Fed Court issues ruling on cell phone numbers
 

This was a nice win for consumers today!

Court: Consumers Can Keep Phone Numbers

WASHINGTON - Consumers should be allowed to keep their phone numbers when they switch cellular providers, a federal court ruled Friday in rejecting an appeal by wireless (news - web sites) companies.

Consumer advocates say the inability to retain numbers is one of the biggest barriers preventing more cell phone users from switching in search of better service and prices. The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) is requiring wireless carriers to provide "number portability" by Nov. 24.

In April, attorneys for Verizon Wireless and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, an industry group, told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that the FCC (news - web sites) overstepped its authority by imposing the requirement. They said it will raise costs while doing little to increase competition.

The court rejected that challenge, calling the FCC's action "permissible and reasonable." The court also said the cell phone companies waited too long to object to the rule.

"It is obvious that any regulation that frees consumers from staying with carriers with whom they are dissatisfied affords them protection," the court said. "It was reasonable for the FCC to conclude that wireless consumers would switch carriers at even higher rates if they could keep their phone numbers."

CTIA President Tom Wheeler said he was disappointed by the decision. He said the FCC hasn't provided enough guidance on how number portability will work.

"There are only 24 weeks between now and the portability deadline, but the basic 'how tos' have yet to be addressed," he said. "The FCC must announce final rules by Labor Day or consumers will find chaos in the market."

Congress decided in 1996 that people can keep their traditional local phone numbers when they change phone companies. The FCC decided soon after that wireless carriers should offer that ability to people in the largest 100 U.S. cities by June 1999.

The FCC extended that deadline three times, most recently granting a yearlong extension last summer after Verizon Wireless asked the commission to eliminate the requirement.

Most wireless companies argue that their industry is competitive enough and doesn't need a regulatory boost. They say there are about 146 million U.S. cell phone subscribers and about a third of them change carriers each year.

The wireless industry estimates that number portability will cost more than $1 billion in the first year and $500 million each year thereafter. The industry says that expense will make it harder to provide better cell phone coverage and cheaper phones.

Many cell phone users outside the United States, in places such as Britain, Australia and Hong Kong, already have the option of keeping their numbers when they switch carriers.

Yet outside of the US many cellphone companies offer free phones when you sign up to their service, and don't fucking charge you to receive calls!

US cellphone companies :321GFY

Nextel does not charge to get calls.

They even have a unlimited calls plan for $200/mo.

dont forget nationwide direct connect:Graucho

This is good news. I've had to change my number several times when I've changed providers.

You have to pay to receive calls?! :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Everything in the states on popular carriers is done by minutes. You purchase a plan with X minutes -- and most good plans only count your weekday daytime minutes -- to determine your service.

Long distance on the big guys like Sprint is free, unless its outside the US, and roaming charges are the other thing they get you for -- though most big cell companies don't have many areas of roaming...

My bill is maybe 150 bucks a month and thats for thousands of minutes, long distance to Canada etc, and some roaming every month (seems like I always end up somewhere out of the way without digital coverage and have to use analog roaming) --

That also includes my wireless internet charges, all the directory assistance calls I make, two way paging, etc...

haha i have free incoming, and im in the US.

I pay a fixed rate of like .10? / minute (depending slightly to which provider I call to). My phonebills are usually 30-40?/month.
Although, we don't have 'long distance' in cellphones basically, except for foreign calls naturally. Guess operators know what they do, no matter where they're located.
Competition in the finnish market is damn rough, 5-6 operators competing over 4-5million phones. (population of finland 5+ mil).

:)

Every finn over the age of 5 has a cellphone. Praise the Nokia.

Europe is way ahead on cell phone applications. I was watching one show where you could just punch in a parking meter's code via your cell phone and thus no need to pull out any quarters.

Another cool application, you pre-program your phone for things you're looking to buy and when you pass a store that matches an item in your database, with a better price the system calls your cell phone to tell you.

Surprised the US hasn't caught on to many of these apps yet.