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AnchorDesk

David Coursey
Fight for your cell phone rights NOW

David Coursey
Executive Editor, AnchorDesk
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
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Cell phone carriers are not your friends. I mention this because, right now, cell phone customers--whether businesses or individuals--need to slap those carriers around a bit. Why? Because those companies are doing everything they can to maintain their lock on customers--no matter what the law says.

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Your phone number may not be portable (yet), but at least your phone is. Here are the most popular handsets with ZDNet readers.
ONE OF THE THINGS users hate most about cellular service is that the telephone number belongs to the carrier, not to the customer. This means that changing carriers also means changing your phone number.

That's supposed to change on Nov. 24, when new rules requiring number portability are supposed to go into effect. I say "supposed to" because many carriers are dragging their corporate feet and lobbying to get the rule changed, even as they collect hundreds of millions of dollars in "portability fees" from customers.

The Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, is among the groups working to keep number portability on-track. The group says number portability will increase competition, resulting in lower cellular bills and greater convenience for consumers.

CU has set up a special Web site, EscapeCellHell.org, where you can learn about what you can do. Yesterday, the group sent out an action alert asking consumers to (once again, for some of us) write Congress to keep the heat on as the cellular industry throws its considerable lobbying weight into fighting the rule. You can write your Congressperson (for free) and learn more about this important issue by visiting the site.

Surprisingly, the FCC is on our side on this one, saying that number portability is important to maintaining a competitive wireless marketplace. This is the same commission that believes one company should be able to own the newspaper, the number one television station, the cable system, and perhaps a dozen radio stations in a single community. How it could be so right on competitive wireless and so wrong on competitive media totally escapes me.

THE CELLULAR INDUSTRY says it's already competitive enough--witness the large number of people who already change carriers each year--and number portability costs too much for what it accomplishes. Of course, it's the customers who are already paying, and will continue to pay, for number portability, so why not let them decide? All the customers I know want number portability.

One wireless carrier is on the customer's side in this debate: Verizon has come out in favor of wireless number portability, having previously fought against it. Unlike AT&T Wireless, Nextel, and Sprint PCS, Verizon is not charging customers a portability fee. The other companies are charging such fees, even as they fight the rule that allows them to collect the money.

Verizon took its number portability effort a step farther on Monday, announcing a plan that would allow Verizon local (wired) customers to port their numbers between the wired and wireless services. This will be a particular boon to people who use their cell phone as their "home" phone.

This move proves that Verizon is perhaps the only U.S. provider that really understands--and is willing to work towards--the future of telecommunications.

So with Verizon on our side, we need to whip the other cell companies into shape. We need to encourage Congress to stand up to the cellular lobby and keep the Nov. 24 deadline in place. Please take a moment to visit EscapeCellHell.org and support this important effort.

What do you think? What else can we do to make sure the carriers obey the law? TalkBack to me below!

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