Vendor Comparison
LRN Database Vendor Comparison
There are four types of LRN data providers. Understanding the difference helps you choose the right one for your use case and avoid latency and data freshness surprises.
SIPSmart Tier
NPAC-Direct API Providers
Direct NPAC connectivity. Lowest latency, most current data.
✓ NPAC-authoritative data
✓ Sub-10ms latency possible
✓ Real-time porting updates
✗ Higher cost than resellers
✗ Limited vendors
Examples: SIPSmart
Tier-1 Resellers
Purchase NPAC-direct data and resell via API. One reseller hop.
✓ Established players
✓ Often bundled with other telecom data
✗ 30–80ms latency typical
✗ Data lags NPAC by minutes
Examples: iBill, Bandwidth resellers
Tier-2 Resellers
Resell data from Tier-1 resellers. Two or more hops from NPAC.
✓ Often cheapest per-query
✓ Many options available
✗ 100ms+ latency common
✗ Data may be hours stale
Examples: Various smaller API providers
Legacy SS7 / Signaling Gateways
Query via SS7 signaling rather than REST API. Legacy approach.
✓ Deep carrier integration
✓ Some specialized use cases
✗ Highest latency (50–200ms+)
✗ Complex integration
✗ Expensive
Examples: Traditional carrier interconnects
Feature Matrix
| Feature | SIPSmart | Tier-1 Reseller | Tier-2 Reseller | SS7 Gateway |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NPAC-Direct Data | ✓ | ~ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Sub-10ms P99 | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| REST API | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Database Replication | ✓ | Some | ✗ | ✗ |
| Flat-File Download | ✓ | Some | ✗ | ✗ |
| Instant Provisioning | ✓ | ✗ | ~ | ✗ |
| Volume Pricing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Custom |
| Pricing Guarantee | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
- Ask directly: do they maintain their own NPAC participation agreement with iconectiv, or do they purchase data from another provider? NPAC-direct providers can provide their NPAC service provider ID. Latency is also a signal: consistent sub-10ms P99 typically indicates NPAC-direct infrastructure.
- Not always. Stale LRN data causes misrouted calls, which costs more than the savings on lookup fees. High latency from cheap resellers can affect call setup times at scale. For production traffic, data freshness and latency often matter more than the per-query price.
- For high volume (1M+ lookups/month), database replication is often more cost-effective than per-query API pricing. SIPSmart's replication service provides flat-rate access with no per-lookup fees — total cost often lower than API-based providers at scale.
The NPAC-Direct Choice. Verified.
Lowest latency, freshest data, transparent pricing. 1,000 lookups free.
1,000 free lookups included • No credit card required • Instant provisioning