Move your landline number to a mobile

[girlgeek]

By Andrew Orlowski in San Francisco
Posted: 11/11/2003 at 08:42 GMT

The US telecoms regulator yesterday reminded local landline providers not to delay customers who want to switch their telephone number to a cellphone. Wireless carriers had been worried that the Baby Bells would force each carrier to make a peering arrangement. The FCC yesterday said the landline providers ought to be able to make the switch in two and a half hours - which is a target, but not mandatory - even if the departing customer hadn't settled the bill.

US cellphones already use local area codes. But from November 24, US citizens will be able move between cellphone carriers keeping their number. It's expected to cause a huge amount of churn in the short-term, and carriers have reacted with a mixture of bribes and penalties.

T-Mobile is offering some customers 'loyalty minutes' while AT&T Wireless is passing the 'cost' on to the customer in the form of a monthly surcharge. Which may be short-sighted - as the extra tax is there for all to see on the bill, and in itself reminds customers that they can quit.

Some wrinkles need to be ironed out. Although a customer may have two phones, a landline and a mobile, with the share the same area code, each operator may regard 'local' calls differently. The FCC is requesting comments before advising further, particularly for customers who want to move a cellphone to a landline.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/67/33905.html

[confucy]

geeky, I think a url will suffice. :awinky:

[girlgeek]

There is a community standard set by Sarettah. Just following the lead set by others who actually contribute something here. You should try it.

[confucy]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, now I understand. You want to be the female sarettah and give us our daily dose of the news.

Well, go ahead, geeky. Waste your time here at Oprano when you could be spending quality time with your family. :okthumb:

[girlgeek]

Originally posted by confucy@Nov 12 2003, 12:42 AM
Waste your time here at Oprano when you could be spending quality time with your family. :okthumb:
Poor dear, your old age affecting you again.

I'm Darci, the one you pull that one on is Carrie. Just like her, it doesn't work here either. :nyanya:

[Peaches]

Originally posted by girlgeek@Nov 12 2003, 04:07 AM
There is a community standard set by Sarettah. Just following the lead set by others who actually contribute something here. You should try it.
You are 100% correct. Michael lists the entire story also and quite frankly, even though I'm usually too lazy to do it on my posts, it's much easier to read it on the board than open up a new window - usually with pop-ups. :)

Now that we have C's silly personal attacks out of the way...

Cellular service where I live can be affected by the trees. We have a Cingular tower on the top of the mountain and so far, Cingular is the only service that works for me and again, not all the time.

My alarm in tied to a landline, but I'm asking for a cellular hookup for it for Christmas :awinky: just as a backup, but I'll probably STILL keep the landline. I use one for DSL and my fax machine and my home one is used for just for personal stuff, but that also includes pay per view. Plus I have a bad habit of letting my cell phone battery die. :(

IMHO, now that there's portability, the deals are going to be AWESOME! :rokk:

[Sharpie]

I appreciate the 'heads up. I knew it was supposed to be coming - but, I didn't know when.

[gonzo]

Originally posted by confucy@Nov 12 2003, 03:42 AM
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, now I understand. You want to be the female sarettah and give us our daily dose of the news.

Well, go ahead, geeky. Waste your time here at Oprano when you could be spending quality time with your family. :okthumb:
So much for holiday cheer eh?

Bow down to the power of a Master Blogger.
Say it say it say it!


BTW have you met J's yet?
I smell Xmas in the air!

[TheEnforcer]

Landline??

What's a land line?

Haven't had a land line for several years now and have no intention of getting one anytime soon!!

[girlgeek]

I know what you mean, Enforcer. I was a guinea pig for my carrier's GSM network, and I pay a flat $100 for unlimited calling. I haven't used a land line for almost two years.

However, this is going to be some good news for cell phone competition with the traditional bells. I am interested to see how it all pans out. :okthumb:

[Kittyfuzz]

This is too cool.. I have been considering to just cell service for a while, but didn't want to lose my land line number because i've had it for so long. Beats the hell out of paying 2 seperate phone bills now!

[Hell Puppy]

Number portability is a good thing. However, if i were planning on moving to another carrier, I'd wait at least 4-6 weeks for them to shake all of the bugs out of the system. From a technical standpoint this is a pretty challenging exercise even with it limited to local numbers.

It is very similar to the type of chaos that might happen if you could take your IP or email address with you when you switch ISPs. The things that have to happen behind the scenes are pretty scary. And the FCC dictates that the carriers only have 2 hours from the time of an order to make the switch.

[gonzo]

Originally posted by girlgeek@Nov 12 2003, 12:45 PM
I know what you mean, Enforcer. I was a guinea pig for my carrier's GSM network, and I pay a flat $100 for unlimited calling. I haven't used a land line for almost two years.

However, this is going to be some good news for cell phone competition with the traditional bells. I am interested to see how it all pans out. :okthumb:
...that explains all them calls where you were whispering in my ear now!

[Cassie]

i use vonage for all calls and it works great. i have cable for a couple of pc's (and also the vonage) and 3 dsl lines. pretty excessive but worth it. the whole mobile idea sounds good in theory but i think i am too dependent on my phone line (even though i hardly use it). call it the linus syndrome if you will.

is this a sign of getting older...just not wanting to change with the times??? :zoinks:

[Peaches]

Originally posted by Cassie@Nov 13 2003, 12:52 AM
i use vonage for all calls and it works great. i have cable for a couple of pc's (and also the vonage) and 3 dsl lines. pretty excessive but worth it. the whole mobile idea sounds good in theory but i think i am too dependent on my phone line (even though i hardly use it). call it the linus syndrome if you will.

is this a sign of getting older...just not wanting to change with the times??? :zoinks:
I saw this on another board - I was too lazy to google, but apparently something's going on:

"those who are looking at VOIP, particularly with Vonage, would be wise to google the name Jeffrey Citron (current head of Vonage) . . . then do likewise for Jeffrey Citron + SEC fines or Jeffrey Citron + Datek."