STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER BRENDAN CARR
Re:	Nationwide Number Portability, WC Docket No. 17-244; Numbering Policies for Modern Communications, WC Docket No. 13-97.
Two years ago, the head of Facebook’s messaging app predicted the “death of the phone number.”  Last year, the New York Post ran a story with the headline “Asking for someone’s phone number is over.”  While these predictions have some grounding in recent technology trends, I tend to agree with a 2015 story that ran in the Post titled “Why New Yorkers will always judge you for your area code.”  Indeed, as we’ve seen a new 332 area code roll out across the Big Apple, many Manhattanites confirm that phone numbers still have value.  In fact, it reminds me of the classic Seinfeld episode when Elaine gets a new phone number with a “646” area code, rather than New York’s original “212.”  Elaine feels that she must explain to a fellow Manhattanite that the 646-area code is not in New Jersey, but rather “it’s just like 212 except they multiplied every number by 3…and added 1 to the middle number.”  
Whether you view a particular number as a status symbol or, like me, enjoy a long-term relationship with your number – I have had mine since high school – Americans expect to keep their numbers even when they move across the country.  So it may come as an unwelcome surprise to find out that number portability is not ubiquitous nationwide.  The inability to take your phone number with you when you move or change carriers is both an annoyance for consumers and a burden on competition, particularly for small and regional service providers who may not be able to offer new customers the same ability to keep their phone numbers as larger, nationwide providers.
So I am glad we are taking steps today to hasten the move towards nationwide number portability.  Though we still have a ways to go to achieve full nationwide number portability, streamlining our regulatory requirements will enable carriers to more efficiently and flexibly route calls.  I support this item and look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders towards the full implementation of nationwide number portability.