The bidding process to select a new Local...

which a Neustar spokeswoman said the company plans to file with the FCC this week, is part of the company’s bid to hang on to the LNPA contract after the North American Numbering Council (NANC) recommended it go to Telcordia. Neustar “is obviously highly familiar with the Chertoff Group, given that both are so focused on national security issues,” but the report is the first time the company has contracted with the consultant, said the Neustar spokeswoman. The contract called for Chertoff to do a “written analysis of the national security implications of the LNPA proceeding,” she said. Telcordia responded that the Chertoff Group report is “the latest desperate stunt from Neustar in an attempt to use fear to hold on to its multibillion[-dollar] contract.” The report was also called “fear-mongering,” in a separate statement to us by former Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett, now with Venable and representing Telcordia. The report largely tracks Neustar’s filings (CD Aug 22 p4) questioning the adequacy of Telcordia’s bid in terms of preserving national security. The Chertoff Group questioned Telcordia’s response that any concerns about its ability to deal with law enforcement or national security issues can be worked out during contract negotiations after the FCC confirms the selection (CD Aug 26 p4). “The defects cited in this report cannot be remedied simply by post-award contract negotiation,” the Chertoff Group wrote. Alternatives include rebidding the contract or reopening negotiations to impose additional security requirements, the report said. If number portability administration centers (NPAC) operated by the LNPA “were compromised, telephone calls and text messages might not be completed, many search warrants and subpoenas might not be served correctly, and our system for prioritizing communications in a national emergency might not function,” the report said. The bid terms were “insufficient in both scope and specificity when compared with widely accepted national and international standards,” the report said. It said there isn’t a requirement “for a complete risk assessment and risk management program to discover and monitor risk to the NPACs, while tracking and prioritizing its mitigation.” The analysis is “critical to maintaining a secure system” to keep security from becoming “obsolete in the face of constantly morphing threats,” the report said. “There is no merit” to the report’s claims, Telcordia’s statement said. “What is really at risk is the tens of millions of dollars per month that delaying the award of the new contract will cost carriers and ultimately consumers.” Telcordia said it’s in discussions with law enforcement agencies “to ensure that these agencies can continue to receive the information they need with the necessary security protocols in place.” Barnett said that “regardless of whom Neustar pays to implement its scare tactics and spread misinformation, Telcordia will build its number portability system from the ground up as an American system, just as secure as the other critical U.S. systems that Telcordia operates and protects now."