Keeping Your Phone Number

Merle Ihne, III
Gopher Wireless
www.GopherWireless.com

Local Number Portability means that you can keep your phone number and bring it to your new carrier. That gives you a lot of freedom!

Tips when porting your number to a new company:

· Switch only if you don't have a long-term contract. Otherwise the penalties -- early termination charges, for example -- will make any change costly. Added to the cost of a new phone, they could offset any potential benefits. You may want to wait 'til the day after your current contract ends.

· Most cellular providers' early termination fees are $150 to $200. Cellular One's early termination fee is $20 per month remaining on the contract for each line of service. So leaving Cellular One with one line a month early would only cost $20 instead of $150-200.

· Do not cancel your account with your current provider. If you cancel you will not have your number anymore to port to another company.

· Do your switching through official carrier stores. The guys at your local electronics and one-stop phone shops aren't up to speed on number portability.

· If you don't currently have a cell phone with a SIM card, back up your cell phone contact-list data on your computer, unless you want to spend an entire weekend punching phone numbers into your new handset.

· Want to keep your current phone? Your current phone may not work with your new carrier. Ask prospective new carriers if your current phone will work with their network.

· Bring a copy of your latest cell phone bills. It has information including account number needed to complete the transition of porting your number to your new carrier.

· Expect a delay. Most numbers will be ported within a few hours. But it may take up to 24 hours to complete the transition to your new phone. This means that you should carry both your new and old phones with you for a day.

· Be aware that when terminating service with a wireless company, you may be obligated to pay any early termination fees under your existing contract. Also, when terminating service with any company, you are usually required to pay any outstanding balance owed. Review your bill or contract to determine what fees or charges apply. Once you request service from the new company, however, your old company may not refuse to port your number, even if you owe money for an outstanding balance or termination fee.

For more info on this, look at the story at: www.gopherwireless.com/lnp.