Court Leaves U.S. Phone Portability Rules Intact

Two court decisions upheld 2003 rules allowing consumers to transfer their phone numbers between carriers, although the effect on small carriers will have to be studied by the Federal Communications Commission.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied appeals by some telephone companies to overturn or postpone the portability rules on procedural grounds.

In 2003, the FCC issued rules requiring number portability between wireless carriers and for traditional fixed-line carriers to transfer numbers to wireless providers subject to certain technical and geographic limits.

However, in one of the cases, the court ordered the FCC to go back and do an analysis of how the portability rules will affect small telephone carriers.