The IP transition must prioritize “enduring values” including consumer protection; affordable, high-quality service; promotion of competition; and consumer education, the American Association of Retired Persons told FCC officials Dec. 16, according to an ex parte filing released Thursday (http://bit.ly/1hYNDMO). Access to emergency services, carrier-of-last-resort obligations and universal services policies remain important as well, AARP said. Any IP transition “experiments” should be “conducted in an environment of informed consent for the subjects of the experiments, including the full awareness of potential challenges, length of the experiment and the resources available should problems arise,” AARP said.

Level 3 submitted its final report on its trial of direct access to numbers Monday (http://bit.ly/1cjwOtM). It handled nearly 23,000 port-in requests, and 21 port-out requests, all of which were successful. Level 3 had zero routing failures, billing or compensation disputes, it said. “Level 3 was disappointed but not surprised that the major incumbent LECs and wireless carriers with which it sought to establish IP interconnection were unable or unwilling to support IP interconnection for purposes of the trial, even though IP interconnection among competitive carriers is commonplace,” it said.

Cincinnati Bell wants to discontinue its Primary Rate Interface service and Plain Old Telephone Service provided over Cisco 5400 equipment network connectivity by Jan. 31, the FCC said Tuesday. Cincinnati Bell said its PRI service has fewer than five customers, and only a “small number” of its POTS subscribers would be affected by discontinuing the Cisco 5400 connectivity. Cincinnati Bell notified affected customers in late November; those customers have the opportunity to subscribe to similar services from Cincinnati Bell or change providers, the FCC said. The commission is seeking comment on Cincinnati Bell’s proposal through Jan. 15.