Neutrality and Complaint Process

4-8-21

Neutrality Requirements

iconectiv, LLC (“iconectiv”), in its role as the Local Number Portability Administrator ("LNPA") for the United States, must be a Neutral Third Party as defined in the Master Services Agreement for Number Portability Administration Center/Service Management System (“MSA”) between iconectiv and the North American Portability Management LLC (“NAPM LLC”), which incorporates the neutrality requirements of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). The underlying neutrality requirement is codified in Section 52.12(a)(1) of the FCC’s rules, which states that a numbering administrator (i) may not be an affiliate of any telecommunications service provider or interconnected VoIP provider; and (ii) may not issue a majority of its debt to, or may not derive a majority of its revenues from, any telecommunications service provider; and (iii) not be subject to undue influence by parties with a vested interest in numbering administration and activities.

What being a Neutral Third Party means for you is that iconectiv is required to treat all applicants for, and Users of, the Number Portability Administration Center (“NPAC”) services in a fair and non-discriminatory manner and specifically, iconectiv shall not, directly or indirectly, show any preference or provide any special consideration to any Telecommunications Service Provider (“TSP”) with respect to such services. As the LNPA, iconectiv is subject to a stringent Code of Conduct and semi-annual audit to maintain its neutrality.

If a TSP or other entity needing numbering resources and entitled to access the NPAC believes that iconectiv has violated this requirement, the affected party should use the procedures described below to file a complaint.

iconectiv Neutrality Process for Complaint Response

This process is intended to facilitate iconectiv’s compliance with the FCC's neutrality regulations and its MSA obligations and is not intended to create any legal rights or remedies under any other statute, rule, regulation or any other contract.

The iconectiv Compliance Officer will maintain records of all complaints and responses to those complaints, including corrective action plans, submitted under these procedures.

Complaints

Should any TSP or other entity needing numbering resources and entitled to access the NPAC allege that iconectiv has discriminated or shown favoritism in any of its LNPA operations or functions, such TSP or other entity may submit a complaint to iconectiv. Such a complaint must be submitted in writing and either hand delivered during normal business hours or mailed, by registered mail, postage prepaid, to: iconectiv Compliance Officer, iconectiv LLC, 100 Somerset Corporate Blvd., Bridgewater NJ 08807.

Such a complaint need not follow any set format, but it must include: the name, address and telephone number of the complainant, a clear statement of facts and of the nature of the favoritism or discrimination alleged that is sufficient to enable iconectiv to investigate such complaint. The complaint should also identify the name, office address, e-mail address and telephone number of a contact to receive correspondence subsequent to the complaint and who will be available to iconectiv for consultation concerning the issues raised in the complaint. Such a complaint will not be considered unless it alleges actions or omissions by iconectiv occurring after May 25, 2018 and within six months of the occurrence of the incident being reported. If the complaint alleges that iconectiv has discriminated in favor of another carrier or entity, that carrier or entity should be identified. If the complainant has filed a complaint based on the same claim or a set of facts already before the FCC or any other agency or court, such other complaint should be identified, including the full caption, the full name of such agency, court or other forum, and the docket or file number. Upon its receipt, a complaint submitted under these procedures will be time and date stamped by the Compliance Officer.

If requested by iconectiv, the complainant shall cooperate in the iconectiv investigation of the complaint and in the implementation of any corrective action plan, if appropriate.

iconectiv Response

The Compliance Officer will answer any complaint in writing by providing one of the following responses within thirty (30) calendar days from the date the complaint is received by the Compliance Officer:

(1) The complaint does not provide sufficient information for iconectiv to investigate the allegations. If it is found that the complaint provides insufficient information for iconectiv to investigate, the response will explain why the information provided is insufficient and will state that the complainant may file a revised complaint providing the missing information; or

(2) iconectiv has investigated the complaint and determined that the allegations are incorrect or that they do not demonstrate that iconectiv has discriminated against or shown favoritism toward any TSP or other entity in its LNPA activities. Such a response will contain a factual statement explaining why the allegations in the complaint are incorrect and/or will provide the basis for the conclusion that iconectiv has not discriminated against or shown favoritism toward any TSP or other entity in its LNPA activities; or

(3) iconectiv has investigated the complaint and determined that iconectiv may have discriminated or shown favoritism in carrying out some aspect of its LNPA functions and will report the complaint and facts of the investigation to the NAPM LLC and FCC for further review. In the event that the NAPM LLC and FCC determine that a violation has occurred, iconectiv will develop a Corrective Action Plan to be reviewed and approved by the NAPM LLC and the FCC in accordance with the terms of the MSA that sets forth corrective actions along with a timetable for ensuring that iconectiv will be Neutral.  iconectiv will inform complainant of the resolution.

In the event that the complainant files another complaint after having received a response from iconectiv concerning the same alleged incident or conduct, iconectiv will respond to such subsequent complaint in the same manner as it would to any new complaint.