THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY CAUSER, GABLER, HUTCHINSON, BROOKS, CREIGHTON, GEIST, GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GROVE, HORNAMAN, KAUFFMAN, MILLARD, MURT, PYLE, RAPP, ROAE AND SONNEY, MAY 11, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER AFFAIRS, MAY 11, 2011  

A RESOLUTION

Memorializing the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to

reconsider and reverse its December 17, 2010, Order directing

a split of the 814 area code in favor of an overlay.

WHEREAS, Section 251(e) of the Communications Act of 1934, as

amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, gives the Federal

Communications Commission (FCC) exclusive jurisdiction over the

North American Numbering Plan and permits the FCC to delegate

that jurisdiction to State regulatory commissions; and

WHEREAS, The FCC recognized that state commissions are

uniquely positioned to understand local conditions and the

potential effects associated with area code and Numbering Plan

Area (NPA) implementation and thus has authorized states to

resolve matters involving the implementation of new area codes,

subject to FCC rules and guidelines governing the administration

of telephone numbers; and

WHEREAS, On June 2, 2009, Neustar, Inc., the North American

Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA), in its capacity as the

neutral third party Numbering Plan Area Relief Planner for

Pennsylvania, filed a petition on behalf of the Pennsylvania

telecommunications industry with the Pennsylvania Public Utility

Commission (Commission) requesting approval of its plan for area

code relief in the 814 NPA; and

WHEREAS, On December 17, 2010, the Commission entered an

Order rejecting the NANPA relief recommendation and, instead,

directed that a geographic split of the 814 area code be

implemented within 22 months; and

WHEREAS, The Commission, in its Order, directed NANPA to

submit monthly updates on the projected exhaust date of the 814

area code; and

WHEREAS, A monthly report submitted by NANPA, pursuant to the

Commission's Order, and released on January 2, 2011, shows that,

based upon historic code demand for the past 12 months, the 814

area code may not exhaust until September 2031; and

WHEREAS, A semiannual Number Resource Utilization Forecast

(NRUF) report is scheduled to be released to the public in April

2011 and may reflect a further extension of the projected area

code exhaust date; and

WHEREAS, The information contained in NANPA's monthly reports

to the Commission and the April 2011 NRUF report contain data

that was not available to be considered by the Commission in

making its December 17, 2010, Order; and

WHEREAS, More than 40 Petitions for Reconsideration have been

filed regarding the Commission's Order, including petitions by

several State legislators and local government officials; and

WHEREAS, If implemented, the split of the 814 area code

directed by the Commission's December 17, 2010, Order, would be

the first area code split, nationwide, in three years; and

WHEREAS, The directed split of the 814 area code would

require more than 1 million telephone customers in 11 counties

to change their 814 telephone numbers to 582 numbers; and

WHEREAS, An area code overlay would enable all existing

customers to keep their current telephone numbers and only new

lines would be assigned a new area code, after all numbers in

the 814 area code are exhausted; and

WHEREAS, Implementation of an overlay presents fewer

inconveniences to residents and businesses in the 814 area code

in that current telephone line subscribers will avoid the costs

of having to change their telephone numbers, such as: notifying

friends, family and business contacts of the new number,

updating letterhead and business cards, changing directories and

numbers programmed into wireless phones and speed dials;

therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives memorialize the

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to reconsider and reverse

its December 17, 2010, Order directing a split of the 814 area

code in favor of an area code overlay; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to

the Chairman and Commissioners of the Public Utility Commission.