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New York Cell Phone Users Ring in Number Portability by Switching Carriers

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 November 2003, 06:00 CST

Nov. 25--New Yorkers rang in the first day of cell phone number portability by ditching and switching their wireless carriers.

"I've been waiting for this day for six weeks. This is Christmas to me," said Manhattan resident Will Kohane, 40, as he switched his beloved number, which ends in 0066, to Verizon Wireless from AT&T Wireless.

"My wife has Verizon. And whenever we're out, her phone seems to get better reception than mine," he said in the crowded Verizon store at Sixth Ave. and W. 42nd St.

The new regulation giving metro-area consumers the right to take their cell phone numbers with them when they switch carriers took effect yesterday by mandate of the Federal Communications Commission.

"I have my cell number printed on all my resumes and headshots," said 26-year-old actor Daniel Koenig at the Cingular store on W. 34th St.

"Sometimes I get calls six months after I've gone on an audition. I wouldn't get those calls if I changed my number."

Koenig, from Queens, said he bagged AT&T because he liked Cingular's offer to roll over his unused minutes from one month to another.

"My usage is so erratic, depending on whether I have a day job or a night job," he said.

The FCC had asked carriers to commit to a 2-1/2-hour limit on the processing of transfer requests. But the commission backed away from the limit, saying it would reconsider if consumer complaints mounted.

At the Verizon store on Sixth Ave., salespeople said the switch should take six to 24 hours. But others suggested it would take anywhere from eight hours to five days.

"Nothing is insurmountable, but it's taking a lot longer than two hours," said a spokeswoman for a major provider who asked to remain anonymous.

So far, the six major cellular providers are not charging a special fee per transfer. Instead, they're tacking it on to their general federal regulatory fee.

Verizon Wireless yesterday confirmed its fee will jump to 45 cents a month in March from 5 cents today.

By comparison, AT&T Wireless imposes a $1.75 monthly fee, Nextel $1.55, Sprint PCS $1.10 and Cingular 28 cents, according to EscapeCellHell.org, a project of Consumer Reports.

"I called a month ago to find out when [portability] was starting," said Ardell Hailey, 44, a Queens resident who is looking to ditch Verizon. She said Cingular's $29.99-per-month plan is the cheapest for her purposes.

"I know too many people to have to give them all a new number," she said with a laugh.

Edwin Feliciano from the Bronx said he was going to Verizon yesterday because of dropped calls on his last carrier.

"It's so much easier this time," he said. "When I changed from Sprint to Nextel last year, I paid $120 to have Sprint voice mail that told people my new Nextel number."

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(c) 2003, Daily News, New York. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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