Federal Communications Commission	DA 20-856


DA 20-856
Released:  August 10, 2020

WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU ANNOUNCES THE PROPOSED NORTH AMERICAN NUMBERING PLAN ADMINISTRATION FUND SIZE ESTIMATE AND CONTRIBUTION FACTOR FOR OCTOBER 2020 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 2021

CC Docket No. 92-237

In this Public Notice, the Wireline Competition Bureau announces the proposed North American Numbering Plan (NANP) Administration fund size estimate and contribution factor for the fiscal year October 1, 2020 through September 30, 2021 (Fiscal Year 2021).  Proper funding of NANP Administration ensures that consumers will continue to have access to the numbering resources essential to the provision of new services and technologies.
A. Calculating the NANP Administration Fund Size Estimate and Contribution Factor
Pursuant to its contract with the Commission and section 52.16(a) of the Commission’s rules, the NANP billing and collection agent, Welch LLP (Welch), is responsible for calculating, assessing, billing, and collecting payments for numbering administration functions, and for distributing funds to the entities that support these functions (e.g., the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) and the Pooling Administrator (PA)). 47 CFR § 52.16(a).
  Consistent with this function, Welch annually develops the projected numbering administration costs and fund size estimate for the upcoming fiscal year.
Under section 52.17 of the Commission’s rules, all telecommunications carriers in the United States are required to contribute on a competitively neutral basis to meet the costs of numbering administration. 47 CFR § 52.17.  For purposes of this section, the term “telecommunications carrier” or “carrier” includes interconnected VoIP providers as that term is defined in section 52.21(h) of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR § 52.17(c).
  To develop these figures, Welch allocates a portion of the funding requirement to all NANP members. The NANP member countries are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Sint Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the United States (including American Samoa, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).  47 CFR § 52.5(c).
  Specifically, it calculates a Canadian contribution amount, a Caribbean contribution amount, and a U.S. contribution amount.  Welch then develops a contribution factor for U.S. telecommunications carriers designed to collect the projected U.S. contribution.  The Commission’s rules provide that contributions shall be the product of the carriers’ end-user telecommunications revenues for the prior calendar year and the contribution factor, and such contribution shall be no less than $25. 47 CFR § 52.17(a).
  In 2018, the Commission determined that the funding mechanism for NANP administration would also be used to recover the costs to establish the Reassigned Numbers Database. See Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls, CG Docket No.17-59, Second Report and Order, 33 FCC Rcd 12024, 12041, para. 47 (2018) (Reassigned Numbers Database Order).

B. Billing and Collection Agent Projection of the Fund Size Estimate and Contribution Factor
On July 15, 2020, Welch filed a fund size estimate and contribution factor for recovering the cost of NANP Administration for Fiscal Year 2021, in accordance with section 52.16(a) of the Commission’s rules. Letter from Mark Jackson, Partner, Welch LLP, to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, CC Docket No. 92-237 (filed July 15, 2020) (Fiscal Year 2021 Contribution Factor Filing).
  Welch proposes a funding requirement of $14,502,652 for Fiscal Year 2021, which includes $6,000,000 for the Reassigned Numbers Database creation costs, and an overall contribution factor of 0.0001267. Id. at 4
  This year’s contribution factor includes two parts:  0.0000699 to support NANP activities and 0.0000568 to support Reassigned Numbers Database creation costs. Id.   
  The NANP portion of the proposed contribution factor is lower than last year’s factor (0.0000908) because, unlike last year, there is a budget surplus rather than a budget deficit. Id.  Last year’s budget included a projected deficit which arose from the change in contractor for the NANPA contract and the accompanying transition costs. Id.  The current year’s budget surplus is the result of unused contingency allowance and of transition costs for the NANPA and PA contracts and carrier audits that did not occur.  Id.
  As in previous years, the funding requirement contemplates a contingency fund.  This year’s contingency fund is $2,000,000, the same as last year. Compare id. at 4 with Letter from Mark Jackson, Partner, Welch LLP, to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, CC Docket No. 92-237, at 6 (filed June 26, 2019).
  The portion of the contribution factor relating to creating the Reassigned Numbers Database is unique for this year and represents funds that will ultimately be reimbursed to contributors. Fiscal Year 2021 Contribution Factor Filing at 6; Reassigned Numbers Database Order, 33 FCC Rcd at 12041, para. 49.
  The funding requirement contemplates a Canadian contribution of $170,243, a Caribbean contribution of $32,818, a U.S. contribution of $11,393,337 and the application of $2,906,234 from the accumulated surplus from the prior fiscal year. Fiscal Year 2021 Contribution Factor Filing at 4-5.  The minimum funding requirement for NANP activities of $25 per carrier will remain as well as a minimum funding requirement of $25 for the creation of the Reassigned Numbers Database.  Id. at 4.
  Greater detail about the factors considered by Welch in establishing the fund size estimate, contribution factor, and contingency fund may be found in Welch’s monthly fund reports. See North American Numbering Plan Fund, Monthly Fund Reports, http://nanpfund.com/monthly-fund-reports (last visited Jul. 15, 2020).
 
C. Effective Date of the Fund Size Estimate and Contribution Factor
If the Commission takes no action regarding the proposed fund size estimate and contribution factor within the 14-day period following release of this Public Notice, the fund size estimate and the contribution factor are considered approved by the Commission and become effective for Fiscal Year 2021. See, e.g., Wireline Competition Bureau Announces the Proposed North American Numbering Plan Administration Fund Size Estimate and Contribution Factor for October 2019 Through September 2020, CC Docket No. 92-237, Public Notice, 34 FCC Rcd 7276 (2019); see also Wireline Competition Bureau Announces the Proposed North American Numbering Plan Administration Fund Size Estimate and Contribution Factor for October 2018 Through September 2019, CC Docket No. 92-237, Public Notice, 33 FCC Rcd 6726 (2018).

For further information, contact Marilyn Jones, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-2357 or marilyn.jones@fcc.gov.

						-FCC-

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