Hoarding

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.

Sec. 52.107 Hoarding.

(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 or broker a toll free number for the purpose of reselling 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

Sec. 52.109 Permanent cap on number reservations.

(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 poll 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.
numbers.