criteria for decision and that Telcordia is the more qualified to receive the designation. II. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 11. 1) The Commission has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to RCW 80.36.610, which gives the Commission authority to take actions necessary to implement the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. 12. 2) Based on the facts in this matter, the Commission concludes that Telecordia should be designated the interim number pooling administrator. III. ORDER 13. 1) The Commission designates Telcordia Technologies as the interim number pooling administrator for Washington. 14. 2) The Secretary will issue a letter requesting that North American Pooling Portability Management, LLC, enter into a contract with Telcordia Technologies consistent with its proposals. 15. 3) The Commission retains jurisdiction over this matter to issue such future orders and take such future actions as may be appropriate. DATED at Olympia, Washington, and effective this day of November, 2000. WASHINGTON UTILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION MARILYN SHOWALTER, Chairwoman RICHARD HEMSTAD, Commissioner WILLIAM R. GILLIS, Commissioner