BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) met with Commissioner Brendan Carr from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to discuss extending the life of North Dakota’s 701 area code, reforming the Universal Service Fund, and restoring spectrum authority.
“North Dakota is one of only a dozen states with a single area code, and 701 is part of our identity as North Dakotans. Only a small number of the 300 service areas use all of their assigned numbers yet an outdated system means we are running out of them,” said Senator Cramer. “I am grateful to have spoken with Commissioner Carr about the North Dakota Public Service Commission’s concerns and I look forward to working with him and his colleagues on a solution.”
Background:
The North Dakota Public Service Commission (NDPSC) filed a petition requesting the FCC grant authority for individual telephone number (ITN pooling) on a trial basis to conserve the 701 area code. ITN Pooling allocates telephone numbers in blocks of 1000 numbers with the goal of conserving numbering resources to allow consumers to retain phone numbers when switching to new carriers, ensure access to number resources for all providers, prevent exhaustion of numbers in an area code.
As noted in the Public Commissioners letter, tying up of an additional area code and 10 million associated numbers for a state with less than 800 thousand residents illustrates the inefficiency of the current model. The request was supported by several other states experiencing area code exhaustion.
Click here to read the letter.