OH: Overhaul of U.S. Telecoms Database Sparks Fear of Catastrophic Failure. “Foreign firm handling overhaul cited for national security breaches.”

On April 8, a foreign firm will initiate the first phase in a Federal Communications Commission-mandated overhaul of the national telecoms database that stores and facilitates millions of American phone numbers.

The national database, known as the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC), handles millions of phone transactions each day. It is being taken over by a foreign-owned firm with a past of breaching U.S. national security clauses banning it from employing foreign workers, such as those tied to China. NPAC handles around 1.8 million phone transactions a day.

Ahead of the deadline, industry insiders have been raising concerns that iconnectiv, the firm responsible for handling the nation-wide transition, is not prepared to implement the switch, a situation that could cripple emergency services and interrupt cell service for scores of Americans.

We couldn’t at least find a domestic firm to screw things up for us?