New rules could lead to more competition, better service

New rules allowing customers to keep an existing phone number when switching to a new wireless phone service company could introduce more competition into the market and pressure companies to go all out on customer service.

By Alan Choate
The Daily Inter Lake

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The requirement, put in place by the Federal Communications Commission, allows people to switch between phone companies in the same area without changing phone numbers. The rules took effect for larger metro areas in November, and were put in place everywhere else May 24.

Some numbers still can’t be switched, or "ported," however. For example, CenturyTel landline numbers cannot be switched to a wireless carrier yet.

Andy Murphy, Flathead Valley market manager for Blackfoot Communications, predicted some upheaval in the market as people take advantage of the ability to change phone services without changing phone numbers.

"It does change your marketing. It will have an impact on customer churn," he said. "I think what we’re going to see is the cream rising to the top.

"People like to deal with a customer service provider who actually knows where they live. We react a little bit faster."

Wireless providers in the Flathead Valley include Blackfoot Communications, Cellular One and Verizon.

Since the portability rules took effect, there’s been about a 20 percent increase in customer traffic at the Kalispell location of Bitterroot Wireless, a Verizon dealer, said manager Mike Huston.

"Some of our stores have done more than that," he added. "It’s just started, though. It’ll taper off."

It’s hard to predict when that will happen, since people will wait until existing contracts expire before seeking to change their service.

A local Cellular One representative did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Another factor in local "porting" demand is the fact that CenturyTel customers can’t yet take their numbers to a wireless carrier, although Huston says he knows of people who are waiting to do just that.

CenturyTel and other landline telephone companies serving rural areas have asked the state Public Service Commission to suspend the number portability rule, said chairman Bob Rowe.

The issues they cite include technical concerns and cost of compliance, including the argument that the cost of porting numbers will be borne not by those who take their numbers elsewhere, but by the customers who stay.

"We haven’t said those concerns are right or wrong," Rowe said. "We’re just going to look at them."

CenturyTel spokeswoman Kim Baliquett said the company is concerned about the expense.

"In order to make those networks capable of switching all those calls, there are costs that can be passed on to customers," she said. "They don’t want to pass these charges on to their existing customers."

That’s one of the concerns cited by the Montana Telecommunications Association, which is representing several rural telephone companies in seeking the number portability rule’s suspension.

Implementing it would cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars that would be better spent on telecommunications infrastructure people actually want," said Geoff Feiss, MTA’s general manager.

In addition to cost, Feiss said there are technical hurdles and uncertainties in the regulations, which are being challenged in federal court — for example, if a number is ported from a landline to a wireless network, it’s the landline company’s responsibility to get the number there, even though they’re losing a customer.

Feiss said "wireline" companies aren’t worried about mass defections if number portability is required of all carriers. In a rural place like Montana, he said, people won’t give up landline reliability and 911 service to go wireless-only.

"Most people have two numbers. They have a wireless number and a wireline number," he said.

A hearing on the proposed rule suspension is scheduled in September before the PSC.

Things to keep in mind

– You can keep your phone number, but you’ll probably have to change phones. Different wireless providers use different networks with different technologies, and a phone that works on one usually won’t work on another.

– Switching carriers before an existing contract is up will cost you. Breaking an unexpired contract entails fees, and there may be fees to keep your number as well.

– If you’re buying a phone on an auction site, make sure you know the history of the previous number. If there’s an outstanding balance on it, the service provider won’t activate the phone.

– Be sure to read the fine print of any contract, and be sure to find the phone and plan that works best for you.