Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
April 25, 2017
Honorable Betty Ann Kane, Chairman
Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia
1333 H Street, N.W., West Tower 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Re: Foreign Ownership of Interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol Applicants
Dear Chairman Kane,
As you are aware, pursuant to the Commission's Direct Access Order,' the Commission now has
in place a process to grant authorization to interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers
to obtain numbers directly from the Numbering Administrators. As part of that process, the Wireline
Competition Bureau (Bureau) has received two applications for interconnected VoIP numbering
authorization that present an issue involving foreign ownership. The Direct Access Order and
Commission rules do not address foreign ownership of applicants for VoIP numbering authorization and
applicants are not required to include foreign ownership information in their applications.
The Bureau is interested in further exploring any concerns that may be raised by foreign
ownership of VoIP applicants seeking numbering authorization from the Commission. We believe the
North American Numbering Council (NANC) is well-suited to identify and evaluate these issues. Thus,
we direct the NANC to:
(1) identify what issues foreign ownership of interconnected VoIP providers seeking to
obtain numbering resources may present;
(2) provide information about NANC member experience with foreign-owned carriers
obtaining telephone numbers from the NANP and/or use of those numbers outside the United
States, and
(3) make specific recommendations about how to address foreign ownership of
interconnected VoIP providers that seek to obtain numbers directly.
We further direct the NANC to approve a written report on its findings on these issues at its June
29, 2017 meeting and to transmit that report to the Bureau on the same date. If you have questions about
the Bureau's referral, please contact Marilyn Jones, the NANC's Designated Federal Officer, by
telephone at 418-2357, or by email at marilyn.iones@fcc.gov .
Sincerely,
Kris Anne Morfteith
Acting Chief
Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC
1 See Numbering Policies for Modern Communications et al., WC Docket No. 13-97 et al., Report and Order, 30
FCC Red 6839 (2015) (DirectAccess Order).