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Wireless Number Portability Tips
Your wireless and landline number can follow
you from landline to wireless or the reverse,
or from one cellular carrier to another.
These are tips to make the transition smoother
for you. Our reports are from The Wireless Industry, and The FCC.
Portability:
Not all numbers are portable; it primarily
depends on geography and where the
number
was originally connected. Your wireless
representative
can automatically tell you whether
a phone
number is portable according to Federal
Communications
Commission guidelines.
Process Time:
Porting a phone number involves two
carriers.
Although your wireless carrier is only
able
to control half of the porting process,
they
will work with the other carriers to
port
numbers within 24-hours. As carriers
get
used to this new, complex national
process,
we expect to complete a majority of
wireless-to-wireless
single "port" requests within
three
hours. Wireline-to-wireless ports,
may take
up to four days, or possibly longer,
based
on complexity of the port and the wireline
carrier.
Equipment:
Many customers will need a new wireless
phone,
since different wireless companies
use different
technologies.
A "Live" Number is Required:
Don't cancel service before switching.
A
number must be active to switch; in
other
words, customers wanting to switch
carriers
must keep their service active with
their
old provider until the port is complete.
Providing A Recent Bill Will Help:
Customers should have their most recent bill
from their old carrier available, and know
any account- related passwords, to speed
the porting process.
Expect Dual Service:
Customers will need to carry their
old and
new phones until the port is complete,
the
old phone for receiving calls, the
new phone
for making calls. In an emergency,
we recommend
that you place calls to 911 from your
old
handset as Emergency Services will
not be
able to call you back on your new handset
until the port is complete. Also, although
both old and new carriers will bill
for calls,
customers will not be billed twice
for the
same phone call.
Be Prepared To Provide a "Can Be Reached
At" Number:
Customers should be prepared to provide
a
phone number where they can be reached
during
the porting process to expedite the
resolution
of any problems.
Status Information:
Some customers "porting" their
number will be given a phone number to call
for status updates and may receive a TEXT
message notifying them when the process is
complete.
Old Features:
Saved voice mail messages will not transfer
to the customer's new phone. Some retail
stores are able to transfer contact phone
numbers from a customer's old phone to their
new phone.
Contract Terms Still Apply:
Portability does not relieve any customer
of contract obligations.
Porting Tips from the FCC:
Background
Under the Federal Communications Commission’s
(FCC’s) “local number portability”
(LNP)
rules, so long as you remain in the
same
geographic area, you can switch telephone
service providers, including interconnected
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
providers,
and keep your existing phone number.
If you
are moving from one geographic area
to another,
however, you may not be able to take
your
number with you. Therefore, subscribers
remaining
in the same geographic area can now
switch
from a wireless, wireline, or VoIP
provider
to any other wireless, wireline, or
VoIP
provider and still keep their existing
phone
numbers.
Initiating the Process:
If you want to change companies:
- Do not terminate your service with your existing
company before initiating service
with the
prospective new company.
-
Contact the new company, which will
start
the process of porting your number
by contacting
your current company. Be prepared
to provide
the new company with your 10-digit
phone
number, customer account number,
five-digit
zip code, and passcode, if applicable.
-
Be aware that when terminating service
with
a wireless company, you may be obligated
to pay any early termination fees
under your
existing contract. Also, when terminating
service with any company, you are
usually
required to pay any outstanding balance
owed.
Review your bill or contract to determine
what fees or charges apply. Once
you request
service from the new company, however,
your
old company may not refuse to port
your number,
even if you owe money for an outstanding
balance or termination fee.
-
You may request service from a new
company
at any time.
Fees and Charges
- Companies may assess fees to recover the
costs that they incur in providing
number
portability. Fees may vary between
companies,
and some companies may not charge
any fees.
-
Companies may not refuse to port
a number
because a consumer has not paid for
porting.
-
When considering a switch, consumers
should
ask the new company whether it charges
any
number portability fees and whether
those
fees can be waived.
The Porting Period
The FCC has changed its number porting
rules
to shorten the porting period for “simple”
ports from the current four days to
one business
day. The new deadline applies to all
simple
ports, including “intermodal” ports
such
as wireline to wireless, wireless to
wireline,
wireline or wireless to VoIP, or any
other
combination. Simple ports generally
do not
involve more than one line or more
complex
adjustments to telephone switching
equipment.
Wireline, wireless, and interconnected
Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers
are
required to meet this new, simple port
deadline,
which will take effect in late summer
2010
for most carriers. Small, rural carriers
have a longer period, until the beginning
of 2011, to meet the new porting deadline.
During Porting
If you port from a wireline phone
to
a wireless
phone, there may be a period of “mixed
service”
– when you essentially have two telephones
with the same number. Ask your new
wireless
company whether you will be able to
continue
using your current wireline number
during
the one day transfer process. Also,
if you
port from a wireline phone to a wireless
phone, your wireline long distance
company
will not move with you. Your long distance
service will generally be provided
by your
new wireless company, but you should
verify
this with the new wireless company
before
changing service providers.
Emergency Services
In some areas, 911 operators automatically
receive the phone number or location
of a
wireless call, but in many areas, that
is
not the case. Technology that will
provide
that information – Enhanced 911 or
“E911”
– is currently being implemented, but
is
not yet available for some wireless
phones
and in some parts of the country.
As noted above, during the one day
porting
process from the old company to the
new company,
there may be a period of “mixed service”
- when you may have two telephones
with the
same number. During this time period,
your
E911 service may be affected. The call
should
go through, but the 911 operator may
not
be able to call you back if the call
gets
disconnected. For this reason, before
porting
either a wireless or a wireline number,
ask
the new company if the one day porting
process
will affect a 911 call.
Handsets and Special Services
In some instances, wireless handsets
of different
wireless telephone companies are incompatible.
If you switch wireless companies, you
may
need to purchase a new handset, even
if you
retain the same phone number. If you
have
concerns about purchasing a new handset,
ask your new wireless company whether
or
not your current handset will work
with that
company’s network.
Also, be aware that in a few areas,
as consumers
with ported numbers roam outside their
normal
wireless service areas, they may only
be
able to send and receive calls. Other
services,
such as caller ID, may not function
properly.
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