Retaining Your Cell Phone Number

by John Smithe

A few years ago if you wanted to switch cell phone carriers the thought of having to give a new number to all your friends, family, and contacts was probably enough to dissuade you from switching. This was good for the cell phone companies, and bad for customers who were dissatisfied with their cell phone service but did not want to hassle with changing numbers. Now it is possible to retain your cell phone number if you decide to switch carriers thanks to a ruling by the FCC. There is a small catch, however, but most of the time you can successfully switch carriers while still retaining your cell phone number.

In 2004, the FCC mandated that all cell phone carriers allow customers to keep their old number if they switched cell phone providers locally. Referred to as Wireless Local Number Portability, the mandate specified that customers switching cell phone providers within their local region would be protected from having to switch numbers as well. So if you wanted to switch cell phone providers from one part of your state to another, you would not be burdened with a new number. Unfortunately, the mandate doesn’t apply if you are moving form one part of the country to another; but how often do we do that anyway?

While this seems like good news for customers wanting to switch cell phone providers, cell phone companies still came up with ways to make you pay. Often they will charge you a fee to carry over your old number, and everyone knows cell phone plans carry hefty cancellation fees if you do decide to switch before your plan expires. On the upside, cell phone companies have become fiercely competitive to gain, and keep, your business so you can usually find a reasonable price and service you will be happy with for the duration of you service plan.

If you do decide to change providers and want to retain you cell phone number, it is pretty easy. Contact the company you want to switch too and get all the details of your new plan worked out and transfer your old number before cancelling your old policy. And remember, keeping your old cell phone number is only possible if you are switching to a provider in your local area so don‘t bother trying if your making a big move. Retaining your cell phone number is possible and not too hard as long as you get your new service before cancelling your old service and only try it in your local area.

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