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Telecom Decision CRTC 2022-108

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Ottawa, 21 April 2022

Public record: 8621-C12-01/08

CISC Canadian Steering Committee on Numbering – Consensus report CNRE131A – Revised Appendix B, Months to Exhaust Certification Worksheet

The Commission approves the Canadian Steering Committee on Numbering consensus report CNRE131A, and its proposed revised Appendix B to the Canadian Central Office Code (NXX) Assignment Guideline.

Background

  1. The Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNA) assigns telephone numbers that are part of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) to telecommunications carriers at the central office (CO) level. Because the NANP is a finite resource, it is incumbent on the CNA to ensure and verify that carriers receive only the numbering resources (CO codes) that they actually need.
  2. When carriers apply to the CNA for additional CO codes, they are required to follow the process outlined in the Canadian Central Office Code (NXX) Assignment Guideline (the Guideline) and complete a number of forms as set out in the Guideline and its appendices. As part of this process, they must demonstrate a need for the requested codes.
  3. One measure of the need for the requested CO codes is a forecast that a carrier’s pool of assignable telephone numbers will exhaust within twelve months. Carriers provide that information on the Months to Exhaust Certification Worksheet, found in Appendix B to the Guideline (the Appendix B worksheet). The information is to be provided on a switching entity/point of interconnection (POI) (Common Language Local Identifier)Footnote 1 basis.

The Canadian Steering Committee on Numbering report

  1. On 29 March 2021, the Canadian Steering Committee on Numbering (CSCN) of the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) forwarded to the Commission, for its approval, the following consensus Task Identification Form Report (the report):
    • Revised Appendix B – Months to Exhaust Certification Worksheet (CNRE131A)
  2. The report recommends changes to the Appendix B worksheet.
  3. The CSCN noted that, on the Appendix B worksheet, carriers are asked to provide their inventory of available, assignable telephone numbers at the switching entity/POI level. However, some carriers that have multiple switching entities/POIs within an exchange cannot do so. In those cases, carriers have been reporting their inventory at the aggregated exchange level.
  4. The CSCN stated that, when that occurs, the CNA has difficulty in determining whether data is given at the switching entity/POI level of detail or at the aggregated exchange level of detail. That difficulty could be avoided if a carrier had the option to identify the level of detail at which data is provided.
  5. The report proposes a modified Appendix B worksheet that would allow carriers to identify the level of detail at which data is provided.

Commission’s analysis and determinations

  1. The Commission considers that modifying the Appendix B worksheet to allow carriers to indicate the level of detail at which data is provided would improve the information supplied to the CNA. Such a change would remove ambiguity and enable the CNA to more accurately assess the validity of carriers’ requests for additional CO codes. It would also reduce the time required to assign CO codes, because there would be less need for the CNA to follow up with carriers to clarify information provided in the Appendix B worksheet.

Conclusion

  1. In light of all of the above, the Commission approves the report and its proposed revised Appendix B to the Guideline.

Policy Directions

  1. In accordance with subparagraph 1(b)(i) of the 2006 Policy Direction,Footnote 2 the Commission considers that approval of the report will advance the policy objectives set out in paragraphs 7(a) and (f) of the Telecommunications Act.Footnote 3
  2. In accordance with the 2019 Policy Direction,Footnote 4 the Commission considers that its decision will promote competition, affordability, and consumer interests, because it will enable carriers to provide more accurate information regarding the assignment of CO codes and thus increase efficiency in the administration and use of Canadian numbering resources.

Secretary General

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