Verizon: We’ll negotiate LNP with any wireless carrier

One day after Verizon Communications announced a deal with sister company Verizon Wireless to enable barrier-free reciprocal number porting between the carriers, a Verizon wireline spokesman said the RBOC is ready to negotiate a similar agreement with any wireless carrier that’s interested. 

The two carriers agreed they would not delay porting when a customer owes an early termination fee or is behind on his or her account, would work under a multi-state agreement rather than negotiating individual interconnection agreements and would engage in “non-geographic” porting. Non-geographic porting allows Verizon customers to port to Verizon Wireless even if the wireless carrier does not have numbers in the same rate center. The two carriers believe the agreement could stand as a model for all future wireline-wireless porting agreements. 

However, a Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association spokesman said yesterday that the cozy relationship between the carriers made the agreement possible and suggested that it might be difficult to replicate. He added that the FCC still needed to address outstanding issues including whether an interconnection agreement must be in place before testing and implementation of number porting can occur. Wireline carriers say yes, while wireless carriers generally believe that service level agreements would suffice. In addition, wireline carriers believe they don’t have to port unless a wireless carrier has a switch in a specific rate center, and there is disagreement between the two sides on porting intervals.

“All of these topics are going to have to be covered and resolved by the FCC for the industry as a whole to successfully implement number portability,” said CTIA spokesman Travis Larson.

However, Verizon Communications spokesman Mark Marchand said turning to Verizon Wireless—the joint venture with Vodafone in which Verizon owns a 60% stake—first was a common-sense move. “That was the way to get the quickest head start on it because some sort of relationship already existed,” Marchand said. “If you’re looking to do this as quickly as possible, to get a quick hit, a quick success, Verizon Wireless was the place to look.”

Marchand added that working with other wireless carriers in a similar fashion makes equally good sense. “This is an agreement that ultimately makes porting easier for the customer. If there is a way to make this happen, we’re going to do it.”

Analyst Patrick Comack of Guzman and Co. said Verizon is making a prudent business decision by choosing to work with wireless carriers on number portability, rather than against them.

"It’s another case of Verizon saying, ‘If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.' Their bet is that they’ll be able to take more lines to their wireless unit than they will lose in their region,” said Comack. “It was going in that direction anyway. Landline-to-wireless portability is in the [FCC’s] rule. They were fighting the rate center battle, but there is no way [Sen.] Chuck Schumer and the other politicians are going to let that happen.”

In February Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation dubbed the “Cell Phone Users Bill of Rights” that would require wireless carriers to port numbers, provide better service, clearly disclose contract and service terms, and do a better job of monitoring signal strength and dead zones.