Number portability progress report, Spotlight on Chicago, metro area

Chicago has become ground zero for local number portability. The Federal Communications Commission has declared that the Windy City trial of LNP will be the test bed for the nation when it begins moving phone numbers with customers at 150 central offices on July 1, 1997. Chicago, dubbed MSA-1 by the FCC, has been mandated to have its version of LNP working by August 1997.

The 150 COs selected by carriers in the Illinois LNP task force include switches in Evanston, Oak Lawn, Northbrook, Waukegan and Skokie. The types of switches cover the most common large telco COs, such as Lucent Technologies' 5ESS, Northern Telecom's DMS-100 and Siemens Stromberg-Carlson's EWSD.

Just like the 1968 and 1996 Democratic National Conventions, the whole world will be watching. But Illinois is used to leading when it comes to LNP. Illinois was the first state to organize a task force of local and long-distance carriers to investigate number portability. The Illinois Commerce Commission was the first to put out a request for proposal to find a number portability administrator. And so far, it remains the only state to have chosen a winner from the filed proposals, selecting Lockheed Martin IMS in April to handle Illinois' telephone number database.

Two weeks ago, the six carriers who chose Lockheed filed to create a limited liability company. Sprint-Centel, AT&T, MFS Communications, Teleport Communications Group, Ameritech and MCI decided to form the company with little capital-about $60,000-to formalize and legitimize their commitment to LNP and to limit their liability in case of litigation.

Lockheed will be ready with the database, computer center and portability application in time for testing and implementation in third quarter 1997, said Joe Franlin, vice president of operations for Lockheed.

As number administrator, Lockheed will provide the interface between carrier and main database, manage the number portability application at the master location and set up and manage a number portability administration center to answer questions and help carriers, he said.

The system works as follows: When a new carrier wins over a customer from a competitor, it will file the change with Lockheed. The old carrier is simultaneously expected to file the change. If a conflict arises, Lockheed will immediately turn over the problem to the limited liability partnership and its strict conflict-resolution process. "Our role is not to play policeman or arbitrate differences," Franlin said. "Our role is that of neutral third-party administrator."

This week, the ICC will file a document with the FCC requesting specifics on how to handle areas where telcos don't want to compete and where LNP won't be needed for some time, a spokesman at the commission said.

Even with all the litigation and seemingly organized progress, the Chicago task is not an easy one.

"You can't have effective competition without having local number portability, as has been demonstrated by a number of market studies," said Herb Manger of Bellcore's business development unit of LNP. "But number portability impacts just about every element of a telco's network and system. It's far more complex than equal access."

The FCC's ruling on LNP demands rollout in large metro areas such as Chicago, New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles and the rest of the 100 large metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. by the end of 1998.

"The concern is that Chicago tests the system well and looks at all the fixes. There's a very limited time between when the test occurs and when number portability has to be implemented in 100 MSAs," Manger said.

The FCC has asked the ICC to come up with a plan for the nation and-provided that the Chicago test is successful-prepare to use it, the spokesman said.

Not only is the whole world watching, it's waiting for an answer.