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FCC Still Pushing for Number Portability on Nov. 24
JediAeryn writes "eWeek.com is reporting the latest on cell phone "number portability." Looks like the FCC is requiring wireless carriers to allow customers to take their numbers with them beginning Nov. 24th. This is all well and good, provided these companies don't throw out more lawsuits to slow the process. My local Verizon store has been giving me the same date for several weeks, but mentioned that other companies are afraid of losing their current customers. My question to the Slashdot community is this: is that a valid concern? Do you plan to switch carriers, and for what reasons?"
I am thinking of getting a VoIP service like Vonage soon. I wonder if I will be able to take my cell phone number and transfer it over to that service.
We've had this capability in the UK for a few years now.
Although I've not changed mobile supplier, I know of several people who have without any problems.
I think here that try to keep you, but in the end as long as you have obtained a PUK code, then they can't stop you from keeping your number and changing supplier.
Java gaming nut - http://www.retep.org/ or for the rail http://uktra.in/
In Canada we're still stuck with changing numbers when we switch carriers. There's no changes planned either. Is my phone number my property or the telephone company's? I can take my home number though with me when I change my home phone company but not my cellular number. This would really be helpful at work. Anyone know of any pending or proposed changes?
Wasn't too excited by Sprint...reception at my house was always lousy for every service provider, though...we're right by major cell towers. They're right on the other side of that stone hill. (This is in Waltham, a suburb of Boston.)
But then recently the reception at home for Sprint got perfect...I guess adding towers and coverage is still an ongoing thing? So I think I'll stick with my now...2 or 3 year old phone.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
Cell phone companies essentially force you to change carriers every couple of years anyway because of their ridiculous pricing polices:
You sign up with a carrier and get a good deal that requires a 1 or 2 year contract.
At the end of that contract you have to switch to a different rate plan.
All the good (cheap) rate plans are limited to "new subscribers only"
You're faced with the choice of paying substantially more or switching to a different carrier who is offering good deals to new subscribers.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
No. Mobile to land line portability is later. Maybe.
I'm a consultant and owner of a retail franchise on the side. People need to call me all the time. Even with that priority, I don't understand the fear of having to change my cell phone number.
I've changed services 3 times in 8 years. Each time I was given a new phone number. All I did was ask the previous cell phone company to cut my minutes to the bare minimum they could, and leave a message on my voice mail saying "I have changed this phone number. Please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx. Do not leave a voice mail here."
After 30-60 days (around $20-$40 maximum) I ended the previous service. If someone didn't call me in 60 days, why should I care if they have my number or not? There are so many other ways to get a hold of me (e-mail, postal, even calling up one of my businesses), my cell phone number should NOT be an issue. If they only know my cell phone number and none of my other contact points, I honestly don't care all that much about them (or vice versa).
I have a few customers right now who are waiting for portability, but I've heard it may cost $3 to $8 a month to keep your old number. This is crazy! Keep the old number for a few months, pay the monthly charges, and do what I've done -- set up your own "new number information" message.
Yeah, I agree with that, but let me add that I think the number portability issue, while nice, is not the most important determining factor in picking or switching carriers. Far more important to me is HARDWARE portability, so that a $270 phone has a lifespan extending even unto other carriers' networks at the end of the service contract. Why the hell we have to be forced to buy the phone WITH the service in this country is beyond me.
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
This has been a feature of both landlines and cellular networks for some time in the UK (I'm not sure about the Continent). Strangely enough, the phone system hasn't collapsed and we still seem to have a working telecommunications infrastructure. *touch wood*
In fact, what happened was that some customers switched from company A to company B, and some customers switched from company B to company A, and so on. And people were happy. And companies, the good ones anyway, didn't fall apart, so they were happy too.
I don't know what the motives of the objecting companies are, but perhaps they should think more about the service they're providing - if it's easy for people to switch and they provide a good service, said company could actually benefit.
"This is why men never share their feelings; because women always remember." -Just Shoot Me.
I use my cell phone as my main business number. It's a real pain when I change providers because I have to make sure everyone gets my new number. It ruins any advertising I've done with it.
So my solution was to get a 2nd line at my house with NO features at all except CALL FORWARD to my cell phone. I don't even have a phone plugged into it. I give out the phone number on the 2nd line.
Now I can change cell providers easily and just change the number that gets forwarded to.
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
I am of course somewhat concerened about switching to another carrier due to the draconian agreements you must sign to get a phone or renew your contract these days (2 years!!!???).... as well as the fact that it appears that ALL the carriers suck ass. I hear complaints about everyone.... T-mobile, ATT, sprint, Verizon, all of them apparently have more issues than i think is fair to the consumer. However sprint is probably the MOST proprietary of them all, with no sim's, and horrid connectivity cards.
The greatest thing about the number portability beyond the ability to move over to a new service is that this will no doubt FORCE the carriers to compete on a basis of quality of service as opposed to just price vs performance. By giving people an option to switch we should see carriers start to focus on who can provide the most stable AND cost-effective network.
Not to mention this should give high-speed wireless data a nice shot in the arm with consumers quickly switching over for the faster and more reliable cards.
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
I hereby predict that a year from now we will be paying more for the same service we have now.
To me, that seems like a logical progression, even without the portability issue. The cost of my land-based phone increases around $2 every year, for the same basic service, under the guise of "network improvements". It sucks, but it's not surprising.
I am amazed that it is taking this long to get the number portability issue sort-of rolling. Here in Australia we have had this available to us since September 2001.
The ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) here in Australia are the ones who asked for it to happen in the interest of competition.
If other companies are afraid of loosing their customers then they are obviously not serving them well enough. This sort of thing forces the telcos to provide a better service to their customers since the main barrier to customers leaving will not be there anymore. This sort of thing will really help competition and be better for the industry.
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*This is the cute bunny virus, please copy this into your sig so it can spread
IOW, some providers have crappy service, and feel that holding their phone number hostage is the only way to keep their customers? That's a pretty sad commentary on their own companies.
Number portability got into effect in Finland a couple of months ago. Previously I hadn't felt the need to switch my operator, but now that I could keep my number I switched from Radiolinja to Saunalahti. They also supply my DSL so I don't have to pay a separate monthly fee. I pay .11 to .23 cents per minute (depending on destination operator) and only 1,50e per megabyte for GPRS which is cheap compared to my previous operator. Saunalahti also uses Sonera's network which is the best this country has to offer.
I'm not the only one to switch either. In fact, since number portability came into effect, almost all carriers have been swamped with orders. Some people switch because they are offered freebies, some switch due to low prices and some switch just because they have been pissed off by their original operator one too many times. One thing is for sure. People are switching and the competition is fierce.
I see no reason why it should be any less fierce in the US and as we all know, the more there is competition, the better it is for the consumer.
Is to make the damned phones portable from carrier to carrier, not just the number.
You're right, it's crap. GSM is "an" (not "the") answer, at least the way it's implemented in most European countries. You have a GSM phone, there's a standard chip slot (same form factor is mini-smart cards used in USB dongles), and you get a new chip every time you switch providers (and you keep your number without any fees.)
Generally there are fairly hefty withdrawal fees, but you can get a new phone at a hefty discount
when you sign up, and you can normally get a fairly decent phone at a good price every two years or so if you stick with your provider. The phone's yours.
I like it; I've had better quality services here (all over Europe) than anywhere I've used any cell phones back home in California. The pricing's a bit higher, although with all the surcharges US providers have, I don't think it makes too much of a difference. And the cool thing for me is that as long as I'm on my provider's network in Switzerland, all the calls are at the "mobile" rate. Long distance is only when you call to or from other countries (in all of which my phone works).
True, the rates are a bit higher if I call outside my provider's network, but that's a pretty insubstantial difference.
Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage
In fact, just the opposite. I've been gradually upgrading my plan by continuing my service for another year, and now I must say I have an awesome plan.
$28 a month, 300 anytime, unlimited nights and weekends (starting at 8pm), free wireless web, pcs->pcs calling. I think it's an awesome deal for the amount I use the phone.
You know how I got those? I just called the customer service center and asked if they could do anything better for me. That's all. I didn't even have to play the "i've been thinking about switching to carrier xxxx" card, either.
I don't think you understand how much the companies WANT to have you as a customer. They don't have a monopoly, (unless you're in po dunk, nowhere) and they know it. Threaten to switch carriers and I bet you they will give you a deal. If not, well, that's their loss.. it's how the free market works. In that case switch to a new carrier and probably get a free phone out of the deal.
The sending of this message pretty much inconveniences everyone involved.
My point, for some people in some businesses, your approach is adequate. For others, it is not. And number portability is important. It all depends on how frequently your repeat customers call you.
Not to diminsh your choice of locations to live but UHF and nearly microwave RF doesn't penetrate woods very well. If you're serious about getting good signal inside your house don't expect the mobile carrier to plop a tower nearby to help you out. Get yourself a cellular repeater (about $700) and install it in your house. You indicate that Cingular is fine outside the house, then a repeater would make it fine inside the house.
I live in the middle of a well populated area and have one bar inside my house and two to three outside. If I place one of these repeaters with a yagi pointed at the local cell I could expect to get 4-5 bars inside my house. Not a bad improvement.
One place that sells cell repeaters is http://www.jdteck.com/product/phprepeater.htm
I wouldn't hold my breath for Nov 24th. There's a significant number of techinical issues that have yet to be worked out, that the FCC has conviently ignored.
Can the wireless carriers implement number portability? Yes... Will it break a bunch of a stuff if they do? Yes again.
One of the most significant things that still has to be addressed is exactly how, who, and when the PSAP databases get updated. For those of you not up on telco terminology, the PSAP database is what 911 uses to locate you by your caller-id info.
Of course, the major issue with the carriers has to do with increased billing costs. Each carrier (wirelines and wireless) has their areas divided into rate centers. These are typically, but not always, associated with NPA-NXX numbers. Visit NANPA for more info on NPA-NXX.
Moving numbers between carriers will mess with the rate centers severely, for awhile anyway, and cause much confusion between carriers in relation to call termination charges, etc.
Sig??? I don't need no stinkin Sig!
I've managed to keep my account by turning a perceived disadvantage into an advantage...
The wonderful advantage agreement... follow me for a second.
Over time, the value of the termination fee diminishes. If you are using a service for three years, it's likely that you'll use it for four. I happen to have a kickass plan that my unnamed provider keeps trying to separate me from.
This particular provider allows you to change features on the condition that you agree to a one year extension. Most blind, rabid, tinfoil hat people would get really angry especially if it involves simply adding Night & Weekends or mobile to mobile minutes.
Well... if your plan rocks, you can keep the party going by adding/removing one stupid feature and then putting it back a few days later.
The providers are probably aware of this Achilles heel and, no doubt, my provider knows what I'm doing and why but the amount of people that can figure this exploit is too small to be worth closing.
Prices are going up, not down. Until they start providing *no contract* service that doesn't suck, I encourage everyone to check out this vulnerability with their provider. $150 is irrelevant after years of paying $120 per month. Screw the system.
Laws are for people with no friends.
. . .and have one bar inside my house and two to three outside. . .
You have 3 bars in your house? How many square feet is it?
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad