FCC tries to block phone-number deal

Warburg Pincus already owns 40 percent of NeuStar and has 40 percent control over the board of directors. It is not allowed any more seats on the board, according to a 1997 agreement NeuStar signed when it took over the duties as North American Numbering Plan administrator.

But the FCC said a review of a June 2001 stockholders agreement, the result of two cash infusions by a pair of venture capital firms, gave Warburg Pincus more control than was allowed. The agreement has yet to be ratified by shareholders.

Last week the FCC gave NeuStar 30 days to resolve the supposed problem. NeuStar also didn't tell the FCC anything about the moves, which violates the 1997 agreement, writes Dorothy T. Attwood, FCC chief of wireless competition bureau.

NeuStar took over the role as telephone-number administrator for North America in 1997. It is responsible for distributing the billions of telephone numbers assigned to North America and several island nations, including the West Indies. --Ben Charny, Special to ZDNet News