NeuStar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007) |
NeuStar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR) is a provider of clearinghouse and directory services to the global communications and Internet industry. Its customers use the databases NeuStar contractually maintains in its clearinghouse to obtain data required to route telephone calls in North America, to exchange information with other communications service providers, and to manage technological changes in their own networks.
Within the United States and Canada, NeuStar operates the authoritative directories that manage virtually all telephone area codes and numbers, and enables the routing of calls among thousands of competing Communications Service Providers (CSPs). All telecommunications service providers (TSPs) that offer telecommunications services to the public at large must access the NeuStar clearinghouse to properly route virtually all of their customers’ calls. Also, NeuStar provides clearinghouse services to emerging CSPs, including Internet service providers (ISPs), mobile network operators, cable television operators, and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service providers.
In addition, NeuStar offers internal and external managed DNS services that play a key role in directing and managing traffic on the Internet, manages the authoritative directories for the .us and .biz Internet domains, and acts as the worldwide "registry gateway" for China's .cn and Taiwan's .tw Internet domains outside of these two countries. NeuStar also operates the authoritative directory for U.S. Common Short Codes, part of the short messaging service (SMS) relied upon by the U.S. wireless industry, and provides solutions used by mobile network operators worldwide to enable mobile instant messaging for their end users.
Contents |
[edit] Company Origins
NeuStar was founded to meet the technical and operational challenges of the communications industry when the U.S. government mandated local number portability in 1996. The communications industry continues to rely on the company in meeting this mandate.
NeuStar was incorporated in Delaware in 1998 to acquire its business from Lockheed Martin Corporation. This acquisition was completed in November 1999.
[edit] The NeuStar Clearinghouse
NeuStar provides its services from its “clearinghouse” – a set of unique databases, systems and platforms in geographically dispersed data centers. Its clearinghouse has been designed to assist CSPs in meeting the challenges facing the communications industry for both traditional voice and IP networks.
[edit] Customers
NeuStar serves traditional providers of communications, including local exchange carriers (LECs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), wireless service providers and long distance carriers. The company also serves emerging CSPs and fast-growing emerging providers of VoIP services. In addition to serving traditional CSPs, NeuStar also serves a growing number of customers who are either enablers of Internet services or providers of information and content to Internet and telephone users.
[edit] Contracts
NeuStar provides many of its addressing, interoperability and infrastructure services pursuant to private commercial and government contracts. Specifically:
- NeuStar provides wireline and wireless number portability, implements the allocation of pooled blocks of telephone numbers and provides network management services pursuant to seven contracts with North American Portability Management LLC, an industry group that represents all TSPs in the United States. Although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has plenary authority over the administration of telephone number portability, it is not a party to NeuStar’s contracts with North American Portability Management LLC. The North American Numbering Council, a federal advisory committee to which the FCC has delegated limited oversight responsibilities, reviews and oversees North American Portability Management LLC’s management of these contracts.
- NeuStar also provides wireline number portability and network management services in Canada pursuant to a contract with the Canadian LNP Consortium Inc., a private corporation composed of telecommunications service providers who participate in number portability in Canada.
- NeuStar serves as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) Administrator and the National Pooling Administrator pursuant to two separate contracts with the FCC. Under these contracts, NeuStar administers the assignment and implementation of new area codes in North America, the allocation of central office codes (which are the three-digit prefixes following the area codes) to TSPs in the United States, and the assignment and allocation of pooled blocks of telephone numbers in the United States in a manner designed to conserve telephone number resources.
- NeuStar is the operator of the .biz Internet top-level domain by contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Similarly, pursuant to a contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce, the company operates the .us Internet domain registry.
- NeuStar has an exclusive contract with the CTIA — The Wireless Association to serve as the registry operator for the administration of U.S. Common Short Codes. U.S. Common Short Codes are short strings of numbers to which text messages can be addressed — a common addressing scheme that works across all participating wireless networks.
[edit] Acquisitions
- fiducianet, Inc. (February 2005)
After acquiring fiducianet, NeuStar now serves as a single point of contact in managing all day-to-day customer obligations involving subpoenas, court orders and law enforcement agency requests under electronic surveillance laws including CALEA, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
- Foretec Seminars Inc. (December 2005)
After acquiring Foretec from the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), NeuStar now serves as the provider of secretariat services to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
- NeuLevel, Inc. (March 2006)
After acquiring the remaining 10% of NeuLevel, Inc. from Melbourne IT Limited, NeuStar’s ownership interest went from 90% to 100%.
- UltraDNS Corporation (April 2006)
NeuStar’s acquisition of UltraDNS Corporation further expanded NeuStar’s suite of domain name services and Internet Protocol (IP) technologies.
- Followap Inc. (November 2006)
NeuStar’s acquisition of Followap further expanded NeuStar’s suite of Internet Protocol (IP) technologies.
 |
The quality of this article or section may be compromised by wording which promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. You can help Wikipedia by removing peacock terms or finding content which backs the claims. |
 |
- Webmetrics Inc (January 2008)
In January 2008, NeuStar acquired Webmetrics. Webmetrics joined NeuStar Ultra Services, which manages infrastructure for over 20 million domains and thousands of global enterprises. NeuStar Ultra Services currently supports one of the largest distributed networks in the world, and answers billions of queries per day on behalf of its customers.
[edit] External links
|
|||||||||||
