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Downtownat10 · 11-25-2003, 12:46 PM

Here's my take on the whole subject...

I think it is a great thing that people can now take their numbers with them. Originally, I was pleased with it the first time I heard about it. At the time, I was under the impression that it only dealt with Wireless numbers, and that wired numbers stayed the same. This, to me, was beautiful, because I have a number of friends who got locked into a year of two year contract with a certain company, and had terrible service, but when the contract ran up, they were tied down to that number. When people have been calling you for two years on one number, it is difficult to get them to change overnight. So I wholly supported that from the beginning.

When I learned that it dealt with switching wireline phones to wireless, I was a bit shocked. I understand that in a lot of ways the local carriers don't compete with cellular prices. Also, you cannot beat the convenience of having a cel phone. So yes, it does give wireless providers an unfair advantage.

But then I really started to think about it.

Local carriers have consistently kept consumers nuts in a vise for decades. If a large carrier such as SBC runs your local area, in the past you were stuck with SBC. They could essentially price-gouge their customers, but nobody would understand the gouging, since there was no other competition. Local carriers had the monopoly. The only good thing, in my opinion, that ever came from the Telecommunications act of 1996 was that the FCC required companies to open their networks to competition. However, these companies can still price their line-lease rates to third party companies based on local demand. Meaning, of course, that if SBC owns a five mile plot, and charges the customer $20/month for service, they could charge a third company $15/month per line to come in and offer service for one mile of that plot. Essentially, even though they have been forced to open their networks, they still control the price of service.

So, keeping that in mind, I think the local carriers have held on to the market long enough. With wireless companies now being able to take their numbers, the phone companies are going ot have to wise up and realize that the time for competition is upon them. Wireline carriers could easily offer unlimited long distance to their customers, but then they are left with only the monthly service charge coming in. It does not allow much room for market growth, considering the holiday calls would fail to net them any extra money. Many phone companies offer unlimited long distance for an extra fee, so it isn't as if the idea is impossible.

Besides, there are still going to be a huge number of people that must keep a wireline phone. Most small home office users have an extra line strictly for a fax. Although there are various ways of getting faxes via the internet, not all users either understand this or are willing to convert to this. Those lines will remain, because although it is possible to get faxes on mobile phones, it isn't commonplace. Also, if a customer has a DSL line through PacBell or BellSouth, are they not required to keep a phone line? I know locally that Bellsouth requires that you have your phone service through them in order to get DSL, so I have friends who won't be switching full-cellular just yet.

And, one item which is by no means irrelevant, are the people who have security systems installed at their homes. Most all alarm providers need to have a land line connection, with the exception of a few of the top-tier companies. While these customers have the option of lowering the service they receive from the phone company, that line still has to be there, and has to be connected at both ends.

So I applaud the new number portability. It is time that land carriers felt the pinch of holding onto their monopoly for too long.

11-25-2003, 12:46 PM	#8 (permalink)
Downtownat10 Crazy Location: A Fortified Compound, East Coast	Here's my take on the whole subject... I think it is a great thing that people can now take their numbers with them. Originally, I was pleased with it the first time I heard about it. At the time, I was under the impression that it only dealt with Wireless numbers, and that wired numbers stayed the same. This, to me, was beautiful, because I have a number of friends who got locked into a year of two year contract with a certain company, and had terrible service, but when the contract ran up, they were tied down to that number. When people have been calling you for two years on one number, it is difficult to get them to change overnight. So I wholly supported that from the beginning. When I learned that it dealt with switching wireline phones to wireless, I was a bit shocked. I understand that in a lot of ways the local carriers don't compete with cellular prices. Also, you cannot beat the convenience of having a cel phone. So yes, it does give wireless providers an unfair advantage. But then I really started to think about it. Local carriers have consistently kept consumers nuts in a vise for decades. If a large carrier such as SBC runs your local area, in the past you were stuck with SBC. They could essentially price-gouge their customers, but nobody would understand the gouging, since there was no other competition. Local carriers had the monopoly. The only good thing, in my opinion, that ever came from the Telecommunications act of 1996 was that the FCC required companies to open their networks to competition. However, these companies can still price their line-lease rates to third party companies based on local demand. Meaning, of course, that if SBC owns a five mile plot, and charges the customer $20/month for service, they could charge a third company $15/month per line to come in and offer service for one mile of that plot. Essentially, even though they have been forced to open their networks, they still control the price of service. So, keeping that in mind, I think the local carriers have held on to the market long enough. With wireless companies now being able to take their numbers, the phone companies are going ot have to wise up and realize that the time for competition is upon them. Wireline carriers could easily offer unlimited long distance to their customers, but then they are left with only the monthly service charge coming in. It does not allow much room for market growth, considering the holiday calls would fail to net them any extra money. Many phone companies offer unlimited long distance for an extra fee, so it isn't as if the idea is impossible. Besides, there are still going to be a huge number of people that must keep a wireline phone. Most small home office users have an extra line strictly for a fax. Although there are various ways of getting faxes via the internet, not all users either understand this or are willing to convert to this. Those lines will remain, because although it is possible to get faxes on mobile phones, it isn't commonplace. Also, if a customer has a DSL line through PacBell or BellSouth, are they not required to keep a phone line? I know locally that Bellsouth requires that you have your phone service through them in order to get DSL, so I have friends who won't be switching full-cellular just yet. And, one item which is by no means irrelevant, are the people who have security systems installed at their homes. Most all alarm providers need to have a land line connection, with the exception of a few of the top-tier companies. While these customers have the option of lowering the service they receive from the phone company, that line still has to be there, and has to be connected at both ends. So I applaud the new number portability. It is time that land carriers felt the pinch of holding onto their monopoly for too long. __________________ Heh. Oops. Sorry about that one...