[Asterisk-Users] Porting a phone number to a voip provider

[Brian Capouch]

Rich Adamson wrote:
>>>Just an FYI... not all cell numbers are portable.
>>
>>Do you have any more information on this?  I read somewhere that 
>>sometimes you can port a number to a VoIP provider but not be able to 
>>port it back to the PSTN because not all PSTN providers will take 
>>numbers from VoIP providers.  Is this what you are talking about?
> 
> 
> No. Some cell providers do not have the capability to selectively let
> a telephone number move to another carrier/telco/itsp. They may have
> technical plans to allow/support it, but the hardware/software necessary
> to allow/support is not yet in place. Same is true with some smaller
> telcos.
> 
> I'd also have to "guess" that come cell providers have probably taken a
> stand that says they aren't going to do it, regardless of what the 
> regulatory folks do/say.
> 
> So, the issue with number portability really starts with the company that
> currently provides the cell number to you. (Sometimes they don't like
> to volunter that info for obvious reasons.) If your number is portable,
> then it "should" remain portable regardless of where you move it to, and
> you should be able to move it as many times as you'd like.
> 
> If you move your number to the "xyz" itsp and don't like their service,
> then pick another company and ask "them" to move the number for you. For
> them to move it, however, requires an acknowledgement from the previous
> company in most cases. In some (rather rare) cases, the previous company
> will sometimes drag their feet or refuse to acknowledge the transfer. There
> are regulatory escalation processes to address that problem, but usually
> it takes a considerable amount of time to get it done.
> 

I'd like to add, not only considerable time, but if you are dealing with 
a company whose approach to stopping churn is "aggressive," then you may 
find yourself caught in a perpetual loop of problems trying to port the 
number.

For instance, I spent the better part of a year trying to port a Qwest 
8XX DID number.  The new carrier would email me to say, "The transfer 
has been refused *again*," and then Qwest's folks would say, "Oh, you 
had a call from someone on that number, so the balance is non-zero."

Finally I called them and paid the account 100% on the spot with a 
credit card, and then immediately called and told the new carrier to try 
the port.

Guess what?  "You happened to pay the account on the exact minute a new 
billing period started, so by the time you got hold of the new carrier 
there was a balance again."

That was where I gave up, let them have the number, and am now fighting 
them about that "final balance" with the state PUC.  They have sent the 
balance to a collection agency and of course if they file against my 
credit record it will then be my word against theirs in that domain.

They are rude as can be once they realize you are going to give up and 
quit paying them, and they also seem to know which state regulatory 
agencies (like mine) are staffed with incompetents who won't do anything 
even if you do file a report.

Overall, huge PIA, and I'll never give Qwest a dime of my money again as 
long as I live.

B.