Illinois Limited Liability Corporation

Interim Number Pooling Administrator

Request For Proposal

 

November 18, 1997

 

1.0 General Information

2.0 Overview of Responsibilities

3.0 Miscellaneous Requirements

4.0 Requirements Checklist

5.0 Pricing

ATTACHMENT A

ATTACHMENT B

1.0 General Information

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 Purpose of Request for Proposal

1.1.2 Use of RFP Information

1.1.3 Vendor's Information

1.1.4 Background

1.2 Impact of Federal Regulation and Legislation on this Procurement

This RFP is being issued by a group of service providers who currently provide or intend to provide facilities-based local exchange services in the state of Illinois. Number administration is subject to oversight by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). However, bidders should be aware that the Federal government, through Congressional legislation, Federal Communications Commission rule making, or other mandates, may establish policies for number pooling which may affect the decision of the Selection Committee. As such, this RFP currently requests bids for an interim pooling administrator until, or unless, a national pooling administrator is selected.

 

1.3 Eligibility to Submit Proposals

1.3.1 Neutral Third Party

    1. is not a telecommunications service provider. A telecommunications service provider is an entity which provides, for generally-available public use, the transmission of information by electromagnetic or optical means;
    2. is not owned by, or does not own, any telecommunications service provider. Ownership interests of five percent (5%) or less shall not be considered ownership for purposes of this section;
    3. is not affiliated, by common ownership or otherwise, with a telecommunications service provider.

1.3.2 Additional Qualifications

1.4 Preparation of Responses

1.4.1 Proposal Submission

1.4.2 Closing Date

1.4.3 Response Composition

1.4.4 Questions or Requests for Additional Information

1.4.5 Acceptance Period

1.4.6 Contract Award

 

No contractual obligations are assumed by issuing the RFP, receiving, accepting, and evaluating the bidder’s response, and/or making a preliminary bidder selection.

 

The Selection Committee reserves the right to cancel any agreement if the services or facilities do not pass mutually agreeable acceptance tests. This will be done at no cost or obligation to the Selection Committee contracting entity or entities.

 

The Selection Committee contracting entity or entities reserve the right to negotiate all terms and conditions in order to enter into a formal agreement with the successful bidder. This document, the bidder’s response, and full system documentation will form part of the agreement.

 

No publicity or news releases pertaining to this RFP, responses to this RFP, discussions of any kind regarding the RFP, or the award of any agreement related to the bid document may be released without the prior written approval of the Selection Committee.

 

All work and materials must comply with all federal and state law, municipal ordinances, regulations, and directions of inspectors appointed by proper authorities having jurisdiction.

 

The bidder shall not assign, transfer, or sublet the RFP service agreement or any interest therein or any part thereof without prior written consent. All subcontractors must be identified and approved prior to disclosure of any information. If subcontracting is involved, the bidder shall be responsible for the workmanship, costs, etc. incurred by the sub-contractor in the performance of their duties.

 

The bidder, by stating compliance to a requirement in this RFP, agrees that the vendor has read and understood the requirement and that compliance is complete and deliverable at no additional cost unless otherwise noted.

 

This RFP may include unintended errors, omissions, and/or deficiencies. Therefore, the accuracy and completeness of this document and related documents are not guaranteed. In the event that such errors, omissions, and/or deficiencies are discovered by the bidder, the bidder shall notify the Selection Committee in writing within 48 hours.

 

The bidder is expected to examine the specifications and instructions carefully. Calculation errors shall be the bidder’s risk. In the event of a bidder’s error in price, time or calculations, quoted items shall prevail.

1.5 Additional Contractual Terms and Conditions

This section identifies contractual terms and conditions that the contracting entity intends to incorporate into the Agreement. The following list is in addition to the terms and conditions specified in the RFP, and in no event be considered all encompassing.

  1. Performance Guarantees/Liquidated Damages

1.6 Preparation of Proposal Response

1.6.1 Content Structure

1.6.2 Tab Content

1.7 Evaluation of Proposals

The criteria to be used for the proposal evaluation include:

No weighting or relative importance of criteria is intended or implied by this list.

You shall furnish all information as requested per the applicable instructions providing sufficient data to enable us to evaluate the proposal. Any deviations or exceptions to the RFP should be noted. Any supplier who does not completely reply to the proposal as requested may be eliminated at the discretion of Selection Committee.

The same article, section or paragraph number and title used in the RFP shall be used for your comments.

In the cases where your reply is "will not be complied with" or "not agreed to", you shall indicate your reasons for such disagreement and provide an alternative with which you will comply or agree.

 

2.0 Overview of Responsibilities

The following information provides detail on how the Interim Pooling Administrator is intended to interact with the various business processes associated with number pooling and number portability. This information is intended to provide an overview of the role of the Interim Pooling Administrator in number pooling/portability. Details of steps in the processes that do not involve the Interim Pooling Administrator, such as interactions between service providers, will be determined by the service providers and are beyond the scope of this document. Specific requirements generated by the process flows are included in the appropriate sections later in the document. (Section 4.0)

2.1 General Responsibilities

The Number Pooling Subcommittee has identified the following set of responsibilities which are to be assumed by the Interim Pooling Administrator:

 

These responsibilities will be further defined in the sections that follow.

2.2 Allocation Process Flow

This process flow defines the provisioning flow in which a service provider requests and is allocated a block of telephone numbers within the designated pool.

The service provider will submit a request, using a yet-to-be-defined standard form, to the Interim Pooling Administrator (the Administrator), asking for one or more blocks of one thousand (1000) consecutive numbers from the pool. The request may be for a specific thousands-block(s) that the service provider had previously determined to be available. Upon receipt of the request, the Administrator will follow the procedures outlined within the Illinois Pooling Administration Guidelines to check the validity of the request and eligibility of the requesting service provider. Once validity and eligibility is confirmed, the Administrator will notify the requesting provider, the assignee, and the NPAC, of which block(s) has been allocated to accommodate the request. The block and code assignees will send appropriate notification and confirmation messages, as outlined in the NANC Functional Requirements Specifications (FRS) business process flows, to the NPAC from their Service Order Administration Systems.

 

2.3 Pooling Scope

The Chicago-area service providers will conduct a trial of number pooling, using the NXX-X/LRN method, beginning on or around January 1, 1998. The trial will determine the feasibility and practicality of using number pooling at the thousands-block level to extend the life of a working NPA. The trial will be limited to wireline service providers serving customers within the 847 area code, and will employ the pre-porting methodology for storing allocated numbers within LNP data bases. Due to the data base capacity concern, it has been suggested that pooling be initially limited to within the trial NPA until a proposed enhancement to service provider SCPs is generally available. Since several SCP vendors have indicated that this enhancement could be offered in 3Q or 4Q98, it is anticipated that pooling may expand to other Chicago-area NPAs on or around that timeframe. Due to the uncertainty of the length of the trial period, and the timing and impact of any NANC recommendation for a permanent Pooling Administrator, bidders are encouraged to provide separate proposals and prices for the administration of pooling within 847 and subsequent NPAs. To assist bidders in developing prices, Attachment B provides the aggregate number of thousands blocks, by quarter for the 847 NPA, that were forecasted by wireline service providers in July 1997. The Selection Committee makes no representation as to the accuracy of this forecast, but offers it as a model of the activity that the bidder may expect to experience.

2.4 Pooling Resources

Blocks of telephone numbers allocated to the pool will initially come from spare or sparsely-assigned thousands-blocks within NXXs from the 847 NPA which were previously allocated to wireline service providers. The Illinois Commerce Commission Staff is presently monitoring usage within those blocks identified as potential pooling candidates from a survey conducted in May, 1997. Service providers have been requested to limit or restrict assignment within those blocks, so that they can be returned to the pool upon the start date of number pooling. Upon activation of the pool, the Administrator assume responsibility for monitoring the number of available blocks within each rate center, and taking specific measures to ensure that a sufficient supply of such blocks are available to meet the forecasted demand.

 

The Administrator will be responsible for continuously comparing the number of available blocks within each rate center, with the aggregated service provider forecasts, addressed in Section 2.5, for those same numbering resources. Ninety days prior to the anticipated exhaust of available blocks within a given rate center, the Administrator will contact one or more of the service providers that had forecasted a future demand for blocks within that rate center, and request that one of them volunteer to become the new NXX assignee. Once a volunteer is identified, the Administrator will coordinate with that service provider and the Code Administrator to assign a new NXX, allocate one thousands-block within to the service provider, and replenish the pool with all remaining blocks.

2.5 Forecasting Requirements

The Administrator will be responsible for requesting and aggregating quarterly ongoing, two-year forecasts from each service provider that identifies projected block demand by rate center. Such forecasts will be treated as confidential and (service provider) proprietary, with disclosure provided only in aggregate form, in a manner that fully masks the identity of the forecasting entity.

 

2.6 Access to the Pool

The Administrator will be responsible for providing service providers with a means (e.g. website, dial-up access)for reviewing currently-available blocks within the pool, for pre-selection purposes. The actual method used will be subject to negotiation, balancing, in the short-term, the desire for near real-time access with cost minimization. Bidders’ proposals should include a methodology for providing access to block availability information.

 

2.7 Reports

The Administrator will be responsible for notifying all service providers within the pooling area whenever blocks are allocated using the form shown in attachment A. In addition, the Administrator will prepare and forward any reports deemed necessary and appropriate by the industry and/or state and federal regulators. It is anticipated that such reports may include COCUS-like reports, which will require close coordination with the Code Administrator.

 

2.8 Audits

The Administrator will be responsible for conducting audits, as necessary of the number utilization within blocks previously allocated to each service provider. Such audits will be conducted in accordance with the Illinois Pooling Administration Guidelines. In addition, the Administrator will assume responsibility for conducting audits deemed necessary by appropriate regulatory entities. All such audits will be conducted in a confidential manner, in accordance with Section 3.3.

 

2.9 Interface With the Code Administrator

The administrator will be responsible for coordinating with the Code Administrator to assign new NXXs for the purpose of replenishing the pool of available blocks within a given rate center. In addition, the administrator will provide input and support to the code administrator in projecting NPA exhaust.

 

3.0 Miscellaneous Requirements

 

3.1 Hours of Operation

The Administrator shall be available a minimum of five days a week, eight hours a day. The Administrator must also provide a mechanism (e.g., voicemail, e-mail, facsimile, etc.,) to be accessible on a 7-day, 24-hour basis to fully meet the needs of the service providers. It is expected that the Administrator will respond within one business day to inquiries or questions submitted outside of normal business hours. Responses to requests for block allocations will be accommodated within the intervals specified in the Illinois Pooling Administration Guidelines.

 

3.2 Communications Requirements

Each member of the Administrator’s team must have an individual telephone number. The phone system must provide the capability to allow the caller to leave a message easily. This can be accomplished by an electronic messaging system that allows the caller to leave a message for the person called.

 

3.3 Security Requirements

Due to the proprietary/sensitive nature of the information managed by the Administrator, proper security measures must be taken. This includes the establishment of a secured work area with limited access and secured record retention practices. In addition, appropriate security will be required for any computer systems containing forecasting, number assignment, auditing or applicant information. This requirement includes any system that is interconnected to any telecommunications network.

 

3.4 Staffing Requirements

Staffing must be at an appropriate level to ensure that the Administrator can efficiently perform the functions identified in this RFP, and provide timely responses. The Staff should be available in accordance with Section 3.1. If situations warrant, the Staff must also be available at other times deemed necessary to meet the needs of the service providers.

The physical location of the administration facility is at the discretion of the bidder. However, the Staff must be able to travel, when necessary, to meet the needs of the service providers (e.g., seminars, regulatory hearings, NPA relief activities, etc.).

Proposed staffing profiles and levels, as well as the physical location of the Staff, must be part of the bidder’s response.

4.0 Requirements Checklist

Requirement Description Compliance Information
R1.3.1 Neutral Third Party  
R1.3.2.1 General Background  
R1.3.2.2 Industry Experience  
R1.3.2.3 Financial Stability  
R2.2 Processing Requests for

thousands-blocks

  
R2.3 Separate proposals for 847 and

subsequent NPAs

  
R2.4 Monitoring and replenishing

the pool

  
R2.5 Requesting and managing

forecasts

  
R2.6 Providing access to pooling

data

  
R2.7 Providing reports  
R2.8 Conducting Audits  
R2.8 Interfacing with the Code

Administrator

  
R3.1 Hours of operation  
R3.2 Communications requirements  
R3.3 Security  
R3.4 Staffing levels  

5.0 Pricing

This Section is intended to be used by the Bidder for providing specific pricing information, in accordance with Section 1.6.

 

ATTACHMENT A

 

 

 

 

WORLD LETTER 98IL-00 847-XXX

In response to a request from XYZ Telephone Company, dated 1/1/98 and received on 1/3/98, the following number block(s) will be activated:

ATTACHMENT B