Cellphone users today expect that when they switch carriers, they can keep their phone number. A federal appeals court in Washington heard arguments on Tuesday about how the Federal Communications Commission decides which company maintains the national database of phone numbers that makes such carryover possible.
Neustar Inc., the administrator of the database since the late 1990s, is challenging the FCC’s decision last year to name Telcordia Technologies Inc. as the new administrator. Neustar argues that Telcordia, which is owned by a parent company with ties to the telecommunications industry, failed to meet a key criterion of eligibility: impartiality.
