As used in this part:

(a) Toll Free Numbering Administrator (TFNA). The entity appointed by the Commission under its authority pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 251(e)(1) that provides user support for the Service Management System database and administers the Service Management System database on a day-to-day basis.

(b) Responsible Organization (“RespOrg”). The entity chosen by a toll free subscriber to manage and administer the appropriate records in the toll free Service Management System for the toll free subscriber.

(c) Service Control Points. The regional databases in the toll free network.

(d) Service Management System Database (“SMS Database”). The administrative database system for toll free numbers. The Service Management System is a computer system that enables Responsible Organizations to enter and amend the data about toll free numbers within their control. The Service Management System shares this information with the Service Control Points. The entire system is the SMS database.

(e) Toll Free Subscriber. The entity that has been assigned a toll free number.

(f) Toll Free Number. A telephone number for which the toll charges for completed calls are paid by the toll free subscriber. The toll free subscriber's specific geographic location has no bearing on what toll free number it can obtain from the SMS database.

[62 FR 20127, Apr. 25, 1997, as amended at 83 FR 53395, Oct. 23, 2018]

(a) Definitions. As used in this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) Assigned Status. A toll free number record that has specific subscriber routing information entered by the Responsible Organization in the Service Management System database and is pending activation in the Service Control Points.

(2) Disconnect Status. The toll free number has been discontinued and an exchange carrier intercept recording is being provided.

(3) Lag Time. The interval between a toll free number's reservation in the Service Management System database and its conversion to working status, as well as the period of time between disconnection or cancellation of a toll free number and the point at which that toll free number may be reassigned to another toll free subscriber.

(4) Reserved Status. The toll free number has been reserved from the Service Management System database by a Responsible Organization for a toll free subscriber.

(5) Seasonal Numbers. Toll free numbers held by toll free subscribers who do not have a year-round need for a toll free number.

(6) Spare Status. The toll free number is available for assignment by a Responsible Organization.

(7) Suspend Status. The toll free service has been temporarily disconnected and is scheduled to be reactivated.

(8) Unavailable Status. The toll free number is not available for assignment due to an unusual condition.

(9) Working Status. The toll free number is loaded in the Service Control Points and is being utilized to complete toll free service calls.

(10) Transitional Status. Toll free numbers that have been disconnected for less than four months, but for which no Exchange Carrier Intercept Recording is being provided.

(b) Reserved Status. Toll free numbers may remain in reserved status for up to 45 days. There shall be no extension of the reservation period after expiration of the initial 45-day interval.

(1) Toll free numbers assigned via competitive bidding may remain in reserved status for a period of unlimited duration.

(2) [Reserved]

(c) Assigned Status. Toll free numbers may remain in assigned status until changed to working status or for a maximum of 6 months, whichever occurs first. Toll free numbers that, because of special circumstances, require that they be designated for a particular subscriber far in advance of their actual usage shall not be placed in assigned status, but instead shall be placed in unavailable status.

(d) Disconnect Status. Toll free numbers must remain in disconnect status or a combination of disconnect and transitional status for no less than 45 days and for no more than 4 months. No requests for extension of the 4-month disconnect or disconnect and transitional interval will be granted. All toll free numbers in disconnect or transitional status must go directly into the spare or unavailable category upon expiration of the 4-month disconnect or transitional interval. A Responsible Organization may not retrieve a toll free number from disconnect or transitional status and return that number directly to working status at the expiration of the 4-month disconnect or transitional interval.

(e) Suspend Status. Toll free numbers may remain in suspend status until changed to working status or for a maximum of 8 months, whichever occurs first. Only numbers involved in billing disputes shall be eligible for suspend status.

(f) Unavailable Status. (1) Written requests to make a specific toll free number unavailable must be submitted to the Toll Free Numbering Administrator (TFNA) by the Responsible Organization managing the records of the toll free number. The request shall include the appropriate documentation of the reason for the request. The Toll Free Numbering Administrator (TFNA) is the only entity that can assign this status to or remove this status from a number. Responsible Organizations that have a Toll Free Subscriber with special circumstances requiring that a toll free number be designated for that particular subscriber far in advance of its actual usage may request that the Toll Free Numbering Administrator (TFNA) place such a number in unavailable status.

(2) Seasonal numbers shall be placed in unavailable status. The Responsible Organization for a Toll Free Subscriber who does not have a year round need for a toll free number shall follow the procedures outlined in § 52.103(f)(1) of these rules if it wants the Toll Free Numbering Administrator (TFNA) to place a particular toll free number in unavailable status.

[62 FR 20127, Apr. 25, 1997, as amended at 83 FR 53396, Oct. 23, 2018; 84 FR 11232, Mar. 26, 2019]

(a) As used in this section, warehousing is the practice whereby Responsible Organizations, either directly or indirectly through an affiliate, reserve toll free numbers from the Service Management System database without having an actual toll free subscriber for whom those numbers are being reserved.

(b) Responsible Organizations shall not warehouse toll free numbers. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a Responsible Organization is warehousing toll free numbers if:

(1) The Responsible Organization does not have an identified toll free subscriber agreeing to be billed for service associated with each toll free number reserved from the Service Management System database; or

(2) The Responsible Organization does not have an identified toll free subscriber agreeing to be billed for service associated with a toll free number before switching that toll free number from reserved or assigned to working status.

(c) Responsible Organizations shall not maintain a toll free number in reserved status if there is not a prospective toll free subscriber requesting that toll free number.

(d) A Responsible Organization's act of reserving a number from the Service Management System database shall serve as that Responsible Organization's certification that there is an identified toll free subscriber agreeing to be billed for service associated with the toll free number.

(e) Tariff Provision. The following provision shall be included in the Service Management System tariff and in the local exchange carriers' toll free database access tariffs:

[T]he Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has concluded that warehousing, which the FCC defines as Responsible Organizations, either directly or indirectly through an affiliate, reserving toll free numbers from the SMS database without having an identified toll free subscriber from whom those numbers are being reserved, is an unreasonable practice under § 201(b) of the Communications Act and is inconsistent with the Commission's obligation under § 251(e) of the Communications Act to ensure that numbers are made available on an equitable basis; and if a Responsible Organization does not have an identified toll free subscriber agreeing to be billed for service associated with each toll free number reserved from the database, or if a Responsible Organization does not have an identified, billed toll free subscriber before switching a number from reserved or assigned to working status, then there is a rebuttable presumption that the Responsible Organization is warehousing numbers. Responsible Organizations that warehouse numbers will be subject to penalties.

(f) The provisions of this section shall not apply to toll free numbers assigned via competitive bidding or to numbers transferred under this exception.

[62 FR 20127, Apr. 25, 1997, as amended at 83 FR 53396, Oct. 23, 2018]

(a) As used in this section, hoarding is the acquisition by a toll free subscriber from a Responsible Organization of more toll free numbers than the toll free subscriber intends to use for the provision of toll free service. The definition of hoarding also includes number brokering, which is the selling of a toll free number by a private entity for a fee.

(1) Toll free subscribers shall not hoard toll free numbers.

(2) No person or entity shall acquire a toll free number for the purpose of selling the toll free number to another entity or to a person for a fee.

(3) Routing multiple toll free numbers to a single toll free subscriber will create a rebuttable presumption that the toll free subscriber is hoarding or brokering toll free numbers.

(b) Tariff Provision. The following provision shall be included in the Service Management System tariff and in the local exchange carriers' toll free database access tariffs:

[T]he Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has concluded that hoarding, defined as the acquisition of more toll free numbers than one intends to use for the provision of toll free service, as well as the sale of a toll free number by a private entity for a fee, is contrary to the public interest in the conservation of the scarce toll free number resource and contrary to the FCC's responsibility to promote the orderly use and allocation of toll free numbers.

(c) Toll Free Numbers Assigned via Competitive Bidding. The provisions of this section shall not apply to toll free numbers assigned via competitive bidding or to numbers transferred under the exception to § 52.105 contained in paragraph (f) of that section.

[62 FR 20127, Apr. 25, 1997, as amended at 83 FR 53396, Oct. 23, 2018]

(a) A Responsible Organization may have in reserve status, at any one time, either 2000 toll free numbers or 7.5 percent of that Responsible Organization's numbers in working status, whichever is greater.

(b) A Responsible Organization shall never reserve more than 3 percent of the quantity of toll free numbers in spare status as of the previous Sunday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time.

(c) The Wireline Competition Bureau shall modify the quantity of numbers a Responsible Organization may have in reserve status or the percentage of numbers in the spare pool that a Responsible Organization may reserve when exigent circumstances make such action necessary. The Wireline Competition Bureau shall establish, modify, and monitor toll free number conservation plans when exigent circumstances necessitate such action.

[62 FR 20127, Apr. 25, 1997, as amended at 67 FR 13226, Mar. 21, 2002; 83 FR 53396, Oct. 23, 2018]

Toll free telephone numbers must be made available to Responsible Organizations and subscribers on an equitable basis. The Commission will assign toll free numbers by competitive bidding, on a first-come, first-served basis, by an alternative assignment methodology, or by a combination of the foregoing options.

[83 FR 53396, Oct. 23, 2018]