STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL O’RIELLY Re: Nationwide Number Portability, WC Docket No. 17-244; Numbering Policies for Modern Communications, WC Docket No. 13-97. In this item, the Commission invites comment on potential steps to implement nationwide number portability, both to expand opportunities for consumers and businesses to retain their numbers when switching providers, as well to promote more efficient call routing. While those are valid objectives, I have seen comments cautioning that nationwide number portability could prove costly for certain providers, and I also wonder about the long-term value of numbers to consumers. Therefore, I hope to receive a robust record that enables the Commission to delve into these issues and complete a cost-benefit analysis. We should also keep in mind that promoting full nationwide number portability is likely to lead to an increase in individuals who keep their previous telephone number as they relocate elsewhere. Ironically, doing so simultaneously makes us all guilty of increasing what the Commission has inelegantly referred to as “neighborhood spoofing” -- the act of a call appearing to be made from a local site but is actually being made from a location outside the local calling area. This is one of the reasons that I argued that not all “neighborhood spoofing” is bad and why we should be more precise about such definitions. I hope we can revisit this issue in the future as I am sure no one on this dais would like to be known as facilitating spoofing. I vote to approve.