Understanding the Porting Process

Cellphone and wireless providers have been porting phone numbers for years. In most cases, the process has become an efficient transaction that may take as little as a few hours. However, it is by no means a seamless process, and not without its limitations. If you want to port your phone number from one local carrier to another, you need to bear these facts in mind and adjust your expectations accordingly. Porting a phone number is not always seamless, and you may have days, or weeks, during which your phone number is completely inoperable. There are systems in place to reduce the downtime, but downtime is always a possibility.

Porting your phone number is a lot like ordering new long-distance phone service. You fill out an order form, agree to the terms and conditions, and then sign a Letter of Authoriztion (LOA) to enable the new local carrier to begin the porting process on your phone line. From that point forward, nothing is standard. Some of the issues you may face are:

• Your phone number is not actually portable. If the local carrier to which you request to port your number has not been authorized to be a CLEC in your state, it can’t port the number onto its network. Or, if the local carrier to which you request the number be ported doesn’t have a porting relationship with your existing local carrier, it can’t port the number. Most carriers ask you to validate that your number is portable before you begin the process so that you don’t find out this information a week into the process.

• The time frame for completing the port varies. If the local carrier you are moving to has forged a strong relationship with your old carrier, you may have your number moved over in two weeks, with negligible down-time. If your current local carrier is obstinate and doesn’t play well with others, the process may take six weeks, and you may not have phone access for three days of that time.

• You may experience an unfortunate name mismatch. If you submit a request to port a number, and you list the name on the account as Bob Smith, but your local carrier has the number listed under your wife’s name Mary Mahoney, the porting request is rejected. You may need to resubmit the port request under the name Mary Mahoney, or, if the name on your local carrier invoice is Bob Smith, send in a copy of the bill to dispute the rejection.

• The port request may be rejected because of a pending order on your phone lines. If you ordered voicemail from your local carrier months ago, and the order was never completed for one reason or another, any port request is automatically rejected. Voicemail isn’t the only source for this glitch; any open orders on your local service to add, change, or disconnect a service, prevent your lines from porting. If the service is unnecessary, or simply got lodged in the order system with your local carrier, a quick call to cancel or accept the new feature is all it generally takes to cross this hurdle.

• The port request is rejected because you have a Centrex/Centranet system. If you have any packaged business features from your local carrier, there may be limitations on what can be ported. Centrex and Centranet products generally have a requirement that three lines must remain active on your account for you to be offered the packaged business services. You may be required to port all the lines in the Centrex or Centranet group, or you may be able to port some of them — as long as you leave three lines active on your old local carrier. You need to discuss the possibilities with your current and future local carrier.

• The port request may be rejected because you have nonportable services on your line. DSL is the main culprit in this group. If you port a phone line that has DSL, either the port is rejected, or the port completes but you lose your DSL service. You will have to call your local carrier to separate your phone line from your DSL. Local carriers commonly allocate a small section of their bandwidth available on the cable that supplies DSL to be used for regular phone lines. Because your phone line and DSL cable are connected on the same piece of copper wire, removing one of them potentially cancels the other service. Splitting the services onto individual copper wires prevents the loss of Internet service when your voice line ports away. If you have a distinctive ring, or some other feature that may not be available with your new carrier, you will have to decide to either lose the service or abandon the move.