FCC calls for better cell phone services

Cell phone customers may be using their final minutes to say
goodbye to their current service on Monday, when they will be able
to easily switch carriers without changing their phone numbers.

Communications analysts expect the new federal rules, created by
the Federal Communications Commission, to increase competition
among wireless companies, resulting in lower costs, better
reception and more competition-cutting promotions.

Being able to switch cell providers without changing one’s
cell number ““ known as portability ““ is a convenience
the FCC and analysts expect will help unhappy customers switch
services without the hassle.

“I never got reception in the dorms my first year here at
UCLA,” said Katie Rivera, a third-year communications studies
and comparative literature studies student.

“I’ve had the same provider since the seventh grade
because switching is really inconvenient, but I would have switched
had this rule been in effect then,” she added.

The rule takes effect in the 100 most populous metropolitan
areas Nov. 24, and nationwide six months later.

It will also allow some customers to use their home or business
phone number as their cell phone number, and visa versa, provided
that the customer remains in the same local geological area.

“That would make it much easier to move apartments without
worrying about distributing your phone number again,” Rivera
said.

Currently, about 3 percent of cell customers change carriers
every year. After Monday, turnover rate will swell to about 20
percent, The Management Network Group, a communications consulting
firm, predicted.

In a cell phone market saturated with countless service
providers, portability is “great for consumers, who will
laugh all the way to the bank,” said Patrick Comrack, a
telecom analyst with Guzman & Company.

Analysts said customers will have the FCC to thank for the new
phone features, lower prices, more minutes and better service that
will follow the implementation of the portability rules.

Robert Foster, a marketing professor at The Anderson School at
UCLA, said consumers will see marketing strategies such as
creativity in pricing plans and bundling, where carriers offer a
number of services together for one flat fee.

“You’ll be able to get a gazillion minutes for like
$3,” Foster joked.

He said that competition may also pressure carriers to improve
indoor reception ““ a component that is often poor for UCLA
students living in high-rise apartments or on-campus dorms.

“I always see students carrying their conversations by a
window or outside because there isn’t reception in the dorm
rooms,” said Charles Evans Jr., a first-year undeclared
student at UCLA.

Though Evans also holds “conversations by a window,”
he said he would be hesitant to switch plans because he just
updated his contract to two years, with a $150 cancellation
fee.

Whether or not various providers decide to increase termination
fees in order to hold onto their customers “depends on how
confident they are,” Comrack said.

Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for Verizon Wireless, said the
company supported the passing of the rule because of its leading
network base, consisting of 36 million subscribers.

Well-established companies such as Verizon and Nextel will
adjust better to the portability rule than others, Comrack
said.