Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Both sides scramble in LNP delay debate

From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 14:38:38 -0500

Both sides scramble in LNP delay debate
By Heather Forsgren Weaver
October 30 13:16:00, 2003

WASHINGTON—It ain’t over ‘til it’s over, and state regulators are not
giving up until they are sure the wireless industry
cannot succeed in delaying the Nov. 24 mandate to implement local number
portability.

“The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners will
remain vigilant. The wireless industry has already
pulled off a double hat trick in delaying LNP until now; we do not want
them to get a triple hat trick,” said James
Bradford Ramsay, NARUC general counsel.

The opponents and proponents have been scrambling all over Capitol Hill
in an attempt to either delay or thwart the
delay of WLNP until after the holiday shopping season.

As of Thursday, Ramsay’s side appeared to be ahead as one of the staunch
supporters of a delay, Sen. Ted Stevens
(R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told
reporters that he does not support a delay at this
time. He is instead waiting for a response to a letter he sent Tuesday
to the Federal Communications Commission urging
the agency to issue rules on wireline-to-wireless portability.

Stevens spoke to reporters outside a Senate Commerce Committee hearing
on the universal-service system.

For his part, FCC Chairman Michael Powell told reporters after his
appearance before the Senate Commerce Committee
that he has had several conversations with lawmakers regarding LNP, and
that while he is not lobbying against a delay,
when asked his opinion, he said he supports WLNP.

Some in the industry were quick Wednesday to distance themselves from
any delay. “While we agree that the FCC could
have better defined the rules of WLNP for the wireless industry, U.S.
Cellular has made the investment and is ready to
accommodate the needs of our customers,” said U.S. Cellular President
John Rooney.

The reluctance of senators to support a delay in WLNP became apparent
just as a federal appeals court Wednesday
afternoon rejected a plea from AT&T Wireless Services Inc. and Cingular
Wireless L.L.C. to require the FCC to either
issue rules on wireline-to-wireless portability or delay the Nov. 24
mandate.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected
the request in a one-paragraph opinion.

The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association has made a
similar request of the D.C. Circuit.
http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=15706

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