FCC To Accept Phone Number Requests from Interconnected VoIP Providers Starting Feb. 18

The FCC will begin taking applications Feb. 18 from interconnected VoIP providers seeking to obtain phone numbers directly from numbering administrators, the Wireline Bureau said Thursday in a public notice in docket 95-116 listed in Friday's Daily Digest. The rules were approved in June (see 1506180060) but didn't take effect until Thursday after they were approved by the Office of Management and Budget and published in the Federal Register. NARUC is challenging the order in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit for giving the rights and obligations of telecom common carriers to unclassified service providers (NARUC v. FCC, No. 15-1497) (see 1601050050).