For Cell Users, Safety in Numbers
By Don Oldenburg
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Consumers have had many reasons to switch cell-phone providers: poor reception, dropped calls, steep roaming charges, dead zones. But there always has been one good reason not to: They couldn't keep their same cell-phone number.
Starting later this month, they can.
After years of fighting to postpone this part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, major wireless carriers earlier this year relented to government and customer demands for what the industry calls "portability." The new wireless portability regulations kick in Nov. 24 for the nation's top 100 metropolitan areas. Elsewhere, wireless providers are required to make a cell number portable within six months of a request, or no later than May 24.
Under the regulations, not only will cell-phone users be able to switch carriers without changing numbers, consumers with regular wired phones will be able to change to cell phones and keep their numbers.
"This is very favorable for consumers," says Allan Keiter, president and founder of MyRatePlan.com, an Atlanta-based consumer resource Web site. "Basically the tethering of the phone numbers is the last thing that keeps you loyal to your carrier."
Keiter says wireless portability will also be a huge convenience to businesses whose cell-phone numbers are part of their identities. "Contractors who are always on the road, people who use their cell numbers in the Yellow Pages, they probably haven't changed wireless providers over the years because their number is important to them," he says.
Meanwhile, more people are using cell phones more often -- both residential and business. The average number of minutes per month that the nation's 150 million cell-phone subscribers use their phones has more than doubled, from 200 to 450 over the last year or two, says Keiter.
How many consumers will hang up on their old wireless companies after Nov. 24 isn't clear. The Management Network Group, a telecom marketing and consulting group, recently found that 42 percent of wireless subscribers knew about the new rule. TMNG estimates that within the first year of portability, some 30 million consumers will switch providers -- more than half of them because they can keep their same number.
In another survey, TNS Telecoms, a marketing analysis group, found that 27 percent of households with cell phones are likely to switch within the next year. When offered a 10 percent discount, the percentage of switchers jumps to 62 percent. TNS Telecoms Vice President Charles White predicted that could cause "significant shifts in market share and customer churn in the year ahead."
Keiter says the rule may incite a price war. "The pricing is going to be more competitive," he says, "and the carriers are all working to beef up their coverage. Overall, it's just going to be more freedom for the consumer -- freedom to choose."
But cell-phone users under wireless contracts may have to wait to take advantage of the better deals, warns Keiter, who founded MyRatePlan four years ago to help consumers find the wireless plans and options best suited to their lifestyles and phone use.
At his site (www.myrateplan.com), users can key in information about their phone use and the site automatically calculates what their bills would be on every wireless plan in the market; then it selects their 10 or 20 best options. A slick "interactive cell phone finder" makes finding the best cell phone easier.
"We're trying to position ourselves as an unbiased intermediary online," says Keiter, expecting hits on his site to increase significantly as cell-phone users search for best deals. The site is largely self-funded, doesn't accept ads, doesn't itself sell products or services, but partners with retailers and some carriers. "We're saying here's the information you need to make this decision, here's your options."
PLAN AHEAD
For the latest news, information and tips on number portability, visit MyRatePlan.com's Portability Information Center at www.myrateplan.com/wnp/.
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