Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wireless Cos. Prepare for Hated 'Number Portability'

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Wireless Cos. Prepare for Hated 'Number Portability'
Tuesday February 25, 4:39 pm ET

By Mark Wigfield, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Verizon Wireless has taken steps to comply with a
rule that the wireless industry says could increase already high levels of
customer "churn."
At the same time, Verizon continues to fight the so-called "local-number
portability rule" in the U.S. Court of Appeals. The Federal Communications
Commission's rule would allow wireless customers to keep their phone numbers
when switching to a new carrier. Oral arguments have been scheduled for April
14.

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Verizon Wireless is a partnership between Verizon Communications Inc. and
Vodafone Group PLC .
The rule is meant to boost competition by making it easier for consumers to
switch carriers. But the industry says the rule is unnecessary in a hyper-
competitive market where customer churn is already high.
Postponed three times at the industry's request, the deadline for the rule to
take effect is Nov. 24.
However, carriers don't have to comply unless they received a request from
another carrier as of Monday. Verizon filed so-called "bona fide requests" in
the top 100 markets as well as some smaller markets, a spokesman said.
As the largest wireless carrier, Verizon's filing is significant, according to
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. Schumer is introducing a bill that would prevent
the FCC from postponing the deadline again, as well as impose a wireless "bill
of rights" for consumers.
"It is my sincerest hope that the rest of the wireless industry will follow
suit," Schumer said in a speech to state regulators Tuesday.
Also filing a request was T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG . A
spokeswoman for AT&T Wireless said the company doesn't believe a filing is
necessary for it to accept numbers from a new customer's old carrier.
Sprint Corp. , Cingular Wireless, a partnership between BellSouth Corp. (NYSE:BLS - News) and SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC - News) , and Nextel Communications Inc. (NasdaqNM:NXTL - News)
didn't immediately return calls for comment or couldn't immediately provide
information.
Verizon spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said the company's filing doesn't change its
view of the policy.
"We're in court because the FCC misread an important deregulatory tool of the
1996 Telecommunications Act," Nelson said. The act sets a "very high burden" for
imposing or retaining mandates.
Meanwhile, Schumer said other elements of his bill would give consumers the
information they need to choose carriers wisely.
It would require companies to clearly spell out in standardized language the
terms and conditions of service plans. It would give the FCC more power to
monitor service quality and provide that information to consumers.
It would also require carriers to provide high-resolution maps detailing
variations in call quality across the service area.
The bill is backed by consumers groups and state regulators. But the industry
blasted the measure.
"Adam Smith would turn over in his grave to hear that consumers would be
better served by poisoning the competitive wireless market with unnecessary
government regulations," said Steve Berry, lobbyist for the Cellular
Telecommunications and Internet Association (News - Websites).
-By Mark Wigfield, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-828-3397; [email-masked]

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