Illuminet, Cellular One Prove Critical Number Portability Data Access in Production Environment
Business Wire - January 04, 2000 16:22
OLYMPIA, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 4, 2000--
--Wireless carrier launches queries to Illuminet database,
enables call delivery directly to ported numbers--
Illuminet(SM)(Nasdaq:ILUM), the largest unaffiliated provider of SS7 network services in the United States, today announced that Cellular One of Hattiesburg, MS, is the first wireless carrier to launch queries to its Number Portability (NP) database in a production environment.
Illuminet NP Data Access service enables Cellular One and potentially other wireless carriers to avoid the costly process of delivering calls to ported numbers via default routing to Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs) or Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs).
"This is a positive development for our business," said Rick Jorgensen, President of Cellular XL Associates, LP, which owns and operates the local Cellular One affiliate. "Even though wireless carriers are not required to port numbers for some time, we are now receiving bills from the RBOCs for default routing when we deliver calls to ported wireline numbers. Illuminet provided a turnkey solution for Cellular One in a very short timeframe that will allow us to move forward with a cost-effective alternative."
Prior to introduction of Illuminet Wireless NP services, wireless carriers' only other independent service option was to undertake significant capital and operational expense to deploy and manage an NP system on site. Illuminet was the first provider to develop an NP service bureau solution and port numbers for wireline carriers, and the company announced earlier this fall that it had successfully routed and replied to NP queries from Chicago-based wireless carrier U.S. Cellular in a test environment. This test represented a significant milestone, because it came more than two years prior to the FCC mandate for wireless carriers to begin porting numbers in November 2002.
"Now we have Cellular One operational in a live production environment," said Rebecca Stillings, Illuminet Senior Product Manager for Number Portability. "It is doubly exciting because it demonstrates the ability of Cellular One to access these particular NP services through Illuminet's interconnection with NACN (North American Cellular Network)."
Cellular One had the necessary hardware and software installed in its Nortel DMS-MTX switch. Tests of NPREQ (Number Portability Request) software with Illuminet went smoothly, and within weeks, Illuminet was ready to receive and reply accurately to "live" queries routed from Cellular One's switch to NACN and on to Illuminet's database.
"Our experience proves the point that with Illuminet, it doesn't matter where the end-office wireless switch is connected," Cellular XL's Jorgensen said. "Wireless carriers with switches similar to ours who are connected directly to NACN, as we are, may be able to take advantage of Illuminet's NP services very easily because no additional A links are necessary."
Currently, wireless carriers have responsibility under recent FCC rulings as N-1 carriers (the last carrier to handle a call before local termination to a ported number) to be able to get call routing information. Illuminet solution follows industry specifications that a wireless carrier is capable of launching either NPREQ, Intelligent Network (IN) or Advanced IN query messages to a database containing the Location Routing Number information.
In addition to the Data Access service used by Cellular One for call routing to ported numbers, Illuminet also offers Service Order Administration (SOA) -- required for deploying number portability. Wireless carriers will not require these services until they actually begin porting numbers. Carriers interested in obtaining more information on any of Illuminet's Number Portability services may contact Rebecca Stillings in the company's Olympia offices at 360/493-6000 or visit their Web site at www.illuminet.com.
Based in Hattiesburg, MS, Cellular XL Associates is one of the few remaining independent cellular operators, and is privately held. It operates using the Cellular One brand and is a leading provider of cellular and wireless telephone service, including digital PCS services, in a 12-county area centered in Forrest and Lamar Counties. The company also maintains offices in Laurel and Picayune, MS and employs more than 125 people.
ABOUT ILLUMINET
Founded in 1981, Illuminet operates the largest unaffiliated Signaling System 7 (SS7) network in the United States and is a leading provider of complementary advanced signaling technology and applications to telecommunications carriers. Connection to the Illuminet network gives carriers access to the system of signaling networks of nearly the entire U.S. public-switched telecommunications infrastructure through a single source. Illuminet specializes in signaling network services and intelligent network solutions for a variety of services such as caller identification, calling card validation, wireless roaming, number portability, network usage measurement, billing and clearinghouse services, 800 database and other specialized database access functions.
Illuminet's headquarters are at 4501 Intelco Loop, SE, Lacey, WA 98503; 360/493-6000; www.illuminet.com.
Editors' Note: Illuminet is a registered service mark of Illuminet, Inc., in the United States and Canada. Other product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: This release contains information that is forward-looking. "Forward-looking" statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995 ("Act"), are based on current expectations, estimates and projections. Such statements are made pursuant to safe harbor provisions of the Act. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about Illuminet's beliefs and expectations are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may differ from actual results and are subject to risks and uncertainties as are detailed in our filings with the SEC and in the press release. For a discussion of the principal factors that may cause actual results to be different, please refer to the company's registration statement filed with the SEC on August 23, 1999 and declared effective October 7, 1999.
CONTACT: Illuminet
Penny Thomas, 360/493-6000
media_relations@illuminet.com
or
Cellular XL Associates, LP
Rick Jorgensen, 601/297-8585
rick@cellone-ms.com |
