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Competition Heats Up as Wireless Number Portability Deadline Approaches

Posted on: Wednesday, 19 November 2003, 06:00 CST

Nov. 20--Starting Monday, customers who switch wireless carriers can keep their phone numbers. Already underway: a heated competition among carriers to get your business.

This week, days short of the wireless number portability deadline, the competition among carriers shifted into overdrive.

Two carriers that some analysts predict could be most hurt by customer defections -- AT&T Wireless and Sprint PCS -- both unveiled new services to keep customers or lure new ones.

AT&T revamped its wireless data network to make its service the industry's fastest. Sprint weighed in with a walkie-talkie feature that enables a user to push a button to talk to someone.

While both companies had their service upgrades in the works well before they knew when portability would take effect, executives admit they're happy with the timing that gives them new weapons as the wireless marketing wars escalate.

Some analysts predict that as many as 9 million U.S. cell phone customers will take advantage of the various incentives and switch carriers in the next few weeks.

But Susan Kalla, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., said a more likely number will be 2.2 million. One reason, she said, is that software needed to transfer millions of numbers from one carrier to another will probably slow the process, causing delays and persuading many people to postpone a change.

Still, for consumers like Michael Panitch, a Chicago interior designer, number portability means "leaving your carrier has never been simpler."

Panitch is among the country's most informed and demanding cell phone consumers. He regularly buys phones over the Internet available in Europe but not yet on the market here.

"Carriers will do anything to keep their customers happy," he said. "It's really going to be good for consumers."

AT&T's strategy consists of a new data network that enables devices to operate at speeds two or three times faster than anything previously available to cell phones and a new interface to accelerate its mMode service.

The original service required a customer to spend about 7 minutes and go through 40 button clicks to set up mMode, said Sam Hall, an AT&T vice president. Now that operation is accomplished in 30 seconds with a single click.

"We took videos of customers trying to use mMode and could see the frustration in their faces," said Hall. "We've got it down now so that every operation can be done in four clicks or less. We want this to be a mass-market product."

At its faster pace, AT&T's network enables people to do work that wasn't practical at slower speeds, said Kent Mathy, an AT&T senior vice president.

"You could read an e-mail header, but couldn't really open attachments at the old speeds," said Mathy. "Now you can really do work on the fly to the same extent you can in your office."

At Sprint, the push-to-talk feature is aimed at winning more business customers that now use Nextel Communications Inc., which pioneered the walkie-talkie service.

"If someone is staying with Nextel because of push-to-talk, now they have an alternative," said Jeff Hallock, a Sprint PCS executive. "Customers who want voice and walkie-talkie now have the choice of getting that plus a lot more."

Earlier this year Verizon Wireless launched a push-to-talk service that won 100,000 subscribers in the last quarter. By next year, analysts predict that most national carriers will offer push-to-talk.

Nextel is not worried by the competition and expects to gain customers once portability is available without launching any special services, said Arianne Venuso, a Nextel spokeswoman.

"We're flattered by their attempts to imitate our popular service," she said. "But it will take them a long time to catch up to us. We have 13 million direct connect users and some of the most loyal customers in the industry. We're monitoring number portability, but we're not doing anything specific to lure customers."

In other new offerings, T-Mobile launched a three-day weekend calling package. Calls made on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will not count against a customer's total bucket of minutes.

Also, said Richard Brudvik-Lindner, T-Mobile's media relations director, the firm has mailed number portability information to its 12 million customers informing them, among other things, that T-Mobile will knock $50 off their bill for each new customer they recruit.

In Chicago, Cingular Wireless will offer $50 gift cards to new customers that sign up for its services, said Silvia Manrique, a Cingular spokeswoman. Also, like most wireless carriers, Cingular is offering free phone upgrades or price reductions on upgrades to customers who sign up for contract extensions.

With half a dozen national carriers fighting for market share, the wireless industry is among the most competitive in the world, and number portability will just turn that up a notch, said Andrew Cole, senior vice president with Adventis, a Boston consultancy.

Personalizing the phones to fit the customer, which is the goal of AT&T's updated mobile data service, is one method for retaining customers, said Cole.

In Europe, research shows that customers who customize their phone services are more likely to stick with their carrier and spend more each month, Cole said.

When several wireless carriers launched data services a few years ago, there was a sameness to them because carriers put their own brands on portals purchased from a vendor, said Alan Wexler, the New York-based vice president of technology for the consultant Sapient.

"No carriers focused on differentiating themselves, but that's changed," he said. "Especially with number portability pushing competition."

While new features may be nifty, that's not enough for people like Panitch to switch. AT&T-Mobile customer, he has no plans to leave a carrier that "already bends over backwards to make me happy."

Even so, Panitch is not impressed by some of the new features cell phone companies are rolling out.

"I love my camera phone. It's so cool," he said. "But the other day, I tried to send a photo to a gentleman who has a Sprint camera phone, and it didn't work. The software didn't match and he couldn't get my photo.

"Until the carriers get together and use the same software, it's just fun and games, all the talk about how great these services are."

A SAMPLING of new services available from wireless carriers.

AT&T Wireless -- Revamped mMode service to improve data transfer speeds.

Cingular Wireless -- Offers $50 gift cards to entice new customers.

Nextel -- No new offerings planned.

Sprint PCS -- Added a push-to-talk feature to attract business customers.

T-Mobile -- A 3-day weekend calling package does not count against total minutes used.

U.S. Cellular -- New plans not yet announced.

Verizon Wireless -- New camera phones that offer picture messaging.

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(c) 2003, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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