You Can Take It With You: New Cell Phone Rules Let You Switch Carriers But Keep Your Number
By Jonathan Berohn
Tired of your cell phone service? Had it up to here with dropped calls and dead zones? Sticking it out only because you are worried about how much time and energy it would take to tell everyone you know your new cell phone number? Believe it or not, the government—yes, OUR government—has just answered your prayers.
A new FCC ruling allows you to bid a fond farewell (or an annoyed adios—that’s up to you) to your cell phone provider while keeping that precious phone number that all your business contacts, friends, and family already know and use. Plain and simply, it puts you in charge of the most precious commodity of cell phone service—your number.
Now—as you might imagine—cell phone providers are quite aware of this, too, so they are doing all they can to get you to stick around. By now you’ve probably seen Sprint’s annoying sorority commercial touting new 7 p.m. free nighttime calls. Guess what comes with that though? A new 2-year contract. There’s the only catch to this new freedom. If you have a current contract, it stays in effect. That means if you want to switch, you should probably wait until your current contract is up to avoid the hefty penalties usually associated with early termination.
For those of you who aren’t bound by current contracts, though, you’re free to test the market, and the market has some very good offers. Sprint offers some good phone deals—especially if you share minutes with someone and need two phones. AT&T offers free 30-day trial periods and plans that promise free phone upgrades every year. Verizon offers unlimited calling within family sharing plans and push button talk on some plans. Nextel specializes in direct connect calling and offers free incoming minutes. As you might have guessed, there are plenty of deals out there as the cell companies try to attract new customers and keep the ones they have.
