§  52.33   Recovery of carrier-specific costs directly related to providing
long-term number portability.

   (a) Incumbent local exchange carriers may recover their
   carrier-specific costs directly related to providing long-term number
   portability by establishing in tariffs filed with the Federal
   Communications Commission a monthly number-portability charge, as
   specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, a number portability
   query-service charge, as specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section,
   and a monthly number-portability query/administration charge, as
   specified in paragraph (a)(3) of this section.

   (1) The monthly number-portability charge may take effect no earlier
   than February 1, 1999, on a date the incumbent local exchange carrier
   selects, and may end no later than 5 five years after the incumbent
   local exchange carrier's monthly number-portability charge takes
   effect.

   (i) An incumbent local exchange carrier may assess each end user it
   serves in the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas, and each end
   user it serves from a number-portability-capable switch outside the 100
   largest metropolitan statistical areas, one monthly number-portability
   charge per line except that:

   (A) One PBX trunk shall receive nine monthly number-portability
   charges.

   (B) One PRI ISDN line shall receive five monthly number-portability
   charges.

   (C) Lifeline Assistance Program customers shall not receive the monthly
   number-portability charge.

   (ii) An incumbent local exchange carrier may assess on carriers that
   purchase the incumbent local exchange carrier's switching ports as
   unbundled network elements under section 251 of the Communications Act,
   and/or Feature Group A access lines, and resellers of the incumbent
   local exchange carrier's local service, the same charges as described
   in paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section, as if the incumbent local
   exchange carrier were serving those carriers' end users.

   (iii) An incumbent local exchange carrier may not assess a monthly
   number-portability charge for local loops carriers purchase as
   unbundled network elements under section 251.

   (iv) The incumbent local exchange carrier shall levelize the monthly
   number-portability charge over five years by setting a rate for the
   charge at which the present value of the revenue recovered by the
   charge does not exceed the present value of the cost being recovered,
   using a discount rate equal to the rate of return on investment which
   the Commission has prescribed for interstate access services pursuant
   to Part 65 of the Commission's Rules.

   (2) The number portability query-service charge may recover only
   carrier-specific costs directly related to providing long-term number
   portability that the incumbent local exchange carrier incurs to provide
   long-term number portability query service to carriers on a prearranged
   and default basis.

   (3) An incumbent local exchange carrier serving an area outside the 100
   largest metropolitan statistical areas that is not number-portability
   capable but that participates in an extended area service calling plan
   with any one of the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas or with
   an adjacent number portability-capable local exchange carrier may
   assess each end user it serves one monthly number-portability
   query/administration charge per line to recover the costs of queries,
   as specified in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, and carrier-specific
   costs directly related to the carrier's allocated share of the regional
   local number portability administrator's costs, except that per-line
   monthly number-portability query/administration charges shall be
   assigned as specified in paragraph (a)(1) of this section with respect
   to monthly number-portability charges.

   (i) Such incumbent local exchange carriers may assess a separate
   monthly number-portability charge as specified in paragraph (a)(1) of
   this section but such charge may recover only the costs incurred to
   implement number portability functionality and shall not include costs
   recovered through the monthly number-portability query/administration
   charge.

   (ii) The monthly number-portability query/administration charge may end
   no later than five years after the incumbent local exchange carrier's
   monthly number-portability query/administration charge takes effect.
   The monthly number-portability query/administration charge may be
   collected over a different five-year period than the monthly
   number-portability charge. These five-year periods may run either
   consecutively or concurrently, in whole or in part.

   (b) All interconnected VoIP providers and telecommunications carriers
   other than incumbent local exchange carriers may recover their number
   portability costs in any manner consistent with applicable state and
   federal laws and regulations.

   [ 63 FR 35161 , June 29, 1998, as amended at  67 FR 40620 , June 13, 2002;
    73 FR 9481 , Feb. 21, 2008]

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