What Has Number Portability Done For You? 756
Coldeagle writes "Number portability has been around for a few days now, I was wondering; have any of you fellow Slashdot readers switched carriers? How was your experience, and have you seen any price warring since it went into place?" Or is number portability so far more hype than happenin'?
nada, and it never will... (Score:2, Interesting)
Number portability... The commercials seem to point at the fact that you can now have your home phone number moved to a cell phone. While I do use my cell phone more than my land line I must say that having an actual phone plugged into the wall not really requiring any batteries, chargers, or antennas is
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:5, Insightful)
you haven't tried to move your number, you're just pissed about choosing to sign a 2 year contract.
Why would you say it's a gimmick when you just don't have option to use it because you were stupid enough to sign away two years of money for what sounds like awful service?
what gimmick bought your money?
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:4, Funny)
Me: Yeah, uhm... this is the only number my phone can dial. Could you relay a message? Please call Mark Portsworth at 343-982-8452 and tell him...
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:3, Informative)
So they offer cheaper service upfront and try to make sure you stck around long enough to make a profit from you.
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:5, Interesting)
I know verizon lets you switch plans in mid-stream, as long as you get a new term on the selected plan that is longer than what remains on your current agreement. IE, if you have 14 months left, you have to get a new 2 year agreement.
I've never had a problem switching to new promotional plans since I got my phones (I have 3 phones in my name for myself, my wife, and the business - no land lines). This may just be a Verizon thing though.
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:3, Insightful)
FWIW, Sprint PCS will do the same thing for you. Not that it matters much to me... with my low usage, I currently have a plan that is cheaper than anything offered. By anyone, in fact.
However, I'm hoping that number portability will lower prices and improve services all around. Despite mediocre reception at my last residence and my current job, I've stuck with Sprint as it has allowed me to keep the only mobile phone number I have ever had; I'm sure others have put up with poor service for a consistent
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:3, Funny)
We all are. It's built into the design of the system.
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:3, Interesting)
Personally I have AT&T, but I want to switch to Verizon because my friends all have plans that give extra mobile-to-mobile minutes, which would be useful since they are the core group of people I talk to. Up until a few days ago though, I couldn't do it because of complica
My old AT&T number held hostage, day 7... (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, good sir, (or madam) since you are with AT&T, you are S.O.L. I tried leaving AT&T for T-Mobile and taking my phone number with me. They didn't cough it up. AT&T is in violation of the FCC order mandating number portability.
More details here. [slashdot.org]
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:5, Insightful)
Number portability is great, and needed. It's not a gimick. Here at the office, it is most welcomed. We recently reviewed our cellphone planes. Cingular was just bending s over a sink. We wanted out. We shopped around, looked at different carriers, and picked the one that best suited us (Sprint).
Of course, this was several months ago. After switching carriers, we had to distribute all new phones, everyone had to learn new phone numbers, we needed to update business cards, and then try and update all our contacts.
What if someone we met at a conference six months ago though, hey, you know so-so's product would work for us real well here, I think I even have his card. He calls a sales reps phone... nope no answer. He can fall back and call the main office number, but thats not good. It gives the appearance of being unprofessional.
If we had number portability, the transition would be seamless for the users.
Bitching about 2 year deals is dumb. You can find PLENTY of one year plans. Also, there are TONS and TONS of per-use plans for people who don't like long term plans. You can go to Best Buy and pick up a Virgin mobile phone that is pay as you go.
Your complaining seems like sour grapes to me. Looks like you chose a bad plan and carrier and now are completely upset with the cellphone world.
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:5, Insightful)
The reason you're locked in is because your carrier pays a large subsidy upfront for your expensive cell phone. If you walk in with your own phone, no one is stopping you from getting a no-contract service.
The commercials seem to point at the fact that you can now have your home phone number moved to a cell phone. While I do use my cell phone more than my land line I must say that having an actual phone plugged into the wall not really requiring any batteries, chargers, or antennas is nice.
But for those people that never had a cell phone until now, the number that all their friends and family have known for years are now portable! That's convenient.
Honestly, it's just a gimmick.
The 6.7 million people living in my hometown (Hong Kong), would like to disagree [slashdot.org].
They look fantastic until you pull up their coverage area... Here in the Twin Cities Metro area they have great coverage... Problem is I routinely travel outside of the metro area into western and southern MN along with western WI. No coverage there.
Caveat Emptor. It's not really T-Mobile's fault if you decided to pull up their coverage map AFTER being locked into a 2-year contract with them from having them subsidize your pricey cell phone.
I recently relocated to Bay Area, switched to AT&T GSM from T-Mobile because coverage is much better (no penalty since my T-Mobile contract expired a year ago), and I'm happily locked into a 2 year contract, because I got a free bluetooth camera phone that costs $300-400 retail in Europe/Asia.
Until my cell service is mandated not to drop calls, not to require as much recharging, and not to have locked in contracts of 2 years, it won't do me any good.
What really won't do you any good is if you walk into any long term contracts without evaluating the quality of service it offers. Do more research next time.
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:4, Insightful)
Sounds like an excellent reason to use number portability in two years when your contract is up. That's what I did. GSM carriers get shitty reception in my building. Verizon gets perfect reception. My contract was already up. I got a Verizon phone two months ago so that I could make calls from my apartment, and now that number portability is here, I'm going to switch my old number onto my Verizon phone. (Yes, I've been paying for two cellphones for a few months now.)
Worth it for me. I've kept my number and I've got excellent reception in my house. No local phone necessary.
My only question is how are we non-cable-watching non-land-line-phone-using people supposed to get broadband internet access. Fortunately my roomie feels the need to have a land line, so I can piggyback DSL. I've got a bunch of friends that just don't have internet access 'cause of this.
Re:nada, and it never will... (Score:3, Insightful)
So, it comes down to this: make sure you buy the right phone for the right carrier. I'm not going to cry for you when you want to change carriers (or OSes
Right?
I did... (Score:5, Informative)
One tip for those who are thinking of trying to port their number. Do *not* do the process online. I ordered my new phone that way and the number ported two days before my new phone arrived. As soon as your number ports, your old phone stops working for anything besides 911 calls. Needless to say, I was without a cell phone for two days while I waited for my new phone to arrive.
Other than that, everything went pretty smoothly.
Re:I did... (Score:2)
Re:I did... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I did... (Score:5, Informative)
Sprint odesn't advertise it, but you don't need a contract with them. They just charge you $10 a month extra without it. I know this first hand after calling to complain about the $10 charge when I had, in fact, signed an agreement. Also, after your agreement term has passed, they just keep billing you at the same rate, no sudden surge in sales calls to sign up for a new plan or anything. I'm pretty happy with it. I just wish they has a selection of phones without antennas.
Seriously, how many people had the opportunity to switch, but would not b/c they would lose their number.
Me, for one, when I had to replace my phone and Sprint wasn't offering any deals for phone upgrades to existing customers. If I didn't have to buy new phones, I would consider switching to Verizon or T-Mobile, now that I can keep my number.
Re:I did... (Score:3, Funny)
Just cary one around for a few days. Then you won't have an antenna anymore. problem solved.
Re:I did... (Score:5, Insightful)
Why exactly do you say that this is a scam? It doesn't seem like one to me, i'm not going to get screwed when I leave my current carrier that i've been with for 6 years for someone else. The only thing that's going to happen to me, is i'll probably get better service... I wish more scams had effects like that.
I'm the guy you're talking about, though, I've had millions of 'opportunities' (more like urges) to switch carriers due to insufficient coverage and piss poor customer support. Sometimes it's good, but often enough it sucks, so I want to switch to someone new. Why did I put up with it you ask? Because 4 years into my service when I started shopping around, I had already given my number to several people and I didn't want to have to either A) Call several people and update my number with them, or B) Say fuck 'em, i'm switching. Now that number portability is available, I'm jumping ship after the hollidays (and after my bankroll recoups from the holidays).
Just as a sidenote... does anyone have any suggestions as far as carriers that you've noticed that have above average coverage? Or customer support? My girlfriend has T-Mobile, and while the coverage isn't always top notch, she will never run out of good things to say about their customer support.. I myself have Verizon at the top of my list as far as potential carriers to switch over to, they seem to have some of the best coverage maps i've seen, and their customer service at their stores seems outstanding... Any opinions?
-matt
Re:I did... (Score:3, Interesting)
On 11/26, I bought two phones from T-Mobile, and switched my service from AT&T to T-Mobile. One phone took 5 days to transfer, the other still hasn't transferred. I'm filing a complaint with the FCC and the CA PUC.
Re:I did... (Score:2)
Last year, I tried to switch my land line number away from AT&T to another land-line carrier. The new carrier could not get the number because AT&T would not release it. Eventually, we ran out of time and stuck with AT&T.
Moral of the story, don't expect too much!
Re:I did... (Score:3, Interesting)
FCC complaint form online, and easy to fill out (Score:5, Informative)
I was able to use it to get a better deal.. (Score:5, Informative)
It can't hurt to ask!
Re:I was able to use it to get a better deal.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Beforehand they would have said, if you cancel your contract you will have to change your number.
Re:I was able to use it to get a better deal.. (Score:2, Insightful)
I have been outside my contract with sprint for over a year and I have refused to change my plan just to avoid getting into a new contract. Now I have the freedom to say to sprint (Or any other provider) "I am sorry but I feel that I am getting better value elsewhere". I was never rude, I simply told them the exact deal I am being offered elsewhere and asked if it was possible for them to match or beat it and they did.
If
All I know... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:All I know... (Score:2)
your signature (Score:4, Informative)
Actually it does -- a wildfire sucks air from earth surface like crazy, so if you ignite another fire just at the right place at the right time it will be propagating towards the original fire and when they collide both will have no more fuel to burn.
Learned from some cowboys/indians book when I was a kid
Paul B.
Re:your signature (Score:2, Offtopic)
I always thought they were just a controlled burn, to elimiate a fuel source and keep the wildfre from traking down a particular path.
wbs.
Re:All I know... (Score:5, Informative)
There's no government tax for number portibilty, Sprint's simply trying to tell you that because of this new set of rules, they've decided to raise your rates by $2.20 a month. They can do that, the contract you signed with them says they can. But, if you're on a month-to-month status, you can use number portibilty to break away from them right here right now. Even if you've got time to go on your contract, you can put them on notice that if they don't retract that fee, they have a 0% chance of keeping you when the contract ends... or you might just ask them to calculate the penalty fee and see if it's worth paying.
Re:All I know... (Score:3, Informative)
I hated Sprint. It stopped working in my apartment which was most problematic as I was using it as my primary phone. They were most understanding (Gee, that sucks...)
I was able to use the Terms of Service against them b/c they changed it within the previous month and there was a non-acceptance clause which gave me an out without a cancellation fee.
Taken from the Sprint ToS page:
Terms and Conditions of Services
Effective as of Novembe
Re:All I know... (Score:3, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:All I know... (Score:5, Informative)
I know most carriers charge you a PER MONTH fee, so it could cost you a fair amount over the long term to keep your number. T-Mobile does not charge any fees for keeping your number when you port to them.
One carrier, Qwest will kill your home phone as well if you port your Qwest cellphone to another carrier. Seems kinda rude to me.
All in all I havn't gotten nearly as many people that want to port their number in the last few days. I'd say only 15% of those with existing service I sign up want to port their number. A lot of people like the idea of a new number simply to stop unneccessary calls from people. When you have a cellphone I find people will call that number exclusively even if you're at home, so you burn minutes when you don't need to.
As far as big sales to keep existing customers, you bet! Normally (I feel)T-Mobile beats everyone's plan price hands down, but since November the competition's gotten a lot stiffer. Not that everyone gets those promotional plans, but those promotions are top notch from every carrier. It's a prime time to sign up with anyone right now really. In six months prices will probably go back to what they were since the hype will have died down.
It makes me laugh... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It makes me laugh... (Score:3, Interesting)
It's almost as if they knew that customers wanted this and they can make a profit by offering it! What a radical notion!
it's been around for a couple of years... (Score:4, Interesting)
(oh, and, yes, I'm talking about Europe here 8=)
I'd like to (Score:2)
Re:I'd like to (Score:2, Informative)
As far as avoiding RadioShack, around here (Iowa) we have a lot of Verizon shops/Technolgy Huts in the malls. They handle hookups/etc. Worth a shot I guess.
Other than that, Radio Shack is a lot better now than they were. Then again, I've never had a proble
Re:I'd like to (Score:2)
Radio Shack is happy with all this because in most of their stores, they have more than one carrier, so anybody upset at carrier A can go to B, and anybody upset at B can go to A at their store.
Painless? Hardly (Score:2, Insightful)
However, for most of us who don't change our phones with the changing of the seasons, it just means it costs us more!
What's it has done for me (Score:3, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:ATT is not playing nice. (Score:2)
My wife's phone was in TX only mode (RX on the old handset) for 24 hours (T-Mobile), and my phone number STILL hasn't been transferred (after 6 days)! I've been on the phone with T-Mobile customer service every friggin day!
Jury's out on that one (Score:5, Interesting)
The other issue that I am wondering about is telemarketing. It's illegal for telemarketers to call your cell phone, but if I take my land line number and give it to my cell phone, how will the telemarketers know not to call it? Did the FCC ever say anything about this?
Re:Jury's out on that one (Score:5, Informative)
No, it's merely against a DMA (Direct Marketing Association) rule, violate the rule and I presume the DMA can take action against you if you're a member. There's no requirement to be a member, of course, but as with most industry associations there are advantages, mainly in the lobbying and legal arenas I suspect.
The DMA also knows what will happen if they start calling cell phones -- there will be a Federal law akin to the Junk Fax law, and there will be no allowances for mistakes. Right now they at least get the "oops" factor and make damn sure that it gets entered on a do not call list (another advantage of the DMA I suspect -- you may not want to share numbers that just ask you not to call, but you do want to share numbers you should never call like cell phones and emergency service (hospitals/fire/police stations)).
Re:Jury's out on that one (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Jury's out on that one (Score:3, Informative)
No telemarketer worth anything hand dials numbers.
Contracts (Score:2)
Re:Contracts (Score:2)
Re:Contracts (Score:2)
AT&T won't fix the service problem - nor should they be required to do so, because carriers can't guarrantee perfect service eve
For those of you wondering what this is (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/numbport.ht ml
Background: What is Telephone Number Portability
Telephone number portability is a service that provides residential and business telephone customers with the ability to retain, at the same location, their existing local telephone numbers when switching from one local telephone service provider to another.
In 1996 Congress reexamined and changed the Telecommunications Act to promote competition and reduce regulation in all telecommunications markets. Before that time, a major barrier to competition was the inability of customers to switch from one telephone company to another while retaining the same telephone number. Congress directed local telephone companies to offer "telephone number portability."
In order to provide the kind of telephone number portability envisioned by Congress, telephone companies had to invest in upgrades to their networks. In 1998 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) evaluated the cost involved in local number portability and determined that existing local telephone companies were allowed, but not required, to recover the costs of implementing and providing telephone number portability through two kinds of charges: (1) charges paid by other telephone companies that use a telephone company's number portability facilities to process their own calls; and (2) a small, fixed monthly charge assessed on telephone customers or "end users."
What is the Long-Term Telephone Number Portability End-Use Charge?
The long-term number portability end-user charge is a fixed, monthly charge through which local telephone companies may recover certain costs of providing long-term number portability service. Recoverable costs include those for creating new facilities, physically upgrading or improving the existing public switched telephone network, and performing the ongoing functions associated with providing long-term number portability. FCC rules state that incumbent local telephone companies may, but are not required to, recover certain costs of providing number portability by charging their customer a monthly fee.
Am I Required to Pay the Long-Term Portability Charge if I Am a Lifeline Assistance Program Customer?
Carriers can not impose the monthly long-term number portability charge on customers of the Lifeline Assistance Program.
Does Long-Term Telephone Number Portability Mean That I Can Keep the Same Telephone Number if I Move Across Town or to Another State?
The type of telephone number portability that local telephone companies must provide is called "service provider portability." Service provider portability allows a customer to keep his telephone number when changing local telephone companies. It does not allow customers to take their telephone numbers with them when they move.
Can I Keep the Same Wireline Telephone Number if I Switch My Local Telephone Service to a Cellular or Personal Communications Service (PCS) Telephone Service Provider or Vice-Versa?
Cellular and other wireless carriers are not required to provide telephone number portability at this time. For this reason, customers cannot retain the same local telephone number if they change their local service from a wireline local telephone company to a wireless carrier, like a cellular or PCS service provider. Likewise, customers cannot switch from a cellular or PCS service provider to a local wireline service provider and keep the same cellular or PCS telephone number.
Will All Telephone Customers Be Charged for Telephone Number Portability?
Local telephone companies can only charge customers in areas where local telephone number portability is available to all consumers. Telephone number portability may not be available in all service areas.
Does the FCC Require Local Telephone Companies to Bill Consumers for Long-term Telephone Number Portability?
The FCC allows, but does not require, local telephone c
Contracts suck. (Score:2)
I guess the only nice thing about the contract is that it does give you some leverage. I have called my carrier (T-mobile) for dropped calls, and they always credit my account per the contract (Read carefully). Additionally, the contract endi
The whole idea is stupid to begin with (Score:2, Informative)
At least that's how I see it.
I work for a call phone company (Score:5, Interesting)
We are pushing off the go-live date of at least one major project until early next year because customer service has been getting a LOT of WLNP calls (WLNP = wireless local number portability), way more than expected, and don't want any releases that will further increase call volume. So I don't know if slashdotters are porting, but a lot of people are. I just hope they are porting TO us and not FROM us
Heck, my own mother, who is as non-tech-saavy as they come, is considering porting her home phone number to a wireless phone and just getting rid of the landline. This law is going to shake up the industry. You may even see one or two wireless carriers going under as a result. They've been predicting for years that the 5 major carriers would eventually boil down to 3. This may be the catalyst to make that happen.
Re:I work for a call phone company (Score:2)
If you're right, I can only hope the government isn't stupid enough to start bailing out dying companies. And it could be a good time to short stocks of bigger, bloated, land-line companies.
Re:I work for a call phone company (Score:5, Insightful)
Until consumer rights laws which:
- Disallow SIM Locking on cellphones
- Disallow lengthly contracts
- Disallow Price fixing on handsets
- Disallow Price fixing on roaming
are passed, the cellular providers will all win. The above bulleted items are only allowed in north america, and only because of hard lobbying by the providers.
In any other continent, you go to a cell phone store and buy phones OUTRIGHT, no plans to go with it, no contracts, you simply BUY the phone (at usually half of US MSRP price), then you call up a carrier of your choice start service. They give you a SIM and you stick it in your phone, boom, instantly it works. if you don't like their service after a few months, switch providers. Swap your your SIM card with a prepaid card from another provider, go to another country? Buy a prepaid SIM from that country and pay 5-10c/minute insted of 2$/minute.
Around here, cellular providers lock the handsets to their SIM card so you cannot take a handset from one provider to another, even if they use the same exact handset. Don't be fooled by some salesperson's claims that "the radio is 'optimally tuned' to our frequency" because that is just a load of BS. if you are using a GSM phone in the United States, consumer rights laws basically say you will get assraped by your provider. If you go overseas with a GSM Phone purchased within the United States, you can be sure that it will be useless because of the SIM card lock in place on the phone. You will be required to pay $2+/minute roaming charges for usage on your US Provider's sim card.
Number portability isn't gonna do anything except give cellular providers more revenue (they add 2$ to everyone's bill, on top of all other fees and taxes already being charged) and more customers. People won't be switching cellular providers fast, they will simply stay loyal to the providers that have been assraping them for their entire cellular lives.
This whole number portability has been a joke, whoever wrote the law must be in the pockets of the big 5. Free revenue, with negligable costs added in database management. there is NO network upgrade requirement. They don't have to go to each tower and hang new transmitters. they simply add a few tables to a fucking database sitting in their corporate bunker. and it costs them $2/month to do that per customer? perpetually? until the end of time? Just wait until they pass laws which disallow SIM locking, is that gonna cost us another $2/month regulatory hidden fee?
note: this is a rant, but facts presented are true.
Cynic (Score:3, Insightful)
You are assuming that just because the (valid) problems you listed above are true that somehow lifting this other (valid) barrier to switching isn't going to shake up the market and lead to increased competition?
How often do you hear people saying, "My Sprint (Verizion/Cingular/etc.) service is a joke..." People want to switch. Now they'll start
I didn't switch. (Score:5, Interesting)
Consumer leverage (Score:2)
Get the name right (Score:3, Informative)
It made me stay... (Score:5, Interesting)
More minutes, cheaper, not nickle and dimed to death for features, and I don't have to pay just to play a stupid game on my cell phone.
I was hoping T-Mobile would give me like a free month for renewing my contract but they said neh so I said "well poo poo on you you" but I am sticking with them.
I read years (Score:2)
Well, good luck on that. It's a logical step and you too will one day forget about life in the stone age.
Too early (Score:2)
I know as soon as my Verizon account contract dies, I am going to look real hard and see what is out there.
Simple (Score:2)
Real life example:
They phone spammed me (picked up by my sweetie, which annoys me to no end) trying to sell their incredible landline services at incredible prices, this despite the fact that all my numbers are marked as don't spam me. It's not a "do not call list" in the strict sense, but the directoriy entries are marked as don't call this number if you intend to sell shit. This is usually repected.
I called to complain and of course the call cent
Contract (Score:2)
No really, I see the benefit of saving your number if you are seriously being screwed, but cell phone companies like to lock you in for at least a year. If there were month-to-month contracts more readily available this would be a great benefit, imo.
Very useful (Score:2)
Re:Very useful (Score:3, Funny)
i've been trying to (Score:2)
Re:i've been trying to (Score:3, Insightful)
The law vs. reality (Score:5, Insightful)
For instance, when switching from AT&T to Verizon (while keeping your number the same) in my area you are forced to carry both your old phone and your new phone until May 2004. You place calls on your new phone but you still receive them on your old phone.
Call me crazy but I'll wait a good year or so until it's at least a bit more customer friendly.
The only thing keeping them from making it worse is that no one wants to get the worst press. So it appears they're going to drag their feet and make things as difficult as possible for as long as possible, and they're going to do it just up to the point that they can't get slammed any worse than anyone else in the industry. Like some inverse version of competition.
Q-"How poorly can we comply?"
A-"What are our competitors getting away with?"
Not done it yet, but..... (Score:2)
It's equipped my coworker with two phones! (Score:3, Interesting)
He now carries 2 cell phones: 1 (qwest) to receive calls, and 1 (ATT) to make calls. This has been over a week, and they still can't get it straightened out. He's even gone to the local news and been interviewed for a story, hoping the bad publicity will prompt some action. It seems like, for all of the warning the phone co's had, they still haven't worked out a lot of the systems necessary to make the switch.
The funny thing is, the FCC only 'recommends' a timeframe for making a switch, but states right on their site that there is no required time limit. Talk about a loophole the cellphone companies can drive a truck full of cash through! My coworker could end up paying for two phones indeffinately.
It's a HASSLE!! (Score:5, Informative)
The day after the portability law went into effect, I headed to Verizon to get the new LG VX6000 and to switch over from ATT Wireless to Verizon Wireless.
Verizon seemed to do their part pretty quickly. Activation was quick, I was able to call out in 15 minutes. While I am able to call out on my new phone, I still (and remember, it's been a WEEK) cannot receive phone calls because ATT Wireless is taking their sweet ass time to finish their portion of the porting.
I read the law for the portability, and I expected a major loophole. No timeline or period was stated in the law claiming the maximum amount of time a company is allowed to take with the process. I've called AT&T Wireless a numerous amount of times and they keep telling me the same thing.. "Systems are down". When asked for an explanation, the representative can't even elaborate on the reason because, well honestly, i don't think they have any clue what the hell is going.
I don't know if anyone else is experiencing this (I live in metro New York), but this sure as hell is frustrating. After this post I am planning to call AT&T Wireless, again, and if they dare say "systems are down" I think I'll flip out.. something I rarely do.
So yeah, don't expect everything to work right away, especially with AT&T Wireless.
Re:It's a HASSLE!! -- UPDATE (Score:5, Informative)
on a further note, if any ATT (or non-ATT) customers have any portability related questions and cannot get through.. try this number.. 1-800-241-0335 It's the "hidden" portability department number. The queue seems to be pretty fast (barely waited 30 seconds), so give that a shot
I've switched to T-Mobile. (Score:2, Informative)
I will, but not yet. (Score:2)
I will not yet, however, for two reasons. First I want to make sure the bugs are out of the system. So far everybody's story is painless, which is good, but I want to make sure there ar
Waiting for the good deals... (Score:2)
I haven't found any plans that are very different then their old plans. I don't need 2000 minutes for $50 bucks a month, with 10 pages of tiny print discussing how I must give them my first born if I leave the contract. I just want inexpensive, reliable phone service.
I'll wait a while for the plans to becom
Nothing. (Score:2)
If you want to contact me, send me an email.
we switched, not too nice (Score:3, Insightful)
Mobile to mobile sounds great, but... (Score:2)
Switching carriers made my week (Score:3, Interesting)
I walked into the Verizon store, picked out a phone and a plan and within 2 hours was switched over. I didn't even have to bring in any documentation and I was surprised how painles entire processes was.
It was the best buying experience I've had in a long time. I'd rather not have to pay the $1.75 per month for a service that should be standard, but given the choice between the fee and freedom to switch numbers versus no fee but no choice, go ahead and bill me.
Dock It (Score:4, Interesting)
That way you have the conveniance of using your home phones, but you're only paying for your cell phone.
Re:Dock It (Score:3, Informative)
I use a Vox2 docking station. You wire it (plug it into a jack) to your house wiring and any existing phone can use your cell to dial out. (You press # for send) No land line required.
nothing for me either.. (Score:3, Interesting)
getting a new number is something i actually want. this way i know who has the new number and no calls from people i'm hiding out from who knew the old one.
Wait! Don't switch yet! (A Porta-Hell Story) (Score:4, Interesting)
I initiated the transfer on Wed, 11/26. I had heard rumblings of portability problems with the wrong information being entered into the system, so I made sure "customer care" specialist repeated all of the information back to me. They gave me an original "due date" of Saturday, 11/30 at Noon.
Saturday rolled around and no transfer. I called back, and it turns out Sprint submitted the wrong address to the WLNP system. If the addresses don't match, it won't port. Nobody had called me in 3 days. To make matters worse, the address they submitted was my old address- 4 years and 3 addresses ago! It was my original address with Sprint, not even my current one they had on file!!
To cut a long story short, I've called Sprint 5 times since then, still no port 7 days later, and each time I call, they give me the wrong address issue, even though I've corrected it 6 times.
This most recent time, I waited 2 hours (on a landline) to speak to someone in the Sprint WLNP dept. They eventually got T-mobile on the line. Finally, they both agreed that it was the FCC-contracted third party that was the holdup, but that their system was in the middle of an "update" and was unaccessable for 2 hours. (In the middle of a business day?!!?)
This system is not working. If these companies had spent the time and effort making this work instead of fighting it, and maybe tested it at least once, it would work better.
But because there are so many parties involved, they figured they didn't have to, because there are 2 other people they can point the finger at.
I've yet to hear from a single AT&T person online who's successfully ported.
If you've having problems such as me, make sure to REPORT IT. [convio.net]
Other resources I've been using, mostly to comisserate:
Howard Forums [howardforums.com]
Sprintusers.com [sprintusers.com]
Number portability forum [numberportability.com]
Wait until they get the kinks out-- the system should take but a few hours, not more than a week!
AT&T Completely Fails in Portability (Score:5, Interesting)
On Monday I called T-Mobile to begin the porting process. It took a little over an hour on the phone and at the end of the call they said it would take 3 to 24 hours before the change would be effective.
24 hours later, nothing had happened yet. I called T-Mobile back and was told that the request had been rejected by AT&T because my name on the request didn't match my name in their system. I grabbed my AT&T bill and reconfirmed with T-Mobile that it had, in fact, been entered correctly the first time. They resubmitted the request and said to check back in another 5 hours if it hadn't gone through.
5 hours later I called back to learn that AT&T rejected the request again saying that the ZIP code didn't match. We double-checked and it was exactly as it was listed on the AT&T bill. They said to check back again on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, more of the same. We went through again to make sure that all of the information in the request was exactly as it was listed on my AT&T bill and resubmitted the request. They said that if it failed this time, I was stuck until Friday since they wouldn't be open on Thanksgiving.
On Friday, nothing had changed. I called T-Mobile again and was told that AT&T was having serious computer problems and that all requests were being rejected. They said there was nothing else they could do right now and that there was no ETA. We were all at the mercy of AT&T and were simply stuck.
I checked again on Saturday and Sunday and got the same answer both times.
On Sunday I sent an eMail to AT&T Wireless Services telling them that there was no excuse for their incompetence given the fact that they've had over seven years since the original FCC mandate to prepare for this.
On Monday I called T-Mobile again and talked to someone about the situation... specifically about my concerns regarding double-billing since I have an active T-Mobile account right now and I have to keep my AT&T service active until the conversion is complete or I forfeit my number. The T-Mobile rep was very sympathetic and said that she would take care of it by making sure I am not charged for my T-Mobile service until after the portability request is successfully completed.
It is now Wednesday. 9 days since I submitted my port request. Three days since I sent an eMail to AT&T Customer Care. I still haven't heard anything from AT&T regarding the eMail I sent them on Sunday except for an automated form letter stating that they received my eMail and would respond as quickly as possible. I'm not holding my breath.
I honestly believe that their problems may not be as severe as they claim and that this is, at least partially, an attempt by them to get their existing customers to "give up" on switching to another carrier. Many people who have requested number ports away from AT&T have done just that... after become so frustrated with the delays and excuses they've decided to just stick with AT&T rather than suffer through continued aggravation. If nothing else, AT&T is delaying the departure of dissatisfied customers, forcing them to continue paying for poor quality service until the alleged computer problems are corrected. In fact, a number of customers have reported in various Internet message boards (including AT&T's own support forums) incidents where they have called in to simply cancel their service and were told by the AT&T rep that they couldn't do it at that time because the system was down and that they would need to call back later.
I, personally, intend to continue my quest to move my number to T-Mobile if for no other reason than to make it clear to AT&T that they're not just losing a customer, they're losing a customer to one of their competitors. Number portab
# porting causes me headaches but it's great (Score:3, Interesting)
After you get your number ported to a new carrier test it from every carrier you can get your hands on. If you don't mind the one time costs do some 10-10 dial arounds to test some LD carriers. If you have any small telcos in your area be sure to test from them. Typically the smaller the telco the worse the porting results. (but many times they are the easiest convince to make a fix) And be sure to test the number by originating a call from your old provider. Providers are notorious for not pulling the routing for the ported number and then don't forward the call.
If you do end up getting a problem with reaching your number after the port bitch up a storm to your new carrier. They do have the power and the ability to get in touch with the companies that are screwing things up and they can get these things fixed. Don't let them tell you otherwise. It will probably take 2 days to a week to get the problem fixed but make no mistake they can get it fixed for you.
After saying all this I want to say that number portability for the most part is great. After all the initial hurdles are out of the way we almost never have a problem with the number ever again.
Number Portability Cut My Bill by $10 So Far (Score:3, Interesting)
Flawed due to hardware (Score:3, Interesting)
If real portability existed it would help not only the consumer by allowing them to actually change what company they want, but would allow a greater choice of phones. Instead of the half-dozen that your carrier supports you'd have access to all of the phones on the market. A move that would spur the development of phones further and help to weed out the bad designs even more.
Don't get me wrong, number portability is a nice step, but hardware portability will be the big one.
The UK experience (Score:3, Informative)
I instantly got some smooth bloke asking "is there a problem sir", who (now that he's been prompted) took the time to look at my 5 years of usage and had the authority to offer me
- Free phone upgrade up to 300 quid ($500)
- Change my tariff to a custom package to fit my recent history of call + SMS usage
- Discount the monthly fee for that tariff by 60%
So, I was paying to much before (aren't we all), but they didn't worry too much as they knew the number was valuable to me, now I don't have to get shirty or threaten to close my account, I just ask for a PAC code and I have some leverage...Re:Is this the response you're looking for? WRONG (Score:5, Insightful)
Stream, you are countless numbers of revenue streams....think you're not. Think it at the gas station on your way to work, think in line at the grocer. Think it at Tax time...LOL 'citizen'...nope not today, citizen = revenue stream.
Re:Is this the response you're looking for? WRONG (Score:2)
He's right. We're all 'revenue streams'.
Telco
Electric
Cable
Inet
Grocer
Fuel
Sla
wbs.
Re:Is this the response you're looking for? WRONG (Score:3, Insightful)
Its much like the argument that there is no such thing as altruism. Sure, maybe theres no such things as altruism, that we do things purely for self, including helping others in seemingly selfless ways. However, if society as a whole accepts that there is no such thing as altr
AGREED! (Score:2)
In the case of phone/cable lines I have to pay $5 extra a month so I have the *option* of switching to a carrier who charges more than the monopoly (because the monopoly in question charges higher rates to competitors to lease their line). I realize the cellular network is not a monopoly, but honestly all this really did was give all the cell companies an excu
Re:Price warring (Score:3, Interesting)
They can. The company I work for does it up and down the east coast. It's called "Phase II Compliance". Phase I is getting auto-magic locations from land-line 911 calls. Phase II is cell phone geo-location. The phone companies all have the ability, it's the local 911 call-centers that don't. (That and getting the phone companies to play nicely with each other and co-operate is like getting the Israelis and th
Re:What about the phone? (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, the carrier lock in is WHY these phones are cheaper. That "free" phone probably costs closer to $100+, all costs told, but they recoup it so quick
Number portability has saved my life. (Score:5, Funny)
Thank god for number portability.
Re:How about IP Address (Score:4, Funny)