Carriers Might Profit From Cell Number Portability 184
Makarand writes "Carriers that are adding cell-number portability fees to your monthly
cell phone bills (while fighting against actually implementing the requirement) may actually rake in profits from these levies as the total amounts collected will be more than the projected costs of meeting the FCC's
number portability requirements. Although federal law requires that such fees be 'just and reasonable', it
does not require reporting of their actual expenses. Consumer advocates feel that
the number portability verification processes required are similar to those used by long-distance phone companies when a customer switches from one service provider to another and there is little reason to believe that expenses to meet portability requirements should vary widely among carriers and be so excessive as to bring profits for the carriers."
And ... (Score:4, Insightful)
We're talking about private corporations trying to make more profit after all.
"Although federal law requires that such fees be 'just and reasonable', it does not require reporting of their actual expenses."
That pretty much sounds like giving the cell phone corporations carte blanche.
I'm shocked... (Score:5, Funny)
Whatever next? Companies that exploit their workers? Accountants that fudge the numbers? Politicians that lie?
Re:And ... (Score:2)
Yes, the fact that they would be making more money must be the reason that the companies ran to number portability so quickly ;-)
How many years were they blocking it for again- and it turns out they make more money from it?? Ten? Five?
Not Just Carriers, But Governments (Score:2)
Private corporations are not the only entities guilty of trying to exploit vague language about "just and reasonable" fees. Government agencies do it, too
Re:Not Just Carriers, But Governments (Score:2)
Yes I did. (and I realize I should have highlighted the part about the additional CBI fee to avoid confusion. My mistake)
However, the sheriff's office and CBI is doing the same thing as they were before, but actually providing less service (by only accepting applications 2 days a week instead of 5).
Although the cost increase isn't a big deal, there is no justifiable reason for it. The county's cost to process applicat
Re:And ... (Score:2)
Portability in action (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Portability in action (Score:5, Interesting)
I stopped using my cell phone about a year ago when I realized that I could get by in life just fine without being on call 24x7. To be fair, before that I was running an ISP and *did* need to be on call but anyway...
I went about six months paying the bill on the thing, thinking that the next time I go on a business trip it'd come in handy. Last month I needed to go to Europe, so I figured no problem - I'll just go upgrade my plan and switch to the GSM phone. But could I just upgrade my plan, NO! They needed my social security number to run a new credit check, they insisted that I needed the model with a 4" color screen that played video games, and they said that even the base model would cost me $400 ust to get started. AND I'd have to sign a NEW two-year contract to get that special price. I just left my old phone on the counter and walked out. Called Xingular when I got back to the office and cancelled my service.
I will sign up fora cell phone again when I can get my choice of a flat monthly rate or a per-minute-only rate on a phone that works everywhere in the world with no long term contracts. And don't pull stupid shit like subsidizing the service with the price of the phone and vice versa. I don't insist that it be "dirt cheap". I know it costs $$$$ to build a world-wide cellular network, but there is a fair and reasonable way to charge for it and nobody's offering that.
Re:Portability in action (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Portability in action (Score:2)
There is something fundamentally wrong with any business that turns away customers. This reminds me of posts about how Best Buy employees would turn away customers who didn't want the extended warranties (they should just be happy to be moving stuff off of shelves!).
I would have thought that total sales volume was more important than sucking each individual customer dry, but, then, I could just be an idiot for thinking that customer satisfaction a
Re:Portability in action (Score:3, Interesting)
It's the same situation in Denmark: basically no one charges when transferring your number from another provider, since they are desperate to get you to change. Couple that with 1 DKR per minute (~15 cents), no monthly fee and no contract that binds you.
The cycle begins again? (Score:2)
Around the same time a phenomenon known as "slamming" was growing into quite a nuisance. Th
Re:The cycle begins again? (Score:3, Interesting)
Mm, how? If, e.g., a T-Mobile (GSM) rep slammed an AT&T customer (CDMA?), seems to me they'd have to give the slamee a new phone. Also, imho (IANAL blah blah) a slammer that caused its new "customer" to be hit with an early termination fee would be exposed to all kinds of legal action.
That being said, I have faith in human ingenuity. The folks that persuaded thousands of idiots to order penis enlargement pills should have little
Re:The cycle begins again? (Score:3, Interesting)
> (CDMA?), seems to me they'd have to give the slamee a
> new phone.
Technologically, it's doable, but not as easily.
AT&T Wireless uses mostly D-AMPS IS-136, but they're trying to roll-out GSM into their markets because a) D-AMPS sux, and b) the data capabilities of D-AMPS sucks. Cingular is in the same boat as AT&T Wireless.
[Note that, as any anal-retentive RF Engineer will tell you, GSM and IS-136 D-AMPS are both TDMA (i.e., Time Divisio
Re:The cycle begins again? (Score:4, Interesting)
Another thing, AWS is switching to GSM because they can cram more calls into any given channel compared to D-AMPS. It wasn't about quality. There is arguably no difference in sound quality to the end user. It was capacity issue. (Remember the class action suit brought against them a few years back because they oversold service) And as for data, a few telecom equipment companies were working on a data solution for D-AMPS(comparable to GPRS) but stopped development when AWS annouced that they were switching to GSM back in 2000.
Re:The cycle begins again? (Score:2)
The driving factor for AWS moving to GSM was data, but a side effect is marginally better voice quality. GSM has better voice quality than IS-136 TDMA, mostly because the codecs can be more efficient because of the wider channel bandwidth --GSM uses 200 kHz, as opposed to IS-136 which uses 30 kHz. As such, with 8 use
Re:Portability in action (Score:2, Interesting)
All you need is a cheap GSM phone - $400 is way too much. You can buy them outright (unlocked - which is important) for under $150 (I paid $300 for a fancy one in Madrid last time I was there and my previous phone died on me).
Re:Portability in action (Score:2)
Damn, you beat me to it.
However, one other thing you might want to consider is that you can just buy a SIM-locked prepaid phone (like here in the states), but like the jconner says, you won't normally pay for incoming minutes, so you can *ping* your US counterparts and have them call you back. I did this for over a year in France, an
Re:When you get to europe (Score:2)
I figured there must be somebody at heathrow leasing phones, but I couldn't find any. Do you know of someplace in/near the airport, for next time?
Re:Portability in action (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Portability in action (Score:2)
Or rather, think about this for one tiny second before posting.
The fact of the matter is is that being "better for customer" DOES NOT SCALE. If every company did the set of things that your current company does, then that would be considered the norm, and, given relatively constant demand, profits would go south. I think there a dot-com boom or somesuch that had elements of what I'm describing.
Now, your company is probably doing what it can for a number of reasons:
Re:Portability in action (Score:2, Insightful)
You pay the same amount of subsidy on the phone as for a new customer, but you don't have all the acquisition costs, since the guy is already with you.
New customers that switch to your service and get a new phone and then bugger off after 6 months or a year only end up
Re:Portability in action (Score:2)
In the long run, you can actually attract customers if you build up a rep for good service and pampering your established customer base with new gizmos on a regular basis
Incicates that you really didn't understand what I was saying.
My point was that "good" service is relative. Even the crappiest korean car of today has better reliability than the rolls royces of the first half of this century, but we consider them to be substandard because they are so in relative terms.
So, if your ad
Re:Portability in action (Score:2)
How long will this last? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:2)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:2)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:2)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:3, Interesting)
A little known secret is that even if you signed up for pulse only, touch tone usually worked anyways. These days they'd actually have to do some work to block touch tone, rather than to enable it, as it is so pervasive.
I don't see a charge for touch tone dialing anymore though, so I am assuming this has been rolled into my ridi
Re:How long will this last? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:2)
Heh, I may go out and get a pulse phone.
Re:How long will this last? (Score:2)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:2)
Re:How long will this last? (Score:2)
Breaking News (Score:5, Insightful)
Ok, seriously, this feels like just another article to get everyone all riled up over "the man". Yes, it seems outrageous what companies like Sprint and NextTel are charging. Does this mean that they aren't just trying to cover their costs and possible pot a bit of profit off of a new service offered to customers? Ok, maybe it seems like they want to make an excessive profit. Don't like it? Well, it looks like the gov't already has a watchful eye on them (if that's any comfort
Everything a company does can't be done just at cost. A company needs to make a profit to be able to fully survive. It looks like Verizon is able to recoup these costs thanks to existing reserves or they are willing to take the hit for increased customer satisfaction which is great to see. It's so great to see that if I was in the States, I would probably switch over to Verizon as soon as my contract with one of those other companies was up (or sooner!).
Slashdot Apologist Dieifies Profit Motive (Score:2)
And this just in
Re:Breaking News (Score:2)
Re:Breaking News (Score:2)
It's very hard (Score:5, Insightful)
Side effects (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Side effects (Score:5, Interesting)
Two weeks? Try three days... (Score:2)
Re:Side effects (Score:4, Interesting)
And I don't have to sign up for plans that commit me to spending $[some_large_number] per month; just a flat rate per 30 seconds.
Re:Side effects-Nailing customers to a tree. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Side effects (Score:5, Interesting)
Complain to your regulator and your competition authority. At least in Germany they have some serious teeth.
There is no technical reason whatsoever for the operators not to use ISDN call divert (or the equivalent mapping for this service in SS7 terms) as a mechanism for transfering the call to the new destination. In this case the only time when the call travels to the premises of the old operator is when it is set up. The actual voice (or data) should go directly to the new destination. There is no reason to charge you for the call set up only as for an entire call and there is no reason to route the call through the old operator network.
The fact that the phone operators in Europe do not use this on purpose (it has been in GSM since 1997) is already a part of an investigation by the European comission. More specifically, it is the investigation on unfair roaming charges.
So you are in you right to b*** and should do so. As a result of enough people b*** we may sooner or later get decent roaming charges for roaming mobile to roaming mobile calls so it may be a good idea to be persistent in this.
Number portability my ass... (Score:5, Informative)
The only way to win this game is not to play - I canceled my second line earlier this year. Take that Verizon!
Monthly fee? Strange ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Monthly fee? Strange ... (Score:2)
Important Question (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Important Question (Score:2)
So maybe they charge you a fee, maybe they tell you that you can't transfer out until you pay an early termination fee, maybe they tell you you can't transfer out until you pay them a disputed amount on your bill, or until you pay your last bill in full, etc, etc
This kind of makes sense since the company wants you to stay. Sad that s
so what you're saying is... (Score:4, Funny)
2) profit!
Re:so what you're saying is... (Score:4, Funny)
> 2) profit!
No "???" step?
Amazing!
Re:so what you're saying is... (Score:2)
There's no step three!
</Jeff Goldblum>
Re:so what you're saying is... (Score:4, Informative)
1a) switch engineers: implement SS7/SCP related stuff
1b) switch engineers: implement telephony switch related stuff
1c) developers: implement SCP/SS7 related provisioning methods,test
1d) developers: implement telephony switch related provisioning methods, test
1e) developers: implement API for telephony network portability
1f) developers: implement portability front end for customer service apps
1g) developers: test top to bottom, front end, middleware (like metasolv), through API
1h) developers: document for users/trainers
1i) trainers: train cust svc reps on applying portability
1j) cust service reps: apply portability !
2) cell number portability
3) profit!
portability in oz (Score:5, Informative)
Here is a report [aca.gov.au] detailing what the ACCC requested from the ACA (australian communications authority) to look into number porting for australian carriers.
Free portability prevents anti-competitive telcos (Score:2)
So now, if I want to change to a better provider here in Australia, it won't cost me anything to keep my old number.
Ironically, I
Netherlands (Score:5, Informative)
Verizon (Score:5, Informative)
Has Verizon wavered in their stance in the past two months, or are they just trying to leave themselves some wriggle room?
How to take care of portability (Score:5, Funny)
Re:How to take care of portability (Score:2)
Exactly. I used to pay at least $40US/month for a cell phone. I took it everywhere - went out of my way to use it. Then my plan came up for renewal and I decided to drop it. I haven't missed the phone at all.
At work everyone carries a cell phone, so they can get rudely interrupted in meetings. I think that this makes them feel important. But you know, it
How soon will we run out of phone numbers again? (Score:5, Insightful)
I live in the States, while I mobile use isn't quite up there with the rest of the world, we already have had create quite a few extra area codes. That pesky issue of running out of seven digit phone numbers.
What I want is a system where by you actually keep your freaking landline number, and dial a diffrent prefix to hit the users mobile or fax/data device.
Now that would be what I call real number portability!
Re:How soon will we run out of phone numbers again (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:How soon will we run out of phone numbers again (Score:2)
Why not just have your land line call forward to your cell phone, and tell people to call your land line number?
The major problem with this is that in many areas of the USA, the local telegraph company calling areas are so small that your cell phone number may end up being an expensive intra-LATA call from your landline phone. If this is the case and you enable call forwarding from your landline to your cell phone, then you will have to pay the per-minute toll charges for every incoming call to your cel
Re:How soon will we run out of phone numbers again (Score:2)
i can do this... I'm considered to be an odd duck because I read my phonebook's information section. To be honest, I never inquired about passive call forwarding, to be honest it was never listed in my phone book and I didn't want to deal with the pesky humans.
However, other people can't do this, or don't think about doing it, or you bring it up to them and they'll get around to it and don't actually bother doing it.
Why shouldn't I do this? Well had they actually offered a se
Re:How soon will we run out of phone numbers again (Score:5, Informative)
Our normal land lines have prefixes for the major cities, such as:
Rotterdam - 010
Amsterdam - 020
Utrecht - 030
GSM, buzzers/pagers, and such were using 06 prefixes. Sexlines and info numbers with costs per minute/conversation are 0900 (used to be 06 as well), and free informational phonenumbers (toll-free) are 0800.
Number portability for mobile phone numbers has been regulated in the Netherlands for a while now due to OPTA. If a provider has its services down for a certain percentage in a month the OPTA will fine the appropriate provider.
Re:How soon will we run out of phone numbers again (Score:2, Funny)
I'd also like to get a slightly larger phone. My current one is too small for my hands.
The moral of the story, never let your S.O. pick out something as personal as your cell phone.
Off on a tangent as usual
Re:How soon will we run out of phone numbers again (Score:2)
(999)555-1234--landline
(999)555-1235--moible
Can't do it exactly with the prefix, but could with the, umm...suffix.
(I do meet people who do have phone numbers in order like that incidentally.)
Adding fees while fighting implementation? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Adding fees while fighting implementation? (Score:2)
What you need is some proper goverment action. The Norwegian goverment put its foot down when the telecomms wanted to regulate number porting themselves. The Gov said that "portability is to be free (as in beer) for the customers and easy to do. And don't try to fuck them over by doing something funny, we know that GSM portability is not complicated like brain surgery". Well, the last part was understated. Now th
Experiences in Norway (Score:4, Informative)
With number portability in a free market, the greedy actors are exposed really fast.
There is also no fee for porting here, the only fee is an optional (for the company) connection fee. The very notion of having a fee is absurd in a GSM system, remember; it is made for quick portability. Porting your subscription is done in one step: Tell your new operator that you are switching to them and be sure to mention the phone # while you're at it. Done. The new SIM card arrives after a while and the porting date comes via email. Or snailmail if you want it to.
Re:Experiences in Norway (Score:2)
except that you get the sim card usually straight from the desk and it will activate in few days time(you will get an sms on the old card that says that you should switch the new card in).
i think it's a great service, after having the same number for 5-10 years it really makes it hard for people to change.
having to pay monthly for such option would be totally absurd though.
and what are the normla gsm prices here? the one i switched to is 0.17e per minut
Re:Experiences in Norway (Score:2, Informative)
This, together with number portability, has really benefitted the cutomers. It should be an example for other contries to follow. It's actually a bit shocking to see the government doing something right for a change. Especially something so "technical" as reg
Re:Experiences in Norway (Score:2)
Understanably, the site is in Norwegian, but if you peak around, the concept is probably clear to you. And interesting. Looking at the figures, I'm in for a 200 NOK (approx. 30 USD) save each month by switching from Telenor.
Telepriser.no and the national opt-out list for telemarketers is probably the things US Slashdotters could learn the most from us. The deregulation of the power grid is probably just as fucked as in California.
Not against profits, against OBSCENE profits (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm all for capitalism. However, it works best when there is a somewhat equal distribution of wealth. If corporations are permitted to squeeze every last dime from consumers and workers pockets, we will soon find our economy in shambles.
The regulatory pendulum has swung to far in one direction. It's time to put the regulatory squeeze back on corporations. We must ensure that, instead of leeching off our economic engine, corporations contribute to it in a healthy, productive way.
Re:Not against profits, against OBSCENE profits (Score:2, Insightful)
Some provider will get the bright idea that they can entice customers to switch to them because the offer "number portability at no extra charge". Thus Provider A gains customers and Providers B-Z have to figure out how to keep up or go out of business.
Sptint charges this fee already (Score:5, Interesting)
I called to let them know that I am dropping them for another carrier at the end of this month, and that I planned on taking my number with me...
They said, and this was a real gas, "We don't offer that service. You'll have to give up your phone numbers if you leave Sprint."
"But you're charging me for number portability!"
"I'm sorry, sir, but you won't be able to keep your numbers"
"Then why are you charging me for number portability"
"Sir, Federal regulations require that we charge the number portability fee"
"..."
I couldn't believe my ears..
Anyone else with Sprint heard the same story? I think that charging a fee for a service one can't utilize comes down to, oh I dunno, fraud...
Sprint customer service believes the world is flat (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Sprint customer service believes the world is f (Score:3, Funny)
When Claire...the happy automted Sprint PCS minion asks "how can I help you today" you reply "cancel service."
Re:Sptint charges this fee already (Score:2, Interesting)
We called to cancel the phone and Sprint said it would be $150.00 to get out of the contract. Well this phone has been turned on since 99 and about 6 months ago we contacted Sprint to add minuets to the plan... but they never said anything a
Re:Sptint charges this fee already (Score:4, Funny)
Of course. What do you think caused that damn power outage?
I already am. How do you think we fixed the blackout?
Welcome to the UK... (Score:4, Funny)
We've had portable numbers for years... and most of the US mobile companies are Europe based and work in the UK, T-Mobile, Vodaphone etc. So the quick summary is...
1) We've done it in the UK (and the rest of Europe)
2) European companies dominate the carrier networks
3) We're just doing it to piss you off.
Re:Welcome to the UK... (Score:2)
- Is a US company
- Doesn't have a sucky network like T-Mobile
- Doesn't change me for number portability.
I guess this is why I am not pissed (that means upset, Mr. UK Person).Re:Welcome to the UK... (Score:2)
5. Doesn't charge for number portability because they don't offer it, and are fighting in court the possibility of having to.
6. As seen in this, will fight in court having to do anything that might benefit the consumer.
Re:Welcome to the UK... (Score:2)
Ho huh? I just looked at sprintpcs.com and verizonwireless.com and they both have 300 minute national plans for $35/mo, but Verizon gives you 1000 mobile to mobile minutes (in addition to the free night and weekend airtime). How does that make Verizon outrageous? Anyway, I'd be willing to pay more for Verizon because their network doesn't suck. I don't work for Vz, but I am a satisfied customer.
A Big Game.... (Score:3, Insightful)
The ellipses of cellular usage are bizarre things, from: 'The fact that American companies and ONLY American companies charge both the person who placed the call AND the person receiving it doesn't make us BOTH suckers,' to 'technological fashion demands that I pay a lot of money so my boss can reach me while I'm making love.'
Yes, the inner game of cellular use is a strange one and you've got to play it as smartly as possible on your end because you are an amateur while the people working for the multibillion-dollar corporations whose whole reason for existing is to replace the payphone are trained professionals who think of ways of rogering their customers on overtime.
So where does this leave you when it comes to number portability?
Stay flexible. As the poster from Finland pointed out, where he is, number portability lead to companies making big efforts to keep customers from switching to other companies. Something like that *might* happen here--you can certainly imagine that entering the mix when the legislation is enacted--but it is just as likely that the same class of businessmen who brought you the eternal copyright will certainly use the fees the law grants to hide another fifty-cents on your bill every month while kicking and screaming to avoid giving you a choice. Why would anyone expect them to do otherwise? There's no downside for them.
Your part of the game as a customer is to maintain all the flexibility, and the best bargaining position you can in dealing with them. Look at it this way. As things are now, switching out of a new contract with a provider already means, handing a company that has proven its lack of worth a stack of bills so you can own a dead cell phone.
Cellular providers hold all the psychological cards against switching so it's your job to find the company that combines the strongest mix of features with the strongest motivation for keeping you. If that means paying ten dollars a month so you can plan-hop when they offer something better than what you have, or jump ship if someone else outbids them, so be it.
Making the right decision can surprise you: I use a phone from one of the smaller fish in the big game and during the recent blackout, my web service functioned for a while even after my voice service didn't, and I ended lending my phone to several people whose service only came back hours later.
I think the best way of thinking about ones relationship with cellular providers is to think of it as friendly warfare.
Charge the company receiving the customer (Score:3, Informative)
This way the telcos can't rise and obscure the prices by claiming it's because of the number portability.
Difference between Europe and US (Score:3, Interesting)
more importantly, thanks to the strict regultations, number portability gives an EXTREME amount of power to the users.
For example, if I ever feel that TMobile (my provider) is not performing as well as i expect, i simply threaten to ask for my PAC number (a number provided to port your number) and its suprising how far they will bend back to help you
Portability? Hah! (Score:3, Interesting)
I recently decided to switch from Verizon to Cavalier Telephone [cavtel.com], a local CLEC. It took me almost two months to complete the transition, including some two weeks where I had no inbound phone service, unless the caller was coming from Cavalier's network (i.e. 0.0001% of the universe). Sparing everyone the gory details, I had problems including:
- Cavalier required me to be at home to tell a technician to cut over from my Verizon line, despite my having told them it was OK at least a dozen times over the phone
- Neither company could explain exactly what was happening with the split-bank on my line, required (at least by Verizon) for DSL. Understanding a that problem and getting it fixed added two weeks to the switchover.
- When Verizon finally claimed it had ported my old number, they didn't bother to change their routing information, leaving me with my lack of inbound service. Neither company had a way of expediting a fix ("That'll be 3 business days, sir"), or even a person or department who specifically dealt with number portability or the like.
I was paying both companies throughout the switch, mainly due to the fact that if I cancelled my Verizon account, the number I was trying to port would have disappeared for good.I was told many times over that neither company had ever experienced such a painful switch; even so, the fact that such a disaster could happen at all tells me that companies aren't paying nearly the attention they should to number portability issues, considering the millions they're raking in from it.
Why number portability sucks (Score:2)
Imagine if the FCC told Cisco and all the ISPs that every IPv4 address had to be portable between every provider, so that customers weren't inconvenienced when they switched. Everyone would say hell no, because it would destroy intelligent heirarchichal routing. The backbone routers would end up needing a flat list of all 4 billion IP addresses and which specific destination to go for each one. Routing CPU usage would increase drastically, and the lookup tables would require what, 8GB of memory at minimu
# portability? We don't even havephone portability (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm amused by our friends across the pond feeling bad for Americans because they don't have number portability? But do our friends with the silly accents realise the sorry state the US is in when it comes to mobile telecom in general?
Let's begin. The carriers here have no concept of a SIM card. Most phones are CDMA and are firmware locked to the provider. There are only two GSM networks I know of, T-Mobile and AT&T. Tri-band phones from these places cost as much as a Yugo. In addition, AT&T "provider locks" their expensive tri-band phones to only work on AT&T, and will not unlock them, not even for a fee (AT&T, if you're reading this, there are places online that unlock your phones for $20 or less, so screw you). T-Mobile unlocks your phone within 72 hours of being on contract, which is decent, however. Oh but should you wish to get a newer mobile from them, you have to resign a 1-2 year contract...
Oh yes, the contracts! Wait til you hear about these! Everyone's on contract here, because it's too expensive not to be. So here's how it works. You have this allotted quantity of minutes you pay a fixed monthly fee for, then you pay exorbitant rates (40c+ a minute) if you use them up. These quantities are decent, for example, T-Mobile offers 600 minutes, free nights, free weekends, and 500 SMS for $43 (27 quid) without tax. Nice eh? Umm, no, little do you realize how backwards the billing schemes are here. For one thing, minutes from that "600" get deducted for every incoming call. Even SMS get deducted for every incoming SMS sometimes. And 1 second rounding? Try 1 minute rounding. And if you don't use all your minutes in a month? *poof*, gone. Cingular's trying rollover, but since they're not GSM, they don't count. Oh, and should you wish to add or remove the number of allotted minutes to your plan, you have to resign a 1-2 year contract, with a termination fee in the $100 or $200s.
So in short, who gives a crap about number portability? How about we get reasonable plans and GSM phones which take SIM cards, before we worry about switching providers and keeping our numbers? What would you rather do, keep your phone when you switch carrier, or keep your number when you switch carrier? Especially since a decent triband costs hundreds of dollars?
Re:# portability? We don't even havephone portabil (Score:2)
But I agree with what you are saying about the locked phones...
Re:# portability? We don't even havephone portabil (Score:3, Informative)
Cingular and AT&T are TDMA/GSM hybrid networks. Cingular has decent GSM coverage in the Carolinas -- T-Mobile roams on Cingular (free of charge) while in the Carolinas. However, I hear that much of Cingular's coverage is limited, and AT&T has more of its TDMA areas covered by GSM. AT&T and Cingular sell GAIT phones, which support GSM, TDMA, and AMPS.
T-Mobile is all GSM. In areas where T-Mobile doesn't have coverage, T-Mobile can roam on parts of Cingular's and AT&T's netwo
Re:# portability? We don't even havephone portabil (Score:2)
Verizon doesn't do this. You can change your plan any time. It's one of the features of their service that they advertise a lot. You can check how many minutes you've used in the current month by dialing *646 (which doesn't deduct any minutes); if you're afraid of going over, you can call them and immediately go up to the next plan lev
It's a cash cow and has been for a while (Score:3, Insightful)
Carriers Might Profit From Cell Number Portability (Score:2)
No, what the carriers actually profit from is misleading their customers into thinking a roaming call is "in network" via a very subtly different on-screen display (thanks, SunCom!) leaving their customers with an obscene phone bill. However, given that these customers most likely will not renew their contract, perhaps the carriers will simply burn in hell (a fitting end, I think).
Re:who needs a phone anyway (Score:2)
Also, cellphones come with caller ID, so you always know what number is calling you. If it's someone you don't want to talk to, just don't answer. With a landline, this service costs an extra $8 per month, but with cellphones it's standard.
I really don't know why anyone still has a landline.
Re:Well... In other news... (Score:2)
My last Verizon wireless bill was 4 pages long, listing all the numbers I called that month. I don't really need to keep a record of that. I also pay my bill online, so I don't really need the envelope and stub. I certainly wouldn't be missing anything if they switched to sending my bill online, perhaps in a PDF file I could save locally. And think of all the paper they'd save.