Cell phone switching smooth, far below forecasts

By Bruce Meyerson
Associated Press

Arthur Moy was the first customer in the Verizon Communications Store in Novi, Mich., to switch service to Verizon. Moy, a manufacturing rep, uses his phone for business. PRNewsFoto via Associated Press

But the actual volume of customer requests to move a number to a new carrier likely totaled less than 100,000 for the day, well shy of the forecasts that perhaps millions of cell phone users might try to switch on the first day, according to several industry sources.

Many would-be switchers were said to be waiting to make sure the process runs smoothly enough that they're not left without service because of glitches.

Verizon Wireless, the nation's biggest mobile carrier, was far more boastful than its rivals, reporting more than twice the usual traffic in its stores and declaring the day a clear success.

No. 2 Cingular Wireless said portions of its Web site were down for about two hours as the company added capacity to handle heavier-than-normal visits. Sprint and AT&T Wireless reported a modest increase in visitors to their stores.

The day was rife with publicity stunts by mobile phone companies determined to put the best spin on how they were faring with possibly the biggest change to hit the cellular industry.

Cingular issued a statement announcing "one of the first" conquests of a rival's customer: five-time world boxing champion Felix "Tito" Trinidad, whose request to switch was processed just after midnight in Puerto Rico, where the new rules took effect an hour earlier than on the Mainland.

Verizon Wireless distributed updates by e-mail with photographs and comments of customers switching to that company.

Federal Communications Commission spokesman David Fiske said the agency is not tracking the telephone number transfers because there are no reporting requirements.

Some experts cautioned that switchers shouldn't expect the handoff of phone numbers to take less than three hours, as mandated by the FCC.

Leery of new price wars in a fiercely competitive market, cellular carriers were fighting as recently as September to block or delay the new rules, which cover the nation's 100 largest markets, including Honolulu.

Rural cellular providers are still seeking to stop the change, which takes effect as early as May 24 in their coverage areas.

The new regulations, mandated by the FCC, also allow consumers and businesses to move their home or office number to a cell phone. On Friday, a federal court rejected a last-minute bid to block that portion of the rules by the trade group representing the Bell local phone companies.

Because only 3 percent of the nation's 152 million cell phone users have cut the cord by turning off their home phones, most of the activity spurred by the FCC's rules was expected to be switches among rival cellular companies.

A survey released Sunday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 21 percent of Americans with cell phones say they have "very" or "somewhat" seriously considered canceling a home line since they began using a cell phone.