*Pages 1--1 from Microsoft Word - 34826* SEPARATE STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS Re: Telephone Number Portability CTIA Petitions for Declaratory Ruling on Wireline- Wireless Porting Issues (CC Docket No. 95- 116) With today’s action, consumers are assured that intermodal telephone number portability will begin, at last, to become a reality later this month. After numerous delays, consumers are on the verge of enjoying the significant new ability to take their current telephone numbers with them when they switch between carriers and technologies. This gives consumers much sought- after flexibility and it provides further competitive stimulus to telephone industry competition. This makes it a win- win situation for consumers and businesses alike. It was some seven years ago, in the 1996 Act, when Congress recognized that the ability of consumers to retain their phone numbers when switching providers would facilitate the development of competition. Congress instructed us to get this job done and to use “technical feasibility” as our guide in making sure the vision became reality. This we have labored mightily to do. As a result, American consumers will be able to take their digits with them, unimpeded by the hassle, loss of identity and attendant expenses that until now have accompanied switching between service providers and technologies. The bulk of the problems accompanying the challenge of porting numbers are behind us now. A very limited few remain and these are the subject of the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking also approved today. I am confident that these can be handled expeditiously if all interested parties work together. Similarly, any minor implementation problems that develop should be amenable to swift and cooperative corrective actions. It has taken considerable cooperation to bring us to this important point, and I believe consumer support for porting will encourage all parties to reach quick resolution of the few remaining challenges. Finally, it is difficult to see how we are ever going to have true intermodal competition in the telephone industry apart from initiatives like the one we embark on today. Intermodal competition always receives strong rhetorical support. Today it gets some action, too. 1