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Update on ESN Exhaustion and Issues Related to Recovery of Previously Assigned ESNs. John Derr, Staff Director, Technical Regulatory Affairs ESN Administrator, TIA Gary Pellegrino, Chair TR-45 Ad Hoc ESN/UIM/MEID CommFlow Resources, Inc. October 2007.
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Update on ESN Exhaustion and Issues Related to Recovery of Previously Assigned ESNs John Derr, Staff Director, Technical Regulatory Affairs ESN Administrator, TIA Gary Pellegrino, Chair TR-45 Ad Hoc ESN/UIM/MEID CommFlow Resources, Inc. October 2007
Exhaustion of Present ESN Resource • As of 2007.09.30, 264 blocks of 250K (262,144) “virgin” (previously unassigned) Electronic Serial Numbers (ESNs) remain, or only 69.2 million • Virgin ESN Exhaust expected early Q1’08 • Set manufacturers (MFRs) starting to provision more Mobile Equipment IDentifiers (MEIDs) but some service providers are still asking for ESN-provisioned handsets
Recovering Previously Assigned ESNs Complex and often Difficult • Some companies are no longer in business • Other recipients are still in business but may refuse permission to utilize used or unused ESNs • Some companies that still exist are cooperative, but may not know what production range was used • It is difficult finding personnel who have any knowledge of previous usage of Code ranges—service provider assistance is welcome
Increased Global Demand for Numbering Resources • Recovery of previously assigned ESNs for suitable re-use is NOT an intermediate-term solution to implementing MEID in mobile stations and/or the Expanded UIM_ID (“E-UIM_ID”) used in Removable User Identity Modules (“R-UIM”) • Increased global demand is outstripping recovery efforts making accelerated service provider implementation of MEID, E-UIM_ID critical
Technology Use Sometimes Not Correlated with Assignment Date • Some mobile set manufacturers may have assigned entire 8-bit ESN MFR Codes (blocks of 16M, 16,777,216) to each individual production line (in some instances with many blocks unused) • As a result, some ESN Codes assigned in 1990s or even 1980s may have mix of AMPS, TDMA and even CDMA • Sometimes production ranges are not known. Those ranges with no-CDMA use are candidates for UIM_ID derivation
Timeline of ESN Exhaustion • As of 2007.09.30, there are 264 blocks of 250K serial numbers remaining • 40 blocks remain to be assigned in MFR Code 016 • MFR Codes 017 (64 blocks) and 018 (64 blocks) will be assigned next • Finally, the last virgin blocks in MFR Codes 250 (40 blocks) and 255 (56 blocks) will be assigned at which time the Virgin ESN Pool will be exhausted (expected early Q1’08)
Timeline of ESN Exhaustion (continued) • After virgin ESN exhaust, assigned code ranges with no known use will be candidates for ESN assignment after a short consultation with North American service providers and clearinghouse and inter-carrier mediation vendors (this consultation process underway now). • “Clear” ranges available after virgin ESN exhaust is expected to be limited • Some ranges thought to be “clear” have shown live subscribers after consultation process and may no longer be suitable candidates
Timeline of ESN Exhaustion (continued) • ESN Administrator requesting repeat applicants to provision all new mobile set models with MEIDs • At this point in time, ESNs should be used only for existing set models still in production until their “end of life” • This is a prudent approach and helps minimize thepossibility of ESNs exhausting in the middle of the model’s production life • However, the cooperation of service providers in requesting and accepting MEID-provisioned handsets is critical
ESNs Used for UIM_ID Derivation • ESNs have been used for UIM_ID derivation since September 2001 • Of ~385.9M ESNs designated for UIM_IDs through September 2007 (6 year period); ~156.5M or 40.5% have been designated in first 9 months of 2007 (see graphic on next page) • ESNs designated for UIM_ID derivation in the first 9 months of 2007 (~156.5M) exceeds by 21% the amount (~128.9M) designated for the three previous calendar years, 2004, 2005 and 2006! • Efforts are continuing in earnest to identify and provide additional suitable ESN ranges for UIM_ID derivation
ESNs Used for UIM_ID Derivation (Accelerating Demand in 2007) ESNs (9 Months)
ESNs Used for UIM_ID Derivation (Accelerating Demand in 2007) • There have been reports that R-UIM service providers in Asia-Pacific region may be requesting R-UIM suppliers to provide all R-UIMs sufficient to launch a new service prior to “day one” of launch • If this is true, demand for a limited resource is being further exacerbated and this practice needs to be reviewed
ESNs Used for UIM_ID Derivation (continued) • ESN Administrator’s monthly report contains additional information concerning recovery of previously assigned ESNs and ESNs designated for UIM_ID derivation. See Section III. • Virgin space assigned (or designated) for UIM_ID Code derivation is presently available to be considered for possible future non-CDMA technology use • The U.S. analog sunset date (February 18, 2008) as planned by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may not remove obligation to assign an ESN MFR Code to requestors (as some rural U.S. service providers may voluntarily opt to continue analog service).
ESNs Used for UIM_ID Derivation (continued) • Following Virgin ESN exhaust, efforts to designate AMPS-only and/or TDMA-only code ranges (no CDMA use) for UIM_ID derivation will continue • However, the skyrocketing demand in 2007 for UIM_IDs along with the lack of information regarding ESN Code range technology use still limits the prudent lifetime of UIM_IDs • KDDI has been very helpful in targeting recovery of ESNs from Japanese-domiciled set MFRs to use for UIM_ID derivation. Other service providers are also welcome to provide assistance to the ESN Administrator
ESNs Used for UIM_ID Derivation (continued) • Demand for ESNs used in mobile stations has been mitigated with increasing assignments and service provider deployments of MEIDs • ~ 92.0M ESNs assigned in first 9 months of 2007 • ~134.2M MEIDs assigned in first 9 months of 2007 • In like manner, in 2008, the demand for UIM_IDs must also be mitigated by the provisioning and service provider deployments of Expanded UIM_ID (“E-UIM_ID”)
Reference Information • Information on migration to MEIDs from ESNs may be found (updated on monthly basis) at, www.tiaonline.org/standards/resources/esnand www.tiaonline.org/standards/resources/meid
Acronyms • AMPS – Advanced Mobile Phone System • E-UIM_ID – Expanded UIM_ID (replacement for UIM_ID) • ESN – Electronic Serial Number • EUMAG – ESN/UIM/MEID Ad Hoc Group of TR-45 • CDMA – Code Division Multiple Access • MEID – Mobile Equipment IDentifier (replacement for ESN) • MFR – Manufacturer • R-UIM – Removable User Identity Module • TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access • TIA – Telecommunications Industry Association • TR-45 – TIA Engineering Committee on Mobile and Personal Communications Systems Standards • UIM – User Identity Module • UIM_ID – UIM IDentifier
Contacts, Information Further Comments, Inquiries Welcome Gary Pellegrino, Chair TR-45 EUMAG (gary@commflowresources.com) John Derr, ESN Administrator (jderr@tiaonline.org) Cheryl J. Blum, Chair TR-45 (cjblum@alcatel-lucent.com) Edward F. Mikoski, Jr. TIA Vice President, Standards & Business Development (emikoski@tiaonline.org)