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Wireless Carriers, Customers Find Number 'Porting' Is Challenging

Posted on: Monday, 8 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Dec. 9--Luckily, fewer cell phone users than expected are transferring their numbers.

Wireless carriers are discovering that the devil is in the details as they try to move customers from one cell phone company to another.

Seemingly insignificant things such as an omitted middle initial in the customer's billing name can cause major delays in the number "porting" process.

Luckily, however, fewer cell phone users than expected are switching carriers and transferring their numbers in the process.

Federal Communications Commission rules effective Nov. 24 enable customers to take their cell phone numbers with them when they change carriers. The rules apply to the nation's largest 100 metropolitan areas, including Tulsa.

Called "local wireless number portability" or "porting," switching phone companies while keeping the same number is a complicated process that can take anywhere from two hours to five days.

Significant snags in the process at AT&T Wireless prompted the FCC to send a letter to the company last week that sought an explanation for delays and what would be done to remedy the problem.

AT&T Wireless plans to respond to the FCC later this week, said company spokeswoman Rebecca Noah.

Porting customer numbers quickly "has been a challenge for all of us in the industry," Noah said. "A lot of patience has been required in some cases."

Noah said customers are told that porting can take up to five days, but for many they process is completed in just a few hours.

AT&T Wireless customers can check the progress of their number port on the company's Web site, www.attws.com.

While a number is in the porting process, the customer's phone from the previous carrier continues to work until the number is finished moving to the new carrier.

Sprint PCS is seeing some delays in the transfers, said company spokeswoman Roxie Rameriz.

She emphasized that wireless retailers need all the details from the consumer's bill to insure a quick transfer.

"It is vitally important that they bring a copy of their bill with them" when they initiate the porting process, she said.

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Sprint PCS customers can check on their porting process by dialing *<29>2 on their Sprint phones.

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While wireless carriers are working out the kinks in their number portability systems, industry experts say few consumers are taking advantage of the new federally mandated service.

Initially, analysts predicted millions of people would immediately go for number portability. But as of midday Monday, only about 500,000 customers had ported their mobile phone numbers to another carrier, said Bob Egan, president of North Providence, R.I.-based Mobile Competency Inc., a wireless industry analysis firm.

He said many carriers were not prepared to port numbers, and delays would be worse if more consumers took advantage of the new rule.

"It's a good thing they built it and no one came," Egan said.

Many customers are not willing to pay fees of up to $200 that often are charged for breaking a wireless contract, he said.

But the number of customers taking the opportunity to change wireless carriers likely will increase early next year, Egan said.

The holidays are a busy time to shop, and many consumer contracts will expire in December, leaving customers free to change carriers in January, he said. In addition, many businesses do a lot of buying in the spring after the start of the fiscal year, and wireless companies will see more demand for number portably at that time.

Verizon, a wireless service not available in the Tulsa area, is gaining more customers than any of the other carriers, Egan said. Nextel is also gaining customers, while Sprint PCS and T-Mobile are keeping approximately the same customer base.

So far, Cingular and AT&T Wireless are losing customers, Egan said.

Publicity surrounding problems in the executive leadership at AT&T Wireless -- in addition to the FCC letter -- is unfairly putting the company in a bad light, he said.

"AT&T is the first to get a letter, but it won't be the only one," Egan said.

The analyst said he believes AT&T Wireless will eventually increase its number of customers after the negative publicity subsides.

"People should pause and separate the hype from the reality," he said. "In reality, they have a very strong network."

The Better Business Bureau Serving Northeastern Oklahoma has not received any complaints about the porting process, said Rick Brinkley, president and chief executive officer.

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(c) 2003, Tulsa World, Okla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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