{"id":152,"date":"2003-06-06T15:26:29","date_gmt":"2003-06-06T20:26:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=152"},"modified":"2003-06-06T15:26:29","modified_gmt":"2003-06-06T20:26:29","slug":"portable_phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/06\/06\/portable_phones.html","title":{"rendered":"Portable phones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite claiming that sky, if not Western Civilization (or their profits) would fall if forced into it, the mobile phone companies have lost their appeal to block an FCC ruling, requiring them to let folks keep their cell phone numbers<\/a>, even if they change carriers.<\/p>\n

See, even though they kept saying there was plenty of competition in the phone industry, they know that if the only thing keeping people from changing carriers is price and performance, there’s going to a flurry of people looking for better deals out there — if they can keep their number, and not have to notify friends, family, business associates, change business cards, change letterhead, rememorize stuff, etc.<\/p>\n

In other words, that number? It would be yours for life.<\/i> Or as long as you wanted it.<\/p>\n

What a concept.<\/p>\n

The carriers have gotten delay after delay after delay from the FCC, and, when they couldn’t push that agency any further <\/a>(which is saying something), they appealed to the courts instead.<\/p>\n

Where they’ve now lost.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia turned back arguments by Verizon Wireless and the cell-phone industry’s trade group that the rule was unnecessary, arbitrary and capricious.<\/p>\n

No, arbitrary <\/i>is if the FCC rules that all ring-tones must be the same. Capricious <\/i>is if the FCC decides that only Verizon has to do it. Unnecessary <\/i>is if the carriers were already planning on doing it on their own.<\/p>\n

The judges concluded that the wireless companies had filed their challenge too late, and they dismissed the industry’s contention that the agency had misinterpreted what the law deems “necessary” to protect consumers. The judges said the argument amounted to “dueling over dictionary definitions,” which it called “pointless.”
\n“The simple truth is that having to change phone numbers presents a barrier to switching carriers, even if not a total barrier, since consumers cannot compare and choose between various service plans and options as efficiently,” the judges said in their opinion.<\/p>\n

Here’s at least one case <\/a>of that.<\/p>\n

The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, which filed the challenge, said in a statement it was disappointed with the decision and said the FCC must explain in detail how portability can be accomplished.
\n“If there is to be number portability in November, the FCC must announce final rules by Labor Day or consumers will find chaos in the market,” CTIA President Tom Wheeler said.<\/p>\n

Given that the FCC originally mandated number portability for mobile carriers for 1998, any company that doesn’t know how they’re going to manage it should get sued by their own stockholders.<\/p>\n

Verizon Wireless … said it would be forced to divert resources away from network upgrades and other service improvements in order to meet the deadline, and said it might ask Congress to step in.<\/p>\n

Go ahead. I dare you. This is an issue that no Congressman in his right mind would try to block.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite claiming that sky, if not Western Civilization (or their profits) would fall if forced into it, the mobile phone companies have lost their appeal to block an FCC ruling,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hi-tech"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2288,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/07\/16\/weve_got_your_n.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":0},"title":"We’ve got your number … still","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 16-Jul-02 2:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Cellular carriers have extracted yet another delay from the FCC in their providing number portability -- the ability to change carriers (e.g., move from Verizon to AT&T Wireless) without losing...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4971,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/11\/24\/what_number_ple.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":1},"title":"What number, please?","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 24-Nov-03 12:49pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Huzzah! Portability of cell phone numbers from one carrier to another is now a reality. Except for the little glitch that the carriers spent all their efforts dragging their feet,...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":472,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/04\/09\/i_am_not_a_numb.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":2},"title":"I am not a number!","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-Apr-03 8:55pm","format":false,"excerpt":"When last we left wireless carriers, back in July '02, they were cheering the FCC for delaying number portability, though sobbing mightily, with wailing and gnashing of teeth, that it...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31637,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/12\/06\/the-cost-trade-off-in-mobile-phones-vs-mobile-plans.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":3},"title":"The cost trade-off in mobile phones vs mobile plans","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 6-Dec-12 3:20pm","format":false,"excerpt":"In the US, the traditional way to get a mobile phone is through a big provider. They cut you a sweet discount for the phone (and let you know they are doing so) and, in return, charge you extra for the plan for a two year contract.Some folks have argued\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31350,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/11\/13\/at-last-verizon-does-something-i-like.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":4},"title":"At last Verizon does something I like","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 13-Nov-12 6:25am","format":false,"excerpt":"Starting in January, Verizon will start getting rid of those un-get-riddable apps it's insisted on loading on its Android and Blackberry smartphones (\"Do you want to perform this action with Google's really cool Navigator or use Verizon's craptastic version?\"). More space on the phone (and fewer unused but un-erasable apps)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129475,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/13\/texas-gun-carriers-arent-sure-the-new-open-carry-laws-are-what-they-wanted.html","url_meta":{"origin":152,"position":5},"title":"Texas gun carriers aren't sure the new open carry laws are what they wanted","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 13-Jan-16 6:56am","format":false,"excerpt":"The laws allow businesses and other private property owners to post signs banning open carry or concealed carry. 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