Is it legal to sell some area code 408 numbers? [telecom]

May 01, 2015 2 Replies

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gg 11 years ago

I have a few phone numbers in area code 408 (San Jose, California, area) that I'd like to advertise for sale, with an eye to persuading small businesses to buy them because they're good business phone numbers (they end in 000).

An FCC rule -- 47 CFR 52.107 -- bans the selling of toll-free numbers but doesn't address the selling of non-toll-free numbers. See:

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I haven't been able to find a federal law or regulation that would ban the selling of non-toll-free numbers. I've come up empty so far on the California PUC's website and by calling them. Same with the FCC.

There's plenty of online speculation about the legality of selling non-toll-free numbers, but I've yet to find any online content that cites relevant laws or regulations.

Can any of you direct me to a federal or California law (or regulation) that would ban my sale of some area code 408 numbers?

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John Levine 11 years ago

In article you write:

I think you will find that the problem isn't whether they're legal, it's whether telcos will let you transfer them. But I suppose that now that all numbers are portable, if you sold them to someone who ported them to a random CLEC, it'd work.

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David Lesher 11 years ago

The usual ploy was to "sell the business" and just include the phone number.....

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