PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12 th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 16-366 Released: April 6, 2016 WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU SEEKS COMMENT ON SOMOS, INC. PETITION FOR WAIVER OF SECTION 52.111 OF THE COMMISSION’S RULES WC Docket No. 95-155 Comment Date: April 21, 2016 Reply Comment Date: April 28, 2016 On March 21, 2016, Somos, Inc. (Somos, formerly known as SMS/800, Inc.) filed a petition seeking a temporary waiver of the Commission’s first-come, first-served rule governing the administration of toll free numbers. 1 Somos requests the waiver to establish a fair system of allocating a large quantity of 800 numbers currently controlled by the Somos Help Desk. 2 Somos seeks to conduct a limited release of the 800 numbers, restricting RespOrgs to 100 of these toll free numbers per day, for a period of five days. 3 According to Somos, prior experience suggests that in the absence of an allocation system, a small number of entities will be able to reserve the majority of these numbers. 4 Pursuant to section 1.419 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR § 1.419, interested parties may file comments and reply comments on or before the dates indicated above. All filings must be addressed to the Commission’s Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. Comments may be filed by paper or by using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). See Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 (1998). ? Electronic Filers: Comments and replies may be filed electronically via ECFS: http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs. ? Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. 1 Petition for Waiver of Somos, Inc., WC Docket No. 95-155 (filed Mar. 21, 2016) (Petition); see also 47 CFR § 52.111 (“Toll free numbers shall be made available on a first-come, first-served basis unless otherwise directed by the Commission.”). 2 Petition at 1. According to Somos, it disconnected service to a Responsible Organization (RespOrg) for non- payment and transferred the RespOrg’s numbers to the Help Desk. Approximately 96,000 of these numbers are in the 800 code. Id. at 2. 3 Id. at 2. Somos states that 800 toll free numbers are “by far, the most sought after” and these numbers are “100% subscribed and when 800 numbers become available in the Somos system, they are immediately reserved.” Id. 4 Id. 2? All hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary must be delivered to FCC Headquarters at 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-A325, Washington, DC 20554. The filing hours are 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. ? Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743. ? U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority mail must be addressed to 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20554. People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice) or (202) 418-0432 (tty). For further information, please contact Margoux Brown, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-1584 or via email at margoux.brown@fcc.gov. - FCC -