| laborlitigator |
How to Exploit the New Cell-Phone Rules
Thu Nov 6, 4:58 PM ET
By Aleksandra Todorova
THERE ARE JUST 17 days until wireless (news - web sites) local number portability goes into effect. It's definitely something worth talking about.
The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) wireless number portability mandate, which will allow cell-phone users to take their phone numbers with them when they switch carriers, begins on Nov. 24 for the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas. The rest of the country will be covered by May 24, 2004.
Cell-phone companies have plenty of reasons to be worried. "Consumers will be in a better bargaining position because this was the last hook carriers had over their users," says Alan Keiter, president and founder of MyRatePlan.com, a consumer-information Web site for wireless and long-distance plans. "They will be less tolerant of flaws in the carriers' networks and customer service because they won't be as tied to one carrier."
After the introduction of wireless number portability, anywhere from 12 million to 18 million people are expected to switch who wouldn't have done so otherwise, says David Meredith, vice president at American Management Systems, a communications consulting company in Fairfax, Va. That's in addition to the 36% of wireless customers who already switch their provider each year, according to company research.
The carriers, naturally, will do everything they can to stop the bloodletting. "Right now, the carriers are playing defense, looking to market to their existing base," Meredith says. "After number portability is introduced, we expect they will be more on the offense — trying to attract new customers."
That's good news for well-informed consumers. And since the cell-phone carriers haven't exactly been proactive in keeping you informed, we've decided to help. Here are seven of the wireless industry's best-kept secrets — and how you can use them to your advantage.
1. Don't Cancel...Yet
Rule number one: Switch your carrier before you cancel your existing service. Your phone number belongs to your current carrier until it's transferred, so if you cancel before you switch, that number will simply go back to the original carrier's pool. "You can't switch something you [no longer] have," says MyRatePlan's Keiter.
Here's how it's supposed to work: You go to your new carrier and say you want to sign up, but you also want to keep your number, Keiter explains. Your new carrier will put a request for your number transfer directly with your current carrier. The two carriers will then match your information (bring an old invoice to your new carrier to avoid possible mistakes), and once the number is switched, your old service will be automatically cancelled. Keep your old phone until the switch happens and then double-check that your old service is no longer in effect.
2. Know Your Rights — and Obligations
Your carrier can't stop you from switching or try to delay the process, even if you still owe a contract-termination charge (typically $150 to $200) or monthly dues. "There are some thoughts that carriers may try to hold up the process," Keiter says. "They may say, 'You still owe us money, so you've got to pay it first.' They are not allowed to do that." FCC (news - web sites) regulations clearly state as much.
On the timeline, be aware that even though the wireless industry has said "porting" (as it's called) should take no longer than 2 1/2 hours, you might have to wait a bit longer, especially in the beginning. Your old carrier could also require you to pay a porting fee, Keiter says. Ask your new carrier to reimburse you.
3. Avoid the Crowd
The wireless companies admit it: The process won't be flawless at first. In a letter to the FCC dated Sept. 23, for example, Sprint PCS says that "mistakes invariably will be made in any project of this magnitude and Sprint expects some difficulties to be experienced at the outset."
"It wouldn't surprise me if there are some glitches, especially in the first couple of weeks," Keiter says. To avoid possible problems, don't rush into the store right away. Moreover, "this is probably the worst time of the year for this to be implemented from the carrier's perspective, because it's already a very heavy shopping [season]," Keiter says.
4. Look Around for the Best New Plan
Before you switch, do your homework. And be prepared to dedicate many hours to the cause. After all, now that you're no longer limited to the plans offered by your carrier (assuming you were reluctant to leave previously), you've got a whole new world of options to consider.
One smart strategy is to know what you need before you go shopping for a new plan — and then ask for it, suggests Bill Hardekopf, founder of CellUpdate.com, a consumer information Web site focusing on wireless plans. Your old bills will tell you about your calling habits. How many minutes do you use a month? Do you need long distance included in your plan? What should your "local calling area" be — national or regional, with which you'll be charged roaming every time you leave your area?
Once you know the answers to these questions, call each of the wireless providers in your area and ask them what they can offer that fits your needs, Hardekopf explains. "Don't get lured into other juicy offers," he says. Chances are, the carriers will have a lot more plans than you see on their brochures, which often list only the company's current promotions.
5. Time to Bargain!
When you find a great deal with a new carrier, tell your current provider about it — before you switch. Unless you're absolutely certain that you want to switch carriers, chances are you might end up with a matching — or an even better — offer from your current provider.
"If you're a high-value customer...the carriers will reward that value by giving you a richer offer to stay with them," says AMS Vice President Meredith. After all, the cell-phone companies spend anywhere from $350 to $425 to gain each new customer. If they can keep you on board for less than that, they'll be willing to spend the money, he adds.
So how much should you expect? On average, cell-phone companies shell out $65 for each customer retained, Meredith says. But you could get a lot more if the company deems you a valuable customer. "If you have a couple of phone lines, you're using a ton of minutes, you're using other data services, you're a more valuable customer than someone who's using the phone only in case the car breaks down," he says.
6. Two-Year Contract? Think Twice Before You Sign
So your carrier surprised you with a very lucrative offer. But wait. Will you have to sign a one-year or a two-year contract to get it? Keiter advises that you stay away from two-year contracts.
"One thing we're seeing more is slightly better deals if you agree to a two-year contract," he says. "That's because they want to lock you in as soon as possible so they don't have to deal with this again, because they're not sure how aggressive pricing is going to be in a year.... I'm not sure the deals [right now] are so much better that I would sign a two-year contract upfront."
7. Stay on Top of New Offers
Wireless number portability will force the cell-phone companies to come up with more creative offers in the battle for customers (the more reason not to sign a two-year contract yet). "We're already starting to see more aggressive stuff," Keiter says. "T-Mobile just the other day introduced a three-day weekend plan — you get free minutes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday."
Stay on top of new offers so you're prepared for your next switch. Meredith predicts that in the near future, the different carriers will start targeting users with different needs. "In the past, it has almost been one size fits all," he says. In the future, you'll see some carriers position themselves as pricing leaders, offering the lowest prices, others differentiating themselves on excellent quality and customer service, and still others offering the latest camera phones, screen savers and other data services for the techno geeks. "The carriers are going to start to position themselves to cater to those different markets," he says. |
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| BLACK-BLING-MDX |
| Thanks LL! Now, my only question is, if you are still in the middle of a contract, can you cancel and switch without paying the termination fee? I don't think so... but does this new law change that? |
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| darkhelmet |
quote:
Originally posted by BLACK-BLING-MDX
Thanks LL! Now, my only question is, if you are still in the middle of a contract, can you cancel and switch without paying the termination fee? I don't think so... but does this new law change that?
Still have to pay the termination fee.
My 2 year contract expires 11/18 of this year and I am looking to move from Sprint PCS. I have had no problems with service and am quite happy with it but there failure to release a Bluetooth phone is my main problem. |
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| remydog |
Will your old phone work with the new service? I was of the impression that the a phone is built to work only with the service that sold it to you, so you'll likely need new equipment, also.
Can anyone confirm?
MSK |
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| neide |
| Yes, you need new equipment. The one exception would be if you had bought/created an unlocked GSM phone. Other than that, you need new equipment. |
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| csimo |
My question is different than any I've seen addressed here or anywhere else. In my area one cellular carrier (Cingular) has a significant inbound calling scope advantage over all the competition because their parent company (SBC) is the local exchange carrier. They are the only one that offers local incoming calls from many exhanges, including my home exchange. The other cellular companies offer numbers in the same area code but currently require a long distance call to the cell phone.
If I switch from Cingular to Verizon (as an example) after the portability goes into effect, can I keep my same telephone number even though Verizon does not currently offer service in that exchange and calling scope?
That's been the problem in our area... SBC has kept a monopoly with Cingular on calling scopes. None of the other cellular companies are able to offer the wide area inbound service like Cingular does. I'm hoping that this portability will solve that problem and I can tell Cingular where to shove their lousy service. |
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| texrb |
| You can also transfer your land line number to your cell phone too. |
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| msu79gt82 |
quote:
Originally posted by texrb
You can also transfer your land line number to your cell phone too.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/indus...lity-suit_x.htm
A trade group representing local telephone companies sued Friday to block a new rule that will allow customers to transfer their landline number to a cell phone.
The United States Telecom Association said the rule, which takes effect Monday for people living in the 100 largest metropolitan areas, gives an unfair boost to the wireless industry. The trade group asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for an emergency motion stopping the rule.
Local phone companies are upset because a customer wishing to transfer a number from a cell phone to a landline phone can only do that if the exchange — the three digits following the area code — falls within the same geographic area, known as a "rate center," in which the house or business is located.
The rule for switching cell phone providers, which also takes effect Monday, would not be affected by the lawsuit. |
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| remydog |
To me, this talk of moving your landline to your cell phone is silly. If I have a choice between a land line and standard phone versus using my cell, I'll take the landline every time. More comfortable, better sound quality and I don't worry that I'm giving myself brain cancer.
Point is, I think that these phone companies are worried over nothing. |
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| harmonr1 |
quote:
...A trade group representing local telephone companies sued Friday to block a new rule that will allow customers to transfer their landline number to a cell phone...
The court refused to hear the petition so the switching of land-lines are still on .:18: |
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| zafer |
| ...so has anyone transfered their number yet? |
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| kflint |
| I started the process on the day it came available. Still waiting for it to happen. :( I'm switching from Qwest to Verizon. Verizon is struggling to figure out why it hasn't yet happened. |
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| XchiKo |
quote:
Originally posted by zafer
...so has anyone transfered their number yet?
I just got my cell phone number changed from my old carrier Cingular to T- Mobile.
It took me 2 weeks . |
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| GaryJ |
| worst cell story ever. I had Sprint, one day my phone stopped receiving incoming calls. I called my own phone to see what was happening, it said I was a Nextel phone. I call sprint they tell me I ported my number, which I hadn't. I guess it was a typo, and my number was "force ported" without my permission. Sprint blamed Nextel, Nextel blamed Sprint. It is horrible. Hours spent on the phone with no results. Long story short, 1 month no service, had to go get an entirely new number with T-Mobile. Awful... |
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| zafer |
quote:
Originally posted by GaryJ
worst cell story ever. I had Sprint, one day my phone stopped receiving incoming calls. I called my own phone to see what was happening, it said I was a Nextel phone. I call sprint they tell me I ported my number, which I hadn't. I guess it was a typo, and my number was "force ported" without my permission. Sprint blamed Nextel, Nextel blamed Sprint. It is horrible. Hours spent on the phone with no results. Long story short, 1 month no service, had to go get an entirely new number with T-Mobile. Awful...
:eek: :eek: ...so what happened to the number? Someone else with Nextel has it now? Some links -
http://sprintpcs-sucks.org and http://www.sprintusers.com |
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| GaryJ |
Nothing yet, it is still being resolved. The suspended my acct so i am not being charged. All I want to do is cancel it now, can't even do that. Written the FCC and the Ariz. AG. I hope something happens soon. The pain was I had my number for 5+ years and now its gone.
It's amazing to me that even though the numbers and addresses do not match the number portbility can go through anyway. |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by remydog
To me, this talk of moving your landline to your cell phone is silly. If I have a choice between a land line and standard phone versus using my cell, I'll take the landline every time. More comfortable, better sound quality and I don't worry that I'm giving myself brain cancer.
Point is, I think that these phone companies are worried over nothing.
Those are excellent points, remydog. I don't believe the landline phone is going to disappear. As archaic as running lines may be to some, it is probably one of the most efficient methods of communication. With the introduction of VDSL it will surpass cable technology for high speed internet, in fact the more expenisve commercial DSL lines are runnig over 2mb.
However, it would also be more efficient to have a central phone exchange at home. One main landline with remote stations. And remote phones that could double as cellular. This could only be done with a centralized provider of course.
In the cellular world everything is finally breaking loose. Not only more service options, but better phones, and the availability of charge as you go phones. Asia and Europe have had this service for some time now. In addition, because they have also been on GSM all this time, they have the latest cellular phone technology.
We will finally have access to the same after a long battle to let GSM become the default in every phone sold.
I believe the best rewards will come to those who wait a few months for the smoke to clear. The future can only get brighter. |
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| zafer |
quote:
Originally posted by DaleB
However, it would also be more efficient to have a central phone exchange at home. One main landline with remote stations. And remote phones that could double as cellular. This could only be done with a centralized provider of course.
GTE offered that around here back in `95, but it didn't last long. When the phone was within base range at home, it would work like a cordless phone using the land line. When you took it out of base range, it would go cellular. |
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| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by zafer
GTE offered that around here back in `95, but it didn't last long. When the phone was within base range at home, it would work like a cordless phone using the land line. When you took it out of base range, it would go cellular.
With newer technologies I have no doubt they can do better. The sky is the limit (no pun intended). |
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