
	wireless number portability


	Home > Mobile Computing Definitions - Wireless number portability

SearchMobileComputing.com Definitions (Powered by WhatIs.com)

EMAIL THIS

LOOK UP TECH TERMS		Powered by:

Browse tech terms alphabetically:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

wireless number portability

Digg This!

StumbleUpon

Del.icio.us

- Wireless number portability is the ability of a mobile customer to retain the same phone number when they switch carriers; wireline-to-wireless number portability allows customers to switch from their landline telephone service to a wireless provider while retaining the same telephone number. The lack of number portability between wireless providers kept many consumers from changing services because of the inconvenience of changing their phone number on business cards and other documents, and informing all their contacts of the new number. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated that all wireless carriers implement number portability by November 24, 2003.

As a consequence of the new capability, mobile customers may switch carriers more often, thus increasing competition among wireless service providers, just as Local Number Portability (LNP) did among wireline telephone companies when it was put into effect in the late-1990s. According to a Forrester Research report, almost 22 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers said they would consider switching service providers if they could keep their current number, while only nine percent would do so if they had to get a new number.

The FCC ordered service providers to offer wireline-to-wireless portability in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States by Nov. 24, 2003 and that it would be available for customers in other areas by May 24, 2004. Gartner research predicted that up to 10 percent of current wireline customers would switch to wireless once they could do that without changing their telephone numbers.

LAST UPDATED:

30 Apr 2004

Read more about wireless number portability:

-	Barney Beal's SearchCRM article explores "The new churn concern."
-	SearchMobileComputing has an article called "Enterprises poised to benefit from carrier swapping rules."

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know.
Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

Digg This!

StumbleUpon

Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT

	CDMA and GSM: What's the difference? The differences between competing cell phone technologies, CDMA and GSM, are discussed in this article inspired by a Brighthand.com reader's question.
	Verizon gains 700 MHz spectrum, beats Google's bid Though Google put on a great show for moving into wireless service, Verizon recently beat out all bids on the 700 MHz spectrum auction.
	FCC releases list of 700MHz spectrum auction bidders As the auction approaches, the FCC releases the list of bidders for rights to the 700MHz wireless spectrum.

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS

Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary

1xRTT (WhatIs.com)
1xRTT (Single-Carrier Radio Transmission Technology ) refers to any of several digital wireless communications standards that were developed to...

fixed-mobile convergence (SearchMobileComputing.com)
Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) is the trend towards seamless connectivity between fixed and wireless telecommunications networks... (Continued)

SEARCH

TechTarget provides enterprise IT professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective IT purchase decisions and managing their organizations' IT projects - with its network of technology-specific Web sites, events and magazines.


TechTarget Corporate Web Site \| Media Kits \| Reprints \| Site Map All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2003 - 2008, TechTarget \| Read our Privacy Policy