MAHONING VALLEY Cellular providers offer tips on rules

Want to switch? Don't cancel that old service or your number is lost.
By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Customers were lining up all day Monday at Cingular Wireless in Boardman, eager to take advantage of new cell phone number portability rules now in effect in the nation's 100 most-populated markets.
Many walked away disappointed, said Carl Miller, assistant manager at the Boardman-Poland Road store, because they misunderstood how the changes work.
By late afternoon the Cingular staff had made only one switch, a cell phone customer with another company who changed over to Cingular wireless service but kept his original phone number.
Ordered by the Federal Communications Commission, wireless number portability means a cell phone customer can keep his phone number when switching from one service provider to another.
Before the new rule took effect Monday, a wireless customer who decided to change providers was forced to start with a new phone number and face the prospect of losing touch with business or personal contacts.
Eliminating land-line service
The change also allows a consumer to eliminate his home or business land-line telephone service, but use that phone number on a cell phone line, as long as the wireless service is bought within the same metropolitan area in which that number was issued.
Miller said his office saw several customers who misunderstood the land-line to cell phone number switch option, thinking they could put cell phone and residential phone service on a single number, rather than eliminating their residential service. "You can't use your cell phone like an extension on your home phone," he said. "Quite a few people had that idea."
Wireless providers that serve the Youngstown-Warren area are ready for wireless number portability because the law requires them to be, said Stephanie Shaw, a spokeswoman for Sprint.
The Federal Communications Commission required the 100 most populous communities in the country to offer the option by Monday. The Mahoning Valley is ranked 88th on that list, based on 2000 census data, with a population of 594,746.
Companies have until May 24 to make number portability available to consumers who live in smaller communities not on the list, she said.
SBC Communications, the predominant local service provider in the Youngstown area, said it is ready to provide land-line-to-wireless portability to all communities its serves, not just the 100 most populous.
Urges patience
Shaw said she's recommending consumers wait a few weeks before using the new option. The service is new, so there may be delays, she said, and wireless providers are sure to offer more and better deals as time goes on.
"This is going to entice cellular phone companies to be more competitive, and that means lower costs, more technical advances and increased customer choice," Shaw said.
Right now, she said, Sprint is projecting a 2.5-hour wait for a wireless-to-wireless number switch to be completed.
A switch from land line to wireless will take longer, usually about two days, because the land-line supplier must send a worker to the business or residence to disconnect the service.
Eliminating a land line can be a money saver, she said -- nationwide, 8 percent of Sprint customers use cellular service exclusively.
Beware of fees
Local wireless representatives contacted by The Vindicator all mentioned early termination fees as the biggest obstacle to consumers wanting to take advantage of the new FCC rules.
Wireless customers are generally required to sign contracts of a year or more, and pay hefty fees if they cut off their service before the pacts expire. Most wireless companies' Web sites provide customer access to account information, including contract expiration dates.
Early termination fees usually start at about $150 and can go as high as $450, said Miller, the Cingular representative. "Signing up with a new carrier doesn't take away your obligation to your old carrier," he said.
Driselda Craig, an account executive for Freedom Wireless in the Eastwood Mall, Niles, said she's been answering questions about number portability for weeks and had a line of customers waiting when she opened Monday morning. Freedom Wireless is an authorized dealer for Cellular One.
Wait to cancel
One key point she's been making with customers is that they should not cancel the wireless or land-line service they want to replace until they have signed up for the new service.
"Two people today I couldn't help because they'd already canceled their service with the other company," she said. "Once you do that, the number is gone."
Under the FCC's portability rules, she said, a customer signs a contract with a new service provider, and that replacement provider contacts the old provider and arranges the number switch. Companies cannot refuse to make the switch.
Craig said she's noticed wireless number portability is popular among contractors and small-business owners who wanted to switch but didn't want to risk losing business contacts by changing numbers.
Residential users are more likely to use the option of eliminating the land-line phone and switching the number to a cell phone, she said.
vinarsky@vindy.com