The Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) is a function of the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) in the United States. It administers the routing of
telephone call
A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network between the called party and the calling party.
First telephone call
The first telephone call was made on March 10, 1876, by Alexander Graham Bell. Bell demonstrated his ability to "ta ...
s and
text messages
Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible compu ...
(SMS) for the
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
s industry and its customers. As such, it facilitates
local number portability
Local number portability (LNP) for fixed lines, and full mobile number portability (FMNP) for mobile phone lines, refers to the ability of a "customer of record" of an existing fixed-line or mobile telephone number assigned by a local exchange ca ...
in the United States and Canada.
History
The
Telecommunications Act of 1996
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 is a United States federal law enacted by the 104th United States Congress on January 3, 1996, and signed into law on February 8, 1996, by President Bill Clinton. It primarily amended Chapter 5 of Title 47 of ...
((b)(2)) established that all
local exchange carriers must implement
local number portability
Local number portability (LNP) for fixed lines, and full mobile number portability (FMNP) for mobile phone lines, refers to the ability of a "customer of record" of an existing fixed-line or mobile telephone number assigned by a local exchange ca ...
(LNP) in accordance with the regulations of the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC). Subsequently, the FCC selected
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
as the LNP administrator.
The Number Portability Administration Center was originally implemented by the Communications Industry Services (CIS) division of Lockheed Martin in 1997. In 1998, Lockheed Martin formed a separate company,
Neustar, for the management of the NPAC. At the time the work constituted the first database and registry to enable local number portability for the United States and Canada.
The database contains the data used to route, rate, and bill telephone calls for telephone numbers that are no longer assigned to the original carrier.
On March 26, 2015, the FCC approved the recommendation of the
North American Numbering Council The North American Numbering Council is an advisory committee of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States, chartered in 1995. Its function is to develop and recommend efficient and fair administrative procedures in the admini ...
(NANC) to award the contract to
Telcordia Technologies
iconectiv is a supplier of network planning and network management services to telecommunications providers. Known as Bellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of the Bell System, the company's name ...
, doing business as
iconectiv
iconectiv is a supplier of network planning and network management services to telecommunications providers. Known as Bellcore after its establishment in the United States in 1983 as part of the break-up of the Bell System, the company's name ...
, as the next Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA), after 18 years of management by Neustar.
The reasons for the change were cited as cost savings.
With commission oversight, North American Portability Management, LLC (NAPM) negotiated the terms of a
Master service agreement (MSA) with iconectiv.
[ The MSA was submitted to the FCC for review and approval in March 2016.]
See also
*North American Numbering Plan
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the international calling ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Number Portability Administration Center
*
Telephone numbers