FCC Toll Free Law

This is a partial copy of the communications act regarding toll free numbers, it may or may not be complete.  SMSGOV.com makes the following text available for easy reference for the Tollfree Advisory Committee.  For the exact text, refer to the communications act section 251.  For legal advice, refer to legal counsel.

The 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
Sec. 201(b) of the Communications Act and is inconsistent with the Commission’s
obligation under Sec. 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.

Sec. 52.107 Hoarding

Sec. 52.105 Warehousing

Sec. 52.105 Brokering