Thread by @nimkef

The birth of Neustar

24 May 1997

Instead of unlisted phone numbers, maybe now they'll offer stealth phone numbers.

Defense industry colossus Lockheed Martin Corp. is poised to take over as administrator of the nation's telephone numbering system.

web.archive.org/web/2021062216…

An advisory panel [North American Numbering Council. NANC] to the Federal Communications Commission [FCC] has selected the Bethesda-based company as the North American Numbering Plan administrator. The FCC will make a final decision after July 3.

Put simply, the job involves coordinating what phone numbers go where. It's a bit like being the Geneva of the phone company wars, making detached and emotionless decisions on disputes involving area codes and dialing exchanges.

Local phone companies will still assign numbers to individual customers, but they'll do it under the system Lockheed Martin is likely to manage.

Bellcore has played the role since the divestiture of AT&T; in 1983. Recently purchased by California defense company Science Applications International Corp., Bellcore was the research arm of the seven regional telephone companies.

Bellcore's relationship to the Baby Bells made administering phone numbers an increasingly contentious task as more carriers entered the market. In 1993, Bellcore asked to be replaced.

The FCC set up the North American Numbering Council in 1995 to develop guidelines for the process and to pick a new administrator.

Bellcore wound up bidding on the job after all, along with three other outfits. The council picked Lockheed Martin last week, and there is a period of public comment before the FCC finalizes things later this summer.

Lockheed Martin's bid of $25M for the 5-year contract beat the second-place proposal, from Mitretek Systems, by more than $22M, FCC officials said.

Lockheed Martin's IMS division in Teaneck, N.J., is the unit in line for the work.

The company plans to undertake the work with about 30 employees, said Jeffrey Ganek, senior vice president and managing director of Communications Industry Services for Lockheed Martin IMS.

Already, Lockheed Martin has won contracts to coordinate local phone number systems in four of the country's seven telephone regions. And it administers the national 800-number system.