BellSouth asks FCC to reject LNP petition

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell this week, BellSouth asked the commission to reject a petition filed by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association concerning local number portability. The petition asked the FCC to force wireline carriers to port numbers to requesting wireless carriers even when they don’t have a switch in the associated rate center. Moreover, BellSouth asked the commission to force wireless carriers to assign new numbers to wireline customers who later move out of the rate center associated with the ported number. The RBOC also asked the FCC to reconsider the 2-1/2 hour window it has established for the execution of valid porting requests. Current rules allow a 4-day porting interval, said BellSouth.