Take a Number

At Consumers Union, we know how important this issue is to you. We also know that the cell-phone industry has repeatedly delayed the rule and that the FCC has not made clear what penalties carriers would incur for noncompliance. So we asked the six major cellular carriers what they intend to do and how much it will cost customers.

Representatives at all six said they’ll be ready by the deadline, even though AT&T and Cingular are still dragging their feet in the courts. Indeed, several carriers have already charged millions of dollars to their customers to cover the cost of the necessary network upgrades.

Here is what you and I are likely to be hit with if the deadline holds.

Since March, AT&T has charged some customers $1.75 a month to pay for several government mandates, including portability. It plans to reduce or drop the fee once it collects enough to cover those costs. Cingular said it’s been charging all customers about 28 cents a month to recover “costs it incurred through 2002” to meet the new requirements. It may adjust that fee in 2004. Nextel said it’s billing all customers an extra $1.55 per month per cell phone to finance several FCC directives, number portability among them. In July, Sprint began charging $1.10 per cell phone to fund portability and another FCC-mandated program. T-Mobile said it’s not imposing a fee to cover anticipated outlays. Verizon, the first carrier to openly support the FCC portability requirement, said the same but added that after Nov. 24, when it checks actual expenses, it may charge customers 10 to 15 cents a month.

That’s what the carriers told us, but this is what they’ve been doing: Some circulated letters to members of Congress to sign and forward to the FCC urging yet another delay. Some complained to us that they need to work out agreements with other carriers on how to make portability happen. Some said the FCC hadn’t been specific enough in its directions. On these grounds, AT&T, Cingular, and Alltel went further, petitioning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to postpone the rules.

The FCC has since issued an order clarifying its guidelines, thus eliminating many of the arguments for delay. Whether or not the appeals court agrees, consumers need to keep the FCC and the carriers on track. To learn how, go to our Web site www.escapecellhell.org. After Nov. 24, go there to tell us how easy or hard it was to change carriers and keep your number. I’ll be there with you, hopefully with my old number and new service in hand.

Jim Guest President