Federal Communications Commission	DA 26-397

Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of

Telephone Number Portability

Numbering Resource Optimization
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CC Docket No. 95-116

CC Docket No. 99-200

ORDER

Adopted:  April 23, 2026	Released:  April 23, 2026

By the Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau:

1. On April 12, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that the President signed Emergency Declarations for the entirety of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as a result of Typhoon Sinlaku and its immediate aftermath (collectively, the Sinlaku Weather Events). FEMA, President Donald J. Trump Approves Emergency Declaration for Guam (Apr. 12, 2026), https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20260412/president-donald-j-trump-approves-emergency-declaration-guam;  FEMA, President Donald J. Trump Approves Emergency Declaration for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Apr. 12, 2026), https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20260412/president-donald-j-trump-approves-emergency-declaration-commonwealth. 
  To assist telephone customers in Guam and the  Northern Mariana Islands, we grant, on our own motion, a temporary partial waiver of the Commission’s telephone number “aging” rule.  Specifically, we waive section 52.15(f)(1)(ii) with respect to the maximum aging period for residential customers’ telephone numbers, which states, in pertinent part, that service providers may only age telephone numbers that have been disconnected for up to 90 days before making them available for assignment to other customers. 47 CFR § 52.15(f)(1)(ii) (“Aging numbers are disconnected numbers that are not available for assignment to another end user or customer for a specified period of time.  Numbers previously assigned to residential customers may be aged for no less than 45 days and for no more than 90 days.”).  We do not waive the 45-day minimum aging requirement.
  We also encourage service providers to port telephone numbers to locations that may be outside of a customer’s telephone rate center and to waive certain service charges in order to assist customers experiencing this disaster.
2. We find there is good cause for this partial waiver, as required by section 1.3 of the Commission’s rules. 47 CFR § 1.3 (providing that “[a]ny provision of the rules may be waived by the Commission on its own motion or on petition if good cause therefore is shown”).  
  We recognize that customers who have been displaced by the Sinlaku Weather Events may want to discontinue their service temporarily and reinstate it at a later time.  Due to damage in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, we expect that in many cases these customers may seek to reinstate their service after the 90-day period has lapsed.  Assisting residential customers who are dealing with the effects of a hurricane, tropical storm, or post-tropical cyclone is in the public interest and thus warrants a temporary partial waiver of section 52.15(f)(1)(ii) of the Commission’s rules.  A partial waiver of section 52.15(f)(1)(ii) will allow service providers in the affected areas, upon their customers’ request, to disconnect temporarily the customers’ telephone service to avoid billing issues, and then reinstate the customers’ same numbers when service is reconnected.  This partial waiver applies to all companies that provide service in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.  This partial waiver is in effect immediately and for a 270-day period, expiring on January 18, 2027.
3. This partial waiver of the aging rule will also apply to telephone numbers of residential customers in areas subject to future Major Disaster and Emergency Declarations signed by the President due to hurricanes, typhoons, tropical storms, tropical cyclones, and wildfires during 2026. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maintains a list of declared disasters on its website.  FEMA, Declared Disasters, https://www.fema.gov/disaster/declarations (last visited Apr. 23, 2026).
  Any future partial waivers will expire 270 days from the date the President declares a state of emergency or major disaster for affected areas.  If service providers are unable to resume service on a normal basis after this time period has lapsed, they should request additional relief from the Wireline Competition Bureau.
4. Also, because of substantial damage to telecommunications systems caused by the Sinlaku Weather Events, we recognize that customers in the affected areas may wish to port numbers to locations outside their rate centers.  To facilitate their customers’ continued access to telecommunications service following the Sinlaku Weather Events, we encourage service providers to port telephone numbers geographically outside a rate center to the extent it is technically feasible.  We also encourage all service providers in the areas affected by the Sinlaku Weather Events, and any future hurricanes, typhoons, tropical storms, tropical cyclones, and wildfires covered under this Order, to waive call forwarding, message center, and voicemail service charges for affected customers, to the extent lawfully permitted, until the customers’ service is restored.
5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to sections 4(i), 251(b)(2), and 251(e) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 154(i), 251(b)(2) and 251(e), and sections 0.291 and 1.3 of the Commission’s rules, 47 CFR §§ 0.291, 1.3, that section 52.15(f)(1)(ii), 47 CFR § 52.15(f)(1)(ii), is waived to the extent herein described herein.

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION




Joseph S. Calascione
Chief
Wireline Competition Bureau


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