Maine utility regulator probes T-Mobile's use of dwindling 207 numbers
COURTESY / PIXABAY
Maine's 207 area code has been around since 1947.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday said it has opened an investigation into how telecom giant T-Mobile forecasts its use of the dwindling phone numbers available in the state's 207 area code.
Those numbers will be exhausted by the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the most recent North American Numbering Plan Administrator update in June.
Commission staff have been monitoring the numbering forecasts of all phone service providers that use Maine numbers to determine whether forecasts are matching market demand.
Based on a review of number resource requests from T-Mobile from January 2021 through April 2022, the commission said it questions the company's forecasting process and the rate at which old, unused numbers are returned to the pool of those available.
“This case is part of our ongoing effort to extend the life of Maine’s single 207 area code,” Chair Philip L. Bartlett II said in a news release. “Last year we opened a case to look into the numbering practices of Verizon Wireless and we are now doing the same with T-Mobile as they may also be using unrealistic forecasting goals, unnecessarily tying up available phone numbers.”
The investigation directs T-Mobile to provide the commission with detailed information, including an explanation of how the company forecasts growth in Maine, the utilization of numbers, and an explanation of why the company is using many special numbering categories that may deplete the pool.
Earlier this year, the utility regulator said it's not ready to call time on the 207 statewide area code, now that new data show it won't be used up until the end of 2025, a year later than originally feared.
Previously, available telephone numbers with the area code were expected to be exhausted in the fourth quarter of 2024, prompting the PUC to open a probe last year into Verizon's forecasting process for numbering resources.
Members of Maine's congressional delegation have called on federal authorities to "explore all possibilities" to preserve numbers in Maine's sole area code, which originated in 1947.
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