Today, Neustar,
Inc. (NYSE: NSR), the United States’ Local Number Portability (LNP)
Administrator, released a newly commissioned white paper from the Yankee
Group, an independent research firm with expertise in the technology and
telecommunications industries, entitled “Telephone
Numbers Are Portable; Is the NPAC?” The white paper details the
Number Portability Administration Center’s (NPAC) performance going back
to its launch in 1997 and explains how changes in the telecommunications
landscape have made the critical role of the NPAC administrator both
more complex and more essential. The paper calls the NPAC an “essential
infrastructure element in today’s network” and it finds that the “NPAC
is not a ‘set it and forget it’ operation. The rate of change in
telecommunications demands that the NPAC system scale to accommodate the
rapid growth and at the same time, be flexible enough to react to
unforeseen or extraordinary demand.”
The paper highlights the NPAC’s vital role in managing the unbridled
growth in the telecommunications market, responding during natural
disasters or emergencies, and providing reliable service as customers
transition to the latest mobile, “shiny new objects.” It concludes: “Has
[the NPAC] scaled, incorporated new technologies, lowered pricing,
lowered response time, maintained reliability and satisfied its carrier
customers? By any measure of these criteria, the answer has to be yes.”
The paper finds that given the complexity of the NPAC, and considering
the constant evolution and growth of the U.S. telecommunications
infrastructure, Neustar is able to meet changing consumer demands while
ensuring reliable, effective number portability service. To handle all
of this, the paper notes that the NPAC, during Neustar’s tenure, has
scaled to become the largest LNP administrator in the world, supporting
over 500 million numbers and more than 4,700 individual customers. To
evolve with the industry and improve efficiencies, Neustar implemented
eight major software releases and three platform upgrades, lowered
pricing while expanding customer value, supported a wide variety of
carrier migrations and product launches, and enabled (in conjunction
with the FCC and industry partners) one of the fastest porting periods
worldwide for American consumers.
Neustar, an innovative technology leader, has provided neutral, trusted,
tested, and reliable number portability services in the United States
since becoming the LNP Administrator in 1997.