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A RespOrg , or responsible organization , is a company that maintains the registration for individual toll-free telephone numbers In the North American Numbering Plan by means of the distributed Service Management System/800 database.

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96-399: RespOrgs were established in 1993 as part of a Federal Communications Commission order instituting toll-free number portability . A RespOrg (pronounced as though it were a single word, something like "ressporg" ) can be a long-distance company, reseller, end user or an independent that offers an outsourced service. The initial implementation of toll-free calling was primitive. In the 1950s,

192-479: A collect call or a call to a Zenith number had to be completed manually by a telephone operator . By 1967, a direct-dial 1-800-number could be provided using Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS), but each prefix was tied to a specific geographic destination and each number was installed with special fixed-rate trunks which were priced beyond the reach of most small businesses . There was no means to select between rival carriers and little room for vanity numbering ;

288-580: A natural monopoly . The FCC controlled telephone rates and imposed other restrictions under Title II to limit the profits of AT&T and ensure nondiscriminatory pricing. In the 1960s, the FCC began allowing other long-distance companies, namely MCI, to offer specialized services. In the 1970s, the FCC allowed other companies to expand offerings to the public. A lawsuit in 1982 led by the Justice Department after AT&T underpriced other companies, resulted in

384-590: A "chief" that is appointed by the chair of the commission. Bureaus process applications for licenses and other filings, analyze complaints, conduct investigations, develop and implement regulations, and participate in hearings . The FCC has twelve staff offices. The FCC's offices provide support services to the bureaus. The FCC leases space in the Sentinel Square III building in northeast Washington, D.C. Prior to moving to its new headquarters in October 2020,

480-592: A committee of the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions . Membership is open to any RespOrg. In the United States, according to the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission , the end-user has the right to select a RespOrg and have their numbers transferred to their control. This process is called "porting" or "change of RespOrg" and requires a signed letter of authorization from

576-1178: A community that had already been subject to one or multiple code splits, encountering pushback from state regulators or consumer groups. However, overlay plans were eventually used much more widely in some areas than others. For example, much of Ohio has large overlay complexes, as has northern Georgia and the North Carolina Piedmont . Connecticut , Illinois , Oregon , New Jersey , Massachusetts , Maryland , Pennsylvania , Texas , Virginia and, more recently, California have also implemented many overlays. No area code splits have been performed since 2007, when area code 575 split off 505 in New Mexico , and no splits are proposed. Telecommunications companies have increasingly favored overlays even in sparsely-populated rural areas in which ten-digit local numbers are unnecessary, as split plans force cellular providers to reprogram millions of client handsets. Customers also incur costs to publish new letterheads and to reprogram stored address book data on individual devices. Overlays have become more expedient as

672-432: A network could demand any time it wanted from a Network affiliate . The second concerned artist bureaus. The networks served as both agents and employers of artists, which was a conflict of interest the report rectified. In assigning television stations to various cities after World War II , the FCC found that it placed many stations too close to each other, resulting in interference. At the same time, it became clear that

768-680: A new Federal Communications Commission, including in it also the telecommunications jurisdiction previously handled by the Interstate Commerce Commission. Title II of the Communications Act focused on telecommunications using many concepts borrowed from railroad legislation and Title III contained provisions very similar to the Radio Act of 1927 . The initial organization of the FCC was effected July 17, 1934, in three divisions, Broadcasting, Telegraph, and Telephone. Each division

864-617: A number's routing can be propagated throughout the network in fifteen minutes. An independent RespOrg may also hold an advantage in obtaining vanity phonewords by reserving recently disconnected numbers for its clients in the first few seconds after they become available. The function of RespOrgs in North American telephony is analogous to that of an individual registrar in the Internet's Domain Name System . Every toll-free telephone number

960-426: A second area code. This was previously implemented in several numbering plan areas, but all of them have since covered entire NPAs. In a multiple concentrated overlay , the entire existing numbering plan area gains multiple additional area codes, each of which serves a different subsection of the original. This has never been implemented. In a multiple-area distributed overlay , two or more numbering plan areas gain

1056-518: A single new area code covering the entire area, either concurrently or in phases. Examples include 872 in Chicago , Illinois (over 312 and 773 ) as well as 587 and 825 in Alberta (over 403 and 780 ). In a phased example, area code 564 was implemented initially only on area code 360 in 2017, but will expand to three other codes when needed, in western Washington . A boundary-extension overlay

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1152-410: A situation he found "perplexing". These efforts later were documented in a 2015 Harvard Case Study. In 2017, Christine Calvosa replaced Bray as the acting CIO of FCC. On January 4, 2023, the FCC voted unanimously to create a newly formed Space Bureau and Office of International Affairs within the agency, replacing the existing International Bureau. FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel explained that

1248-644: A split would have forced residents of either Baltimore or the Eastern Shore to change their numbers for the second time in the 1990s. Accordingly, area code 443 was created as an overlay for all of the eastern portion of Maryland in 1996. Overlay plans also favor incumbent wireline carriers over new entrants, as the established firm already has large allocations of numbers in the more desirable existing code, and subscribers of new or growing competing carriers are relegated to unfamiliar, new codes. The first example of an area code overlaid on an entire U.S. jurisdiction

1344-555: A subscriber would need three separate numbers to be reachable from Canada, US interstate and US intrastate. A "data base communication call processing method" patented by Roy P. Weber of Bell Labs , and implemented by AT&T in 1982, broke the link between individual telephone numbers and a specific trunk, city, or carrier. A toll-free number was merely an index into a large, distributed database; any number could be reassigned geographically anywhere by changing its database record. A call could be routed to one of multiple locations based on

1440-679: A year later. In 2023, the first multiple boundary-extension overlay was implemented with the folding of area codes 602 , 480 , and 623 into a single overlay complex for the Phoenix metropolitan area . Service-specific overlays are not practiced in the NANP. Only one case, the first overlay area code in the NANPA, 917 , was an example of this. It was established originally as an area code specifically for cellphones and pagers in New York City , but soon afterward,

1536-478: Is a telephone numbering plan that assigns multiple area codes to the same geographic numbering plan area (NPA). Area code overlays are implemented in territories of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) to mitigate exhaustion of central office codes in growth areas. The method has been in use since 1992, and has been the exclusive method of area code relief since 2007. From the inception of

1632-642: Is a type in which one or more neighboring numbering plan areas (with an overlay code or a primary area code) is expanded. Examples include 321 over 407 in central Florida and 778 over 250 in British Columbia . In 1999, 281 was the first of this type, merging with 713 in Houston . Later that year, 972 merged with 214, followed by 323 merging with 213 in Los Angeles in 2017, and 858 , in San Diego, with 619

1728-466: Is also a requirement of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in overlay area codes. Overlays were initially met with resistance, as they result in multiple area codes in the same geographic area, which requires ten-digit dialing. In many cases, such as 847 in Chicago 's northwestern suburbs and 212 in New York City , an overlay was an additional disruption to

1824-600: Is funded entirely by regulatory fees. It has an estimated fiscal-2022 budget of US $ 388 million. It has 1,482 federal employees as of July 2020. The FCC's mission, specified in Section One of the Communications Act of 1934 and amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (amendment to 47 U.S.C. §151), is to "make available so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on

1920-516: Is managed individually by a RespOrg. There are approximately 350 RespOrg services, ranging in size from large incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) to small companies that control only a few numbers. All RespOrgs operate under the same tariff and are required to follow specific guidelines for this process. The guidelines are maintained by a national industry group known as the SMS/800 Number Administration Committee (SNAC),

2016-431: Is very likely that the immediate need for relief would have been staved off had it been possible to reallocate numbers from the smaller rate centers in the region to Metro Toronto. Within two years of the 905 split, 416 was back on the verge of exhaustion. American cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles had been split between two area codes, but that solution was quickly ruled out for Metro Toronto because of

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2112-686: The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 sponsored by then-Senator Sam Brownback , a former broadcaster himself, and endorsed by Congressman Fred Upton of Michigan who authored a similar bill in the United States House of Representatives . The new law stiffens the penalties for each violation of the Act. The Federal Communications Commission will be able to impose fines in the amount of $ 325,000 for each violation by each station that violates decency standards. The legislation raised

2208-564: The Potomac River . A similar method was employed in Canada 's capital, Ottawa . It shared the same calling area as Hull , its twin city in Quebec , even though Ottawa was in area code 613 and Hull was in area code 819 . Until 2006, it was possible to place a call between Ottawa and Hull with only seven digits. That continued even after Hull was merged into the larger city of Gatineau in 2002. That

2304-495: The United States Senate for five-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term. The U.S. president designates one of the commissioners to serve as chairman. No more than three commissioners may be members of the same political party . None of them may have a financial interest in any FCC-related business. Commissioners may continue serving until the appointment of their replacements. However, they may not serve beyond

2400-488: The breakup of the Bell System from AT&T. Beginning in 1984, the FCC implemented a new goal that all long-distance companies had equal access to the local phone companies' customers. Effective January 1, 1984, the Bell System's many member-companies were variously merged into seven independent "Regional Holding Companies", also known as Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), or "Baby Bells". This divestiture reduced

2496-439: The central office codes of the other areas, because those were delegated to a new area code in the process. The existing central office codes in the separated areas are maintained in the new numbering plan area, so that the only change for existing subscribers is the change of area code. Thus, only area code references, where present for long-distance calling, required updating in directories, letterheads and business cards. With

2592-457: The 1960s All-Channel Receiver Act ), to make UHF viable against entrenched VHF stations. In markets where there were no VHF stations and UHF was the only TV service available, UHF survived. In other markets, which were too small to financially support a television station, too close to VHF outlets in nearby cities, or where UHF was forced to compete with more than one well-established VHF station, UHF had little chance for success. Denver had been

2688-424: The 1990s and early 2000s, have multiple rate centers, which were not combined for years, if at all. For example, Mississauga , Canada's sixth-largest city, is split between five rate centers even though it has been a single municipality since 1974. Hamilton , the nation's tenth-largest city, is split between nine rate centers. Surrey , the nation's twelfth-largest city, is split between three rate centers and part of

2784-731: The Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, and made substantial modifications to Title VI in the Cable Television and Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992. Further modifications to promote cross-modal competition (telephone, video, etc.) were made in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, leading to the current regulatory structure. Broadcast television and radio stations are subject to FCC regulations including restrictions against indecency or obscenity. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held, beginning soon after

2880-522: The FCC a legal basis for imposing net neutrality rules (see below), after earlier attempts to impose such rules on an "information service" had been overturned in court. In 2005, the FCC formally established the following principles: To encourage broadband deployment and preserve and promote the open and interconnected nature of the public Internet, Consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet content of their choice; Consumers are entitled to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to

2976-584: The FCC in the newly created post of associate general counsel/chief diversity officer. Numerous controversies have surrounded the city of license concept as the internet has made it possible to broadcast a single signal to every owned station in the nation at once, particularly when Clear Channel, now IHeartMedia , became the largest FM broadcasting corporation in the US after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 became law - owning over 1,200 stations at its peak. As part of its license to buy more radio stations, Clear Channel

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3072-437: The FCC indicated that the public largely believed that the severe consolidation of media ownership had resulted in harm to diversity, localism, and competition in media, and was harmful to the public interest. David A. Bray joined the commission in 2013 as chief information officer and quickly announced goals of modernizing the FCC's legacy information technology (IT) systems, citing 200 different systems for only 1750 people

3168-545: The FCC leased space in the Portals building in southwest Washington, D.C. Construction of the Portals building was scheduled to begin on March 1, 1996. In January 1996, the General Services Administration signed a lease with the building's owners, agreeing to let the FCC lease 450,000 sq ft (42,000 m ) of space in Portals for 20 years, at a cost of $ 17.3 million per year in 1996 dollars. Prior to

3264-403: The FCC said that nearly 55 million Americans did not have access to broadband capable of delivering high-quality voice, data, graphics and video offerings. On February 26, 2015, the FCC reclassified broadband Internet access as a telecommunications service, thus subjecting it to Title II regulation, although several exemptions were also created. The reclassification was done in order to give

3360-458: The FCC specified that area codes must not be service-specific, but it grandfathered this use for 917. Later, 917 became available for landline assignments in New York City. The persistent unpopularity of new area code creation by splits or overlays has contributed to a change in the rules of number block allocation to conserve the pool of available telephone numbers. The change, which allowed for

3456-459: The FCC's re-allocation map of stations did not come until April 1952, with July 1, 1952, as the official beginning of licensing new stations. Other FCC actions hurt the fledgling DuMont and ABC networks. American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) forced television coaxial cable users to rent additional radio long lines , discriminating against DuMont, which had no radio network operation. DuMont and ABC protested AT&T's television policies to

3552-510: The FCC, which regulated AT&T's long-line charges, but the commission took no action. The result was that financially marginal DuMont was spending as much in long-line charge as CBS or NBC while using only about 10 to 15 percent of the time and mileage of either larger network. The FCC's "Sixth Report & Order" ended the Freeze. It took five years for the US to grow from 108 stations to more than 550. New stations came on line slowly, only five by

3648-404: The Internet, cable services and wireless services has raised questions whether new legislative initiatives are needed as to competition in what has come to be called 'broadband' services. Congress has monitored developments but as of 2009 has not undertaken a major revision of applicable regulation. The Local Community Radio Act in the 111th Congress has gotten out of committee and will go before

3744-529: The North American Numbering Plan in 1947 until 1992, the only method of introducing new area codes was the area code split . It divided an existing numbering plan area (NPA) into multiple regions, one of which retained the existing area code. The other parts were assigned a new NPA code each. The retaining area was usually the historically more established or developed place, and required no numbering changes. It gained numbering capacity by acquiring

3840-554: The Portals, the FCC had space in six buildings at and around 19th Street NW and M Street NW. The FCC first solicited bids for a new headquarters complex in 1989. In 1991 the GSA selected the Portals site. The FCC had wanted to move into a more expensive area along Pennsylvania Avenue . In 1934, Congress passed the Communications Act , which abolished the Federal Radio Commission and transferred jurisdiction over radio licensing to

3936-753: The Quebec side duplicated several exchanges worth of their counterparts on the Ontario side. Urban sprawl accelerated the rate of expansion of metropolitan areas , and multiple split plans have caused the geographical area of a given area code in those regions to shrink, except in countries that assign shorter area codes and longer local numbers in areas with high population densities . The rapid growth in popularity of electronic devices ( pagers and then mobile phones ), in addition to regular landline growth, increased demand for new phone numbers even more. Although landline growth has sharply dropped and even decreased, largely by

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4032-659: The RespOrgs would be its registrars. Many RespOrgs are telephone companies or long-distance carriers; a toll-free number provided by a carrier is bundled with RespOrg service adequate to send all calls through that one carrier to a single local destination number. A large subscriber with more complex requirements could use an independent RespOrg to direct calls for an individual number to multiple carriers for least-cost routing or to provide disaster recovery. A number that reaches multiple call centers via multiple carriers can be configured to avoid any single point of failure ; any change to

4128-538: The SMS/800 available number pool. Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio , television , wire, satellite , and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction over the areas of broadband access , fair competition , radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security . The FCC

4224-484: The United States accelerated an already ongoing shift in the FCC towards a decidedly more market-oriented stance. A number of regulations felt to be outdated were removed, most controversially the Fairness Doctrine in 1987. In terms of indecency fines, there was no action taken by the FCC on the case FCC v. Pacifica until 1987, about ten years after the landmark United States Supreme Court decision that defined

4320-582: The United States), due to both overlays and other regulatory requirements. Overlays are now the preferred method of expansion in Canada, and no numbering plan areas have been split in the country since 1999. British Columbia and the Prairie Provinces have followed Puerto Rico and West Virginia's lead with province-wide overlays. In those cases, a factor behind the decision was the desire to spare rural areas

4416-566: The appearance of an overlay plan. One side effect of this scheme was that if a number was in use in any portion of the Washington area, the corresponding number in Maryland or Virginia could only be used in an area considered a safe distance from the metro area, such as western Virginia or the Eastern Shore of Maryland . This system was ended in 1991 due to an impending number shortage on both sides of

4512-428: The area's extremely dense population and the lack of a suitable boundary for a split. It was ultimately decided to overlay 416 with area code 647 in 2001, two years after Metro Toronto was merged into the "megacity" of Toronto. The successful implementation of 647 triggered the rapid adoption of overlays across Canada. By 2023, seven-digit dialing had been effectively eliminated nationwide in Canada (as well as in most of

4608-506: The assignment of smaller number blocks, is commonly known as telephone number pooling , and has slowed the need for new area codes. For example, the western half of Washington, including Seattle, narrowly avoided the need for an overlay in 2001. Area code 564 , originally planned for introduction in October 2001, was delayed indefinitely in August 2001 after state regulators determined that the use of number pooling had resulted in more efficiency in

4704-422: The basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, rapid, efficient, nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication services with adequate facilities at reasonable charges." The act furthermore provides that the FCC was created "for the purpose of the national defense" and "for the purpose of promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communications." Consistent with

4800-572: The book value of AT&T by approximately 70%. The FCC initially exempted "information services" such as broadband Internet access from regulation under Title II. The FCC held that information services were distinct from telecommunications services that are subject to common carrier regulation. However, Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 required the FCC to help accelerate deployment of "advanced telecommunications capability" which included high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video, and to regularly assess its availability. In August 2015,

4896-412: The boundary. To preserve local community integrity, identity, and convenience, a party could dial an office prefix for a local call with only seven-digits, but the destination was technically located in the adjacent number plan area. If a subscriber called a distant office prefix with the same area code, the call would require the dialing prefix 1 before the seven- or ten-digit number. A similar practice

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4992-572: The call origin, load balancing between multiple call centers , times, or days. While this data was originally maintained by telephone companies, the breakup of the Bell System in the 1980s and the introduction of toll-free number portability in 1993 required an independent operator to maintain the SMS/800 database. If the Service Management System were a central registry that controlled routing on all toll-free and other telephone numbers,

5088-444: The commission in 1934 comprised the following seven members: The complete list of commissioners is available on the FCC website. Frieda B. Hennock (D-NY) was the first female commissioner of the FCC in 1948. The FCC regulates broadcast stations, repeater stations as well as commercial broadcasting operators who operate and repair certain radiotelephone , radio and television stations. Broadcast licenses are to be renewed if

5184-414: The conversion, Congress established a federally sponsored DTV Converter Box Coupon Program for two free converters per household. The FCC regulates telecommunications services under Title II of the Communications Act of 1934. Title II imposes common carrier regulation under which carriers offering their services to the general public must provide services to all customers and may not discriminate based on

5280-427: The designated VHF channels, 2 through 13, were inadequate for nationwide television service. As a result, the FCC stopped giving out construction permits for new licenses in October 1948, under the direction of Chairman Rosel H. Hyde . Most expected this "Freeze" to last six months, but as the allocation of channels to the emerging UHF technology and the eagerly awaited possibilities of color television were debated,

5376-534: The early 2000s. The proliferation of cellphones, fax machines, pagers, and dial-up Internet connections, particularly in larger markets threatened central office code exhaustion in many areas. Particularly severe allocation problems manifested themselves at the turn of the century in Metro Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe , the center of Canada's largest local calling area. This area had been served by 416 since

5472-402: The elimination of residential landlines in favor of personal mobile phones, it has been replaced by the even worse problem of data -only devices ( hotspots , modems , netbooks , and especially popular tablets ), which still require a telephone number for use on cellular networks even if they are unable to make or receive regular calls . The rise in popularity of mobile devices has added to

5568-421: The end of November 1952. The Sixth Report and Order required some existing television stations to change channels, but only a few existing VHF stations were required to move to UHF, and a handful of VHF channels were deleted altogether in smaller media markets like Peoria , Fresno , Bakersfield and Fort Wayne, Indiana to create markets which were UHF "islands." The report also set aside a number of channels for

5664-413: The end of the next session of Congress following term expiration. In practice, this means that commissioners may serve up to 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 years beyond the official term expiration listed above if no replacement is appointed. This would end on the date that Congress adjourns its annual session, generally no later than noon on January 3. The FCC is organized into seven bureaus, each headed by

5760-486: The end of the digital television transition. After delaying the original deadlines of 2006, 2008, and eventually February 17, 2009, on concerns about elderly and rural folk, on June 12, 2009, all full-power analog terrestrial TV licenses in the U.S. were terminated as part of the DTV transition , leaving terrestrial television available only from digital channels and a few low-power LPTV stations. To help U.S. consumers through

5856-424: The end-user. In theory, regulations prevent hoarding, brokering and warehousing of numbers by both RespOrgs and subscribers. In practice, some RespOrgs do abuse the system by stockpiling millions of toll-free numbers for advertising purposes, because the enforcement of the regulations has been weak and sporadic. This situation has led to periodic creation of overlay plan toll-free area codes to prevent exhaustion of

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5952-425: The expense and burden of changing their numbers. The North American Numbering Plan Administrator recognizes several types of overlays: In a distributed overlay , or all-services overlay , an entire existing numbering plan area (NPA) gains another area code serving the entire area. Most area code overlays are of this kind. In a single concentrated overlay , only the high-growth portion of an existing area gains

6048-423: The fine ten times over the previous maximum of $ 32,500 per violation. The FCC has established rules limiting the national share of media ownership of broadcast radio or television stations. It has also established cross-ownership rules limiting ownership of a newspaper and broadcast station in the same market, in order to ensure a diversity of viewpoints in each market and serve the needs of each local market. In

6144-598: The first post-Freeze construction permits. KFEL (now KWGN-TV )'s first regular telecast was on July 21, 1952. In 1996, Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996 , in the wake of the breakup of AT&T resulting from the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust suit against AT&T. The legislation attempted to create more competition in local telephone service by requiring Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers to provide access to their facilities for Competitive Local Exchange Carriers . This policy has thus far had limited success and much criticism. The development of

6240-406: The former Hull, but they could not be issued without ending seven-digit dialing between Ottawa and Hull. As was the case in Washington, the only way to free up numbers was to end seven-digit dialing in the area, which was done in 2006. The sole legacy of the old system is a "dual dialability" system for federal government numbers on both sides of the provincial border; all federal government offices on

6336-435: The house floor with bi-partisan support, and unanimous support of the FCC. By passing the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress also eliminated the cap on the number of radio stations any one entity could own nationwide and also substantially loosened local radio station ownership restrictions. Substantial radio consolidation followed. Restrictions on ownership of television stations were also loosened. Public comments to

6432-446: The identity of the customer or the content of the communication. This is similar to and adapted from the regulation of transportation providers (railroad, airline, shipping, etc.) and some public utilities. Wireless carriers providing telecommunications services are also generally subject to Title II regulation except as exempted by the FCC. The FCC regulates interstate telephone services under Title II. The Telecommunications Act of 1996

6528-417: The implementation of the area code system until 1990, when everything from Baltimore eastward was split off as area code 410 . Within only five years, 410 was already on the brink of exhaustion due to Baltimore's rapid growth and the proliferation of cell phones, pagers, fax machines and dial-up Internet lines. However, the area's dominant telephone provider, Bell Atlantic (now part of Verizon ) realized that

6624-443: The inconvenience of mandatory ten-digit dialing in which the area code must always be included even for local calls . Ten-digit dialing is not a technically necessary requirement, and 917 was initially deployed without it, but a US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate instituted it at the demand of major telephone companies , to whom an overlay is considered a disadvantage to competitors . In Canada, ten-digit dialing

6720-539: The institution of the area code system. Despite the Golden Horseshoe's explosive growth in the second half of the 20th century, numbers in the region were used up fairly quickly. As a result, the number allocation problem was not as severe in 416 as it was in the rest of Canada. Nevertheless, it was severe enough to force Toronto's suburban ring into area code 905 in 1993. While the Golden Horseshoe would have likely needed another area code due to its continued growth, it

6816-518: The largest U.S. city without a TV station by 1952. Senator Edwin Johnson (D-Colorado), chair of the Senate's Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee , had made it his personal mission to make Denver the first post-Freeze station. The senator had pressured the FCC, and proved ultimately successful as the first new station (a VHF station) came on-line a remarkable ten days after the commission formally announced

6912-486: The move was done to improve the FCC's "coordination across the federal government" and to "support the 21st-century satellite industry." The decision to establish the Space Bureau was reportedly done to improve the agency's capacity to regulate Satellite Internet access . The new bureau officially launched on April 11, 2023. The commissioners of the FCC are: The initial group of FCC commissioners after establishment of

7008-417: The needs of law enforcement; Consumers are entitled to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network; Consumers are entitled to competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers. However, broadband providers were permitted to engage in "reasonable network management." Overlay plan In telecommunications , an area code overlay complex

7104-495: The negative effects of media concentration and consolidation on racial-ethnic diversity in staffing and programming. At these Latino town hall meetings, the issue of the FCC's lax monitoring of obscene and pornographic material in Spanish-language radio and the lack of racial and national-origin diversity among Latino staff in Spanish-language television were other major themes. President Barack Obama appointed Mark Lloyd to

7200-482: The newly emerging field of educational television , which hindered struggling ABC and DuMont 's quest for affiliates in the more desirable markets where VHF channels were reserved for non-commercial use. The Sixth Report and Order also provided for the "intermixture" of VHF and UHF channels in most markets; UHF transmitters in the 1950s were not yet powerful enough, nor receivers sensitive enough (if they included UHF tuners at all - they were not formally required until

7296-466: The objectives of the act as well as the 1999 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the FCC has identified four goals in its 2018–22 Strategic Plan. They are: Closing the Digital Divide, Promoting Innovation, Protecting Consumers & Public Safety, and Reforming the FCC's Processes. The FCC is directed by five commissioners appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by

7392-577: The passage of the Communications Act of 1934, that the inherent scarcity of radio spectrum allows the government to impose some types of content restrictions on broadcast license holders notwithstanding the First Amendment. Cable and satellite providers are also subject to some content regulations under Title VI of the Communications Act such as the prohibition on obscenity, although the limitations are not as restrictive compared to broadcast stations. The 1981 inauguration of Ronald Reagan as President of

7488-466: The power of the FCC over indecent material as applied to broadcasting. After the 1990s had passed, the FCC began to increase its censorship and enforcement of indecency regulations in the early 2000s to include a response to the Janet Jackson " wardrobe malfunction " that occurred during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII . Then on June 15, 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law

7584-545: The pressure against split plans, as an area-code change affecting the exchange in which a cellphone is based not only forces customers to reprogram their phones but also requires the wireless carrier to reassign the number of every device based in those areas. While phones with a SIM card have their own mobile device number updated automatically , there is still the inconvenience of users having to update their contact lists for local family members or others who have had their numbers changed too. Most overlay plans introduced

7680-461: The proliferation of electronic central office switching starting in the 1980s, it became possible to implement another method for expanding numbering plan resources, the area code overlay . In an overlay numbering plan, also called overlay complex , an additional area code is assigned to an existing numbering plan area, thereby avoiding the need for existing customers in the reassigned regions to change telephone numbers. The first use of that solution

7776-441: The proliferation of cell phones has accelerated area codes exhaustion. In most relief planning projects, overlays have become the sole option considered in the planning stage. This is especially practiced for area codes that have been pushed back to the brink of exhaustion after being recently split, as carriers want to minimize additional customer inconveniences. For example, Maryland had been served solely by area code 301 from

7872-614: The report was the breakup of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), which ultimately led to the creation of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), but there were two other important points. One was network option time, the culprit here being the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). The report limited the amount of time during the day and at what times the networks may broadcast. Previously

7968-900: The second half of 2006, groups such as the National Hispanic Media Coalition, the National Latino Media Council, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the National Institute for Latino Policy , the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and others held town hall meetings in California, New York and Texas on media diversity as its effects Latinos and minority communities. They documented widespread and deeply felt community concerns about

8064-437: The second time in a decade. The first instance of a statewide overlay was West Virginia 's area code 304 , in 2009. West Virginia had been served by 304 since the inception of the North American Numbering Plan , but it was obvious by 2007 that the state needed a new area code. At first, state officials voted to split off northern West Virginia with area code 681 and to leave southern West Virginia in 304. However, lobbying by

8160-435: The station meets the "public interest, convenience, or necessity". The FCC's enforcement powers include fines and broadcast license revocation (see FCC MB Docket 04-232). Burden of proof would be on the complainant in a petition to deny. The FCC first promulgated rules for cable television in 1965, with cable and satellite television now regulated by the FCC under Title VI of the Communications Act. Congress added Title VI in

8256-669: The telecommunications industry led the state to reverse the decision and turn 681 into an overlay. Idaho followed that precedent in 2017 by overlaying area code 208 with 986. The area codes for four of the five largest Canadian markets ( 416 in Toronto , 514 in Montreal , 604 in Vancouver , and 403 in Calgary ) were split in the 1990s. Overlays gained popularity in the Canadian telephone network in

8352-516: The use of telephone numbers in western Washington. The 564 overlay complex was delayed until 2017. Number pooling is not practiced in Canada. Every competing carrier is issued blocks of 10,000 numbers for every rate center in which it offers service, regardless of its actual subscriber count. Individual rate centers exist even in the smallest hamlets, and even tiny unincorporated villages receive multiple blocks of 10,000 numbers. Larger cities, particularly "megacities" that were created by amalgamations in

8448-474: Was Puerto Rico , with area code 939 added to the numbering plan area of area code 787, in 2001. Puerto Rico had just been split from area code 809 , the area code for much of the Caribbean, in 1996. A split was deemed unfeasible due to the island's extremely dense population and the lack of a suitable boundary for a split. Additionally, a split would have forced half of Puerto Ricans to change telephone numbers for

8544-441: Was forced to divest all TV stations. To facilitate the adoption of digital television, the FCC issued a second digital TV (DTV) channel to each holder of an analog TV station license. All stations were required to buy and install all new equipment ( transmitters , TV antennas, and even entirely new broadcast towers ), and operate for years on both channels. Each licensee was required to return one of their two channels following

8640-688: Was formed by the Communications Act of 1934 to replace the radio regulation functions of the previous Federal Radio Commission . The FCC took over wire communication regulation from the Interstate Commerce Commission . The FCC's mandated jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia , and the territories of the United States . The FCC also provides varied degrees of cooperation, oversight, and leadership for similar communications bodies in other countries in North America. The FCC

8736-450: Was implemented in a way that the same number could not be duplicated anywhere in eastern Ontario or western Quebec, even in areas a safe distance from the Ottawa area. However, Canada's inefficient number allocation system and the proliferation of cellphones brought 819 to the brink of exhaustion by the turn of the century. The only available numbers in 819 could have theoretically been used in

8832-503: Was implemented on a large scale in the metropolitan area of Washington, DC , and its suburbs in Maryland and Virginia . Most of the Washington region's inner ring is a single local calling area, even though it is split between three area codes–the District's area code 202 , Maryland's area code 301 and Northern Virginia 's area code 703 . For most of the second half of the 20th century, it

8928-477: Was in New York City in 1992, when area code 917 was overlaid to two numbering plan areas, Manhattan 's area code 212 , and area code 718 in the outer boroughs. Most implementations of the overlay method have required ten-digit dialing, by including the area code, for all subscribers for all calling destinations, local or long-distance. Near numbering plan area boundaries, special situations arose at times when established communities extended on both sides of

9024-541: Was led by two of the seven commissioners, with the FCC chairman being a member of each division. The organizing meeting directed the divisions to meet on July 18, July 19, and July 20, respectively. In 1940, the Federal Communications Commission issued the "Report on Chain Broadcasting " which was led by new FCC chairman James Lawrence Fly (and Telford Taylor as general counsel). The major point in

9120-405: Was possible to dial any number in the metro area with just seven digits. The entire area implemented a system of central office code protection in which no central office code was duplicated in the entire area. Each existing central office code was properly routed with each area code in the region so that each telephone number in the region could be dialed with any of the regional area codes, giving

9216-463: Was the first major legislative reform since the 1934 act and took several steps to de-regulate the telephone market and promote competition in both the local and long-distance marketplace. The important relationship of the FCC and the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) Company evolved over the decades. For many years, the FCC and state officials agreed to regulate the telephone system as

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