What is a firm order commitment?
An FOC (Firm Order Commitment) is a confirmation from a current service provider that a Service Order to port a telephone number will be fulfilled, stating the date that the current carrier will comply with the request stated in the Service Order.
An FOC is provided by the losing service provider (also may be known as current service provider). This is done in response to a port order issued to them to move a number from that providers’ network to another (known as the winning or new service provider) service providers’ network. A FOC is a positive order acceptance response and includes the date the losing/current carrier will release the number to port to the winning/new service provider.
An FOC can refer to landline phone services as well as internet services relevant to that line, such as DSL. In the case of LECs (Local Exchange Carriers), an FOC is specifically related to the movement of a port from one provider to another. For example, if you want to switch your home phone service from Verizon to AT&T, then Verizon will issue an FOC. In this case, the FOC is a commitment that the telephone number in question will be ported to the new provider at a certain date or time.
FOCs may not be applicable when switching mobile phone numbers. Depending on the phone carrier, this may require a different process.
