The IP transition will bring several challenges to...

The IP transition will bring several challenges to the next number portability administrator, said a white paper submitted by Neustar to the FCC Tuesday (http://bit.ly/1glvrxs). Neustar also sent the paper to all the North American Numbering Council members. The Number Portability Administration Center was formed around the mandate of encouraging competition and improving customers’ experience, said the paper by Yankee Group Vice President Jennifer Pigg: “The transition to IP opens up a new world of opportunity and a new set of challenges.” During the next decade, the number portability administrator “will be grappling with the issue of separating location from individual and providing sensible routing that does not backhaul traffic to arbitrary locations” based on the location routing number of a switch, the paper said. Neustar has asked repeatedly for another round of bids for the number portability administrator position, arguing in part that the bidding process had not emphasized the importance of IP transition issues (CD Feb 13 p13).