Moving Your Phone Number

LNP stands for local number portability, and it is a procedure that enables you to move your phone number from one local carrier to another. The procedure came into being because people hated getting new numbers every time they switched cellphone providers. After enough people got irritated, the U.S. Congress forced the development of the LNP system. Now if you switch wireless providers, you can take your phone number with you to the new one.

In the context of wireless providers, the LNP system seems like small potatoes. Now consider the fact that wireless providers also function as local carriers; you can move your phone number from local carrier to local carrier, which is actually, well, big potatoes.

 Tip  Here is a real-world scenario that could happen today: You live in Charlotte, North Carolina. You’re a busy executive, so on any given day you may be in the office, on the road, or working remotely from home. You don’t want your staff or associates to be forced to dial three different phone numbers to reach you, so you decide to port your phone line to a competing local exchange carrier (CLEC) that uses VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology to provide a find-me-follow-me service, completing calls dialed to one phone number to multiple destinations. (I discuss porting in the following section.) The increased functionality may motivate you to move your phone line to the new carrier, and you may not even have to upgrade to VoIP phones at your office. If you are interested in VoIP, please read more about it in Chapter 15.