Will Cell phone number be transferable from carrier to carrier soon?

[JYogi]

I have heard a rumor that a law was passed.
I do not know if this is state or national.
BUT rumor has it a law has passed that goes into effect in Nov which will allow you to take your phone number and switch it from one carrier to another when your contract is up.
From what I was told this goes into effect in November.

Does anyone know anything at all about this?
Is it true?
Is it pending?
Is it just a crock of hoopla?
If it is true when does it does into effect?

[Joe0378]

Yes it is true and it's national, not local. I don't know if it was passed yet since it does keep getting put off every year, but as of now, number portability between cell carriers should go into effect by October or November of this year, hopefully if that does not get pushed back another year.

[JYogi]

Things that make you go hmmm...
If anyone can shed any light on this I would GREATLY appreciate it.

I kinda like my # now BUT my phone is dying quick if I could find a certain # I would go with one of those and the carrier which holds them just for the ability to be able to have the # 4 ever.

So, moral of the story....
IF you can take your #'s along I need to go to the carrier which holds the prefix I like (I know which it is locally and they are GSM which I want to go to) and need to have them check if any # I would want is open.
If not then I buy a phone to get buy stick with my current poop carrier till the law passes and I take this # elsewhere.

[batigolaso]

the law was actually passsed a few years ago. The FCC gave the carriers a certain # of years to implement it. Problem is they kept on giving extensions when the carriers dragged their feet. But I think it's due this year (again).

[mreg]

The prime "benefit" of number portability is that rates will go up because of the huge costs involved in implementation. Also expect to see termination fees rise to offset expected churning. This might end up like the Chinese proverb -- be careful what you wish for.

[CaptKanga]

Wireless local number portability (LNP) isn't a law. It is based on a ruling from the FCC. It did not form part of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, as that only necessitated local number portability for fixed local access lines. The FCC passed this ruling in order to stimulate competition, which it felt was being stifled by the inability of subscribers to change carriers while keeping their number. The ruling is only applicable for the 100 largest MSA's in the country, so it is not in all markets. Carriers in the small markets simply need to update their systems to enable a ported number to roam on their system.
It is meant to come in force on November 24th this year. It has been delayed 3 times before as carriers wanted it to be addressed at the same time of 1,000 blocks of numbers (long story). It looks like the FCC will go ahead to not allow any further extension of the implementation. What could stop it is legal action - Verizon and the CTIA is presently in court trying to get it delayed or removed. They actually have a decent arguement given the level of wireless competition. The practical problem with their action is the court is not expected to rule until October, which is one month before implementation when most of the cost to upgrade their systems would have been completed.
Also, as a side note, a wireless carrier only needs to provide LNP if it has received a "bona fide" request from another carrier. If this wasn't received by Feb. this year, then a carrier could take upwards of 180 days to comply with this request. Since Verizon has already filed requests in the top 100 markets the other day, this point is a little moot at this stage.
I think you will see an increase in churn when implemented, with subscribers moving to the carriers with the best network and support. Expect Verizon to be a beneficiary. Carriers with weaker networks will loose customers from this. It is anticipated that the subscribers that use the cell phone a lot and therefore are higher value to carriers, are the primary ones that will initially move.

[KA3SGM]

I transfered a Cell number from T-Mobile to Verizon and it only took about 15 minutes.

That was about 1 year ago.

I am waiting for T-Mobile to finish installing a few more key sites, then I will graciously port the number back to T-Mobile, and gladly pay Verizon's ETF.

I have found that Verizon's local coverage does indeed "SUCK"

[Jay2TheRescue]

This thread is 5 years old. At this point there is nothing new about being able to port a cell phone number in the US. I am hearby closing this thread...

-Jay