Cell
phone numbers become portable
By
Emily Campoy
On-line Forty-Niner
A
new requirement by the Federal Communications
Commission will make it mandatory for cell
phone carriers to allow for "phone
number portability." This means that
consumers will not only be able to switch
cellular companies and keep their original
numbers, but also forward their home numbers
to a cellular service.
Anyone
who has gone from one cellular service to
another knows the hassle involved with delivering
a new number to family, friends and co-workers.
The new FCC regulation will eliminate that
hassle, making it easier for cellular users
to switch to another company if they are
dissatisfied with their current provider.
The
FCC postponed this new regulation a year
ago because of issues with not only landline
services, but cellular as well. Some companies
are not opposed to taking on this new rule.
Verizon, which provides landline and cellular
service, is not challenging the regulation
and is planning on making the transition
to number portability as efficiently as
possible. SBC, also a landline and cellular
provider, is opposed to the transition and
continues to fight landline to wireless
portability.
This
could be the beginning of the end of landline
service all together. Two to three million
consumers are expected to cut the cord to
their landline phones over the next 18 to
24 months, said Dave Meredith, a vice president
at AMS, a global information technology
and business consulting firm that has worked
with carriers on portability in Asia and
Europe. That is almost 1.6 percent of the
188 million landlines reported at the end
of 2002 by the FCC.
Wireless
providers argue that there is going to be
technical difficulty in switching a landline
phone number to a cellular one. Although
the FCC suggests that it should only take
around two hours to switch the numbers,
some companies are saying that it could
take up to four days. This could be a problem
for people who use and rely on their phones
on a daily basis.
The
FCC implemented this regulation to inspire
and encourage fair competition between landline
and wireless phone companies. As of Nov.
24th, the largest 100 metropolitan areas
will be able to make the switch and the
rest of the country should be capable six
months afterward. This can only be possible
however, if the wireless carrier's coverage
area includes the landline telephone's location.
Users will also only be able to keep their
numbers when switching companies in the
same metropolitan city.
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