6-Q: Can consumers port a wireline number to a wireless phone?
> A: Wireline-to-wireless porting is possible in some cases. Consumers
> interested in porting a number from a wireline to a wireless phone
> should check with the prospective new wireless carrier to see if
> wireline to wireless porting is an option for them.
> If you port a number from a wireline phone to a wireless phone, your
> wireline long distance carrier will not move with you. Your long
> distance service will generally be provided by your new wireless carrier.
> Pursuant to a court-ordered stay, most small wireline carriers currently
> are not required to port numbers to wireless carriers until the FCC
> completes and publishes a study about the effect of the porting rules on
> small carriers. (TELECOM Editor's Note: This was the rule in summer, 2005.
> Check for any more recent changes. PAT)
I recently (Feb. 2007) ported two landline numbers to cellular without difficulty. This saved me almost $60/mo in landline charges. I suppose it was made easier by the fact that I was porting from SBC/AT&T to Cingular so it might have been all internal -- I don't know how much separation there is between AT&T and Cingular ...
The porting took about three days and I didn't have to do anything special; filled out an online form with a Cingular reseller (not Cingular direct) and checked "other" for the carrier of the "wireless" number I was porting. I really expected it would be rejected, or at least I'd get a call from a human. But no, the order simply went through and everything's been working fine.
Gordon S. Hlavenka
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It's bad luck to be superstitious