Neustar asked the FCC to “immediately rectify” the...

Neustar asked the FCC to “immediately rectify” the Local Number Portability Administration selection process. In a petition filed Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1aVQlmy), the company asked the commission to amend the request for proposal “to include input from all industry constituencies,” to “clarify rules governing the LNPA to ensure the selection process proceeds in a transparent and impartial manner,” and to “direct the [North American Portability Management] to pursue additional proposals consistent with the revised RFP.” The current process for selecting the next LNPA “is flawed in its design and implementation,” said current LNPA Neustar, which holds the contract through next year. Wireline Bureau Chief Julie Veach said Tuesday the bureau wouldn’t intervene and direct multiple rounds of bidding (CD Feb 12 p7). Neustar’s petition cited that letter, but only for the proposition that the bureau concurs there have been “concerns over the fairness of this process so far.” Veach had asked the North American Numbering Council to ensure its ultimate recommendation on the LNPA selection process responds directly to the concerns raised. “Given the critical significance of the issues raised herein, Neustar respectfully requests that the Commission take action on the broader set of concerns framed in this Petition, particularly the fact that the RFP criteria no longer reflect the current and evolving needs of the stakeholders as well as emerging technological challenges,” it said. Problems are myriad, Neustar said: RFP criteria are “inadequate”; there’s a “mismatch” between the RFP’s specifications and the technical requirements being provided; it doesn’t account for “critical” IP transition requirements and “new technology developments”; and it doesn’t enforce the “network compact” touted by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “The longer the Commission waits to resolve these questions, the more serious potential delays and implementation challenges will become,” said Neustar. “Swift action by the FCC can correct these problems while there is still time to preserve the level of service that service providers and consumers have come to expect from the LNPA.” Wiltshire Grannis communications attorney John Nakahata, counsel for Telcordia, called Neustar’s petition “an Olympian effort to change the rules and get a do-over after flubbing its last run.” Neustar could win two ways, Nakahata told us by email. “Delay would allow it to continue to collect its over-inflated sole source fees of nearly $470 million per year. The Commission should recognize this petition for what it is -- a meritless, last-ditch desperation ploy by a company that had an opportunity for input into every stage of the process."