[VoiceOps] Trading Partner Agreements and Porting: How Long to Complete?

[Mary Lou Carey]

The porting process is a 4 step process:

Step 1: Issue an LSR (Local Service Request) to the losing carrier
Step 2: When you get an FOC from the losing carrier, submit the port 
request in NPAC
Step 3: The losing carrier concurs the port request in NPAC to release 
the TN to the company that submit the port request
Step 4: The new carrier logs into NPAC to accept the port at the time 
they want to receive it.

In order to issue an LSR in a carrier's portal, some of the larger 
carriers require a Trading Partner Agreement. Often times the process 
for the larger carriers requires the company to submit a profile 
request, sign a Trading Partner agreement, submit their own porting 
requirements, and then apply for access to their LSR system. 
Unfortunately, the larger carriers don't really care if their process 
causes the customer they are losing delays.

What I would suggest is you ask your carrier to submit a complaint about 
it to the state PUC or FCC (depending on who Metro got their licensing 
through). They just need to write a simple e-mail stating the specfics 
of the situation. That's usually the quickest way to light a fire under 
a carrier that's dragging their feet on giving another carrier access to 
their LSR system.

MARY LOU CAREY
BackUP Telecom Consulting
Office: 615-791-9969
Cell: 615-796-1111

On 2022-04-27 04:21 PM, Peter Beckman wrote:
> I've got a Metro by T-Mobile customer (SPID 158H) that wants to port 
> their
> number.
> 
> Our carrier doesn't have a current Trading Partner Agreement (TPA) in 
> place
> with Metro.
> 
> So, they told me they submitted one to Metro on March 30, 2022.
> 
> It is now April 27, 2022, and as far as I have been told, Metro has not
> responded to nor signed the agreement, preventing the customer port for
> almost a month now.
> 
> I don't know much about what a TPA is, why or what it is needed for, 
> and
> how long by FCC rule it must be completed within.
> 
> What I do know is that the FCC does not look kindly upon carriers who 
> deny
> porting to consumers.
> 
> Can someone educate me about:
>     - What is a TPA and why is it needed to Port numbers between 
> carriers?
>     - What FCC Rule (if any) states the maximum amount of time before a 
> TPA
>       is signed?
>     - How does a consumer escalate within their carrier in order to 
> force
>       the completion of the TPA and get their number to port?
>     - What does a non-Tier 0 carrier do to escalate conflicts between 
> their
>       carrier vendor and another carrier?
>     - What have I stated that isn't accurate, or what am I missing?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Beckman
> 
> PS -- If anyone named Frank is listening and managing TPAs for their
> carrier clients, I'd love to hear from you!
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Peter Beckman                                                  Internet 
> Guy
> beckman at angryox.com                                
> https://www.angryox.com/
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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