PricewaterhouseCoopers Officials Outline LNPA Outreach Plans

PricewatershouseCoopers officials discussed in general terms their outreach efforts as part of the FCC's planned local number portability administrator transition from Neustar to iconectiv (Telcordia). The LNPA oversees the systems that allow consumers to keep their phone numbers when switching local carriers. In an interactive webcast Wednesday, officials for PwC, which is the transition oversight manager, said their main outreach goals were to ensure transparency, create an open forum and incorporate feedback. They said there would be three phases to the transition: design, testing and migration from Neustar to iconectiv. The migration phase will include a period of "parallel activities" when both Neustar and iconectiv will be providing LNPA functions. A projected timetable for the transition is still being discussed with the FCC, North American Portability Management, LNP vendors and other stakeholders. The stakeholders include telecom and other industry providers, law enforcement agencies and others, said a PwC official, who noted about 500 people were on the live webcast. The company plans to hold outreach webcasts monthly.