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 Federal  Communications  Commission  FCC  04-  111 
 STATEMENT  OF  CHAIRMAN  MICHAEL  K.  POWELL 


 Re:  The  Use  of  N11  Codes  and  Other  Abbreviated  Dialing  Arrangements,  Notice  of  Proposed  Rulemaking 
 Poor  coordination  among  contractors,  government  officials  and  utilities  can  cause  severe  disruptions  to  power,  water,  gas,  or  phone  service.  To  prevent  these  network  disruptions  from 
 happening,  Congress  directed  us  to  establish  a  nationwide  telephone  number  to  access  local  One  Call  Centers.  While  the  function  of  One  Call  Centers  can  vary  from  state  to  state,  the  centers 
 generally  allow  excavators  to  make  one  telephone  call  to  give  notice  of  their  plans  to  dig  in  a  specific  area  before  they  begin  their  project.  The  state’s  one-  call  center  then  acts  as  a 
 clearinghouse  to  inform  the  owners  and  operators  of  underground  facilities  in  the  area  identified  and  allows  the  utility  owners  to  mark  their  facilities  to  prevent  costly  and  disruptive  damage  to 
 underground  infrastructure. 
 Today’s  notice  seeks  comment  on  the  best  number  available  to  improve  the  security  and  safety  of  our  nation’s  underground  infrastructure.  At  the  same  time,  telephone  numbers, 
 particularly  N11  codes  such  as  911,  are  extremely  limited  resources  and  we  must  be  particularly  cautious  in  how  to  allocate  them.  Moreover,  the  technical  changes  necessary  to  implement  other 
 types  of  nationwide  three-  digit  numbers  may  prove  costly  for  certain  segments  of  the  telecommunications  industry,  depending  on  how  certain  carriers  have  implemented  dialing  plans 
 on  their  networks.  Therefore,  this  item  seeks  comment  on  whether  an  N11  code,  a  code  using  a  leading  star  or  number  sign,  or  another  three-  digit  number  should  be  assigned  to  comply  with  the 
 Pipeline  Safety  Act.  I  look  forward  to  hearing  from  all  interested  in  parties  in  how  best  to  implement  the  simple  dialing  procedures  that  Congress  wanted  us  to  adopt  so  that  the  public  can 
 easily  reach  One  Call  centers  nationwide. 
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