I’m currently with AT&T Wireless, but I want to change to Sprint so I can combine my Cellphone/Palm into one unit. AT&T doesn’t offer anything of the sort, and from what I gather, doesn’t plan to.
My contract with AT&T is up, so I wouldn’t pay a termination fee. But I use my phone for business, and changing numbers would be a great inconveinence as all of my current clients know my number, and I’d have to reprint stationery etc.
Is there a way to transfer to a different company with the same number, or are they assigned in blocks of 10,000 like landline #'s? I don’t have a bill in front of me, but I thought that the number portability service charge was supposed to take care of that.
You can’t change your cell phone provider and keep the same number. At some point there may be a number portability law for cell phones the way there is for land lines.
The number portability service charge is a farce. It lets the phone companies charge you for a service that they can not provide. It is supposed to let them raise money to upgrade and be able to provide it.
Uh, no it is not a farce. It can leagally be charged by any local phone service provider. There are limits on how much can be charged though. The only problem is that most people never change their service provider, yet have to pay the charge anyway. For those consumers who do change their phone companies, the ability to keep the same number is important.
If you think that your phone company is charging you for number portability and they can’t provise it, talk to your states’ PUC. The phone company is liable for heavy fines.
If that was the case, the service provider would only charge you when you switched service providers and kept your number.
I agree that it is is legal, PUC approved charge. But the charge is there on your bill, you pay it each month, and get no service from it. It is simply a way for the phone company to raise money.