Neustar Hits NAPM's Latest LNPA Transition Report, Warns of Growing Risks, Possible Disruption
Neustar knocked the latest local number portability administrator transition status report of North American Portability Management and its transition oversight manager (TOM), PwC (see 1801020042). The "report once again fails to inform stakeholders of key elements of transition readiness and…
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the potential for what is now imminent consumer service disruption," said a letter filed Wednesday in FCC docket 09-109 by Neustar, which is handing off LNPA functions to iconectiv (Telcordia). Neustar expressed "concerns over (1) development and testing delays with iconectiv’s Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) and the lack of transparency surrounding this issue, and (2) the lack of an agreed-upon, viable contingency rollback that will restore NPAC service with Neustar’s platform or personnel should the new system fail." Due to the TOM’s "failure to establish a viable contingency rollback plan, there is no path back to a stable platform for consumers in the affected states if rollout does not go as planned," Neustar said: "The TOM’s long lack of transparency in communicating with the public calls into question the veracity and completeness of the current and most recent reports. ... [C]onsidering the growing list of stark discrepancies between industry best practices (as well as early iconectiv commitments) and the current reality, it is apparent that the impending launch of a newly-developed NPAC platform presents significant risks that are not being acknowledged." Neustar said only three months of industry testing were allocated for a new iconectiv system after an original plan called for a year. It said that in conjunction with NAPM's schedule, it's terminating all aspects of its NPAC service in the Southeast region on April 8 as iconectiv launches its platform, "and there will be no means to restore NPAC service with Neustar's platform or personnel." NAPM didn't comment (transition page here).