The FCC should revise its protective order in...

The FCC should revise its protective order in the local number portability administrator (LNPA] proceeding to give small carriers access to the proposal, said a letter (http://bit.ly/1jOQyXx) submitted Monday by associations representing the carriers. The carriers also responded to CTIA, NCTA and USTelecom filings that urged a quick selection of the LNPA vendor (CD June 24 p11), saying, “While we are not opposed to the Commission moving quickly, we believe that the Commission should only act after all entities that depend on the LNP, not just the largest carriers, have an opportunity to review and understand the implications of the LNP selection and provide comments to the Commission.” The letter, posted Tuesday in docket 09-109, came from FISPA, Michigan Internet & Telecommunications Alliance, North West Telecommunications Association and Texaltel. The FCC’s definition of information considered to be ‘highly confidential’ in the protective order is overly broad, Neustar told agency general counsel’s staff June 20, an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/TxjFYM) posted Wednesday. “Neustar expressed further that the FCC’s default position for information submitted by vendors in this proceeding should be to favor disclosure rather than restricting disclosure.” A unit of Ericsson, which an FCC committee recommended get the LNPA job now held by Neustar, recently sought other changes to the protective order (CD June 24 p12).