STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER DEBORAH TAYLOR TATE
Re:  IP-Enabled Services; Telephone Number Portability; CTIA Petitions for Declaratory Ruling 
on Wireline-Wireless Porting Issues; Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis; Numbering Resource 
Optimization; Telephone Number Requirements for IP-Enabled Services Providers; 
Local Number Portability Porting Interval and Validation Requirements, WC Docket No. 04-36, 
CC Docket No. 95-116; CC Docket No. 99-200; WC Docket No. 07-243; WC Docket No. 07-244, 
Report And Order, Declaratory Ruling, Order On Remand, And Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking.
As both Congress and this Commission have recognized, the ability of a customer to 
retain his or her local telephone number when switching providers is a critical component 
for competition in the local exchange market.  Local number portability promotes 
competition between providers of local telephone services by eliminating a major 
disincentive to switch carriers.  Specifically, the ability of end users to retain their 
telephone numbers when changing service providers gives customers flexibility in the 
quality, price, and variety of services they can choose to purchase. Local number 
portability also helps ensure efficient use and uniform administration of numbering 
resources. In this order we take several steps to ensure that consumers continue to enjoy 
the benefits of local competition.  We extend the benefits of number portability to VoIP 
customers by requiring VoIP providers to ensure that customers have the ability to port 
their telephone numbers when changing service providers to or from a VoIP provider.  
Additionally, we extend to interconnected VoIP providers the obligation to contribute to 
shared numbering administration costs, ensuring regulatory parity among providers of 
similar services. 
We also take important steps to facilitate existing number portability so customers more 
fully benefit from these requirements. We clarify that no carriers may obstruct or delay 
the porting process by demanding more information than is necessary to validate a 
customer’s request to keep their telephone number when changing carriers and streamline 
the porting process and time interval.