US lawmakers ask FCC for phone switching mandate Reuters
Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:38pm EDT http://www.reuters.com/article/regulatoryNewsTechMediaTelco/idUSN1851894620090318 WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - Several U.S. lawmakers asked regulators to require that phone companies take no more than two days to release a customer's phone number to a rival company, according to a letter released on Wednesday. At issue is how long it takes a landline phone company like Verizon Communications Inc or AT&T Inc to transfer a customer's phone number to a new wireless or cable company when that customer is switching carriers. Mid-sized carriers like Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile, and Sprint Nextel Corp, say the landline companies delay "porting" or providing the number to the new carrier, sometimes in an attempt to woo the customer back. The lawmakers want a two-day maximum for "number portability." "Local number portability was designed to facilitate competition," said Democratic Representative Anna Eshoo of California, and 10 other members of the U.S. Congress in a letter to acting Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps, dated March 17. The lawmakers said average time for traditional phone companies to port numbers is about 4 business days, while it takes only about 2.5 hours for wireless carriers to exchange numbers. A representative for Copps' office was not available for comment. -- ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 Mail: antunes at uh dot edu *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
