Wireless Portability
 

Slate says some analysists estimate that 9 million people will want to take advantage on the first day - Nov 24 when it becomes available.

Question is, will you?

Alot of my friends who got phones in college then moved across the state or country just got national plans, so they could keep their number. I guess that what I had planned to do. Not so much concerned with the transfer of a home land line to a cell or whathaveyou. I dont even have a home phone in my house. I dont need one.

Yes. I am tired of phone and cellular companies providing me with awful service and overcharging me and holding me in the most awful contracts.

When I was with AT&T I probably had at least 6 bills over $300 because they said I went over my minutes. Somehow it was ok for them to provide shitty service though. TMobile decided they'd mess up and put me on the wrong plan. I spent 2 weeks, countless hours, talking to people, screaming at supervisors, screaming at supervisors of supervisors, faxing my contract in about 5 times until it was finally changed and I was reimbursed about 250.

These companies need to be stripped down. This is just the beginning. Next they need to rip apart the music industry and the MLB.

-Rudey

I think I'm going to get nextel :) A bunch of my friends have it and since I can keep my current number, why not get it?!?

Rudey, you are so right on! Hell, my last two bills were $234 and $126. I try to watch my calls. I love the Weekend and Night calls with a ton of Minutes, I was told after 7:00 PM but then find out it is really 9:00 PM!

I sell phone cards for Long Distance at my store and used those for ages. $20.00 was for 1965 minutes at .01 per min. Hell, could talk for 3 monts at least!

By the way, I have Cingular. I have a Mo. exchange and live in Ks. When I go back to school for something, I drive down the Ks side and 8/9 miles from the Mo. side and get roaming charges, what is up with that!:confused:

<clap clap clap>

Also dont forget to add the US Postal Service.

I agree. I hate them. I hate their long lines. I hate how they lose so much damn money but the government subsidizes them and it acts as a government monopoly. It's ridiculous.

-Rudey

On November 24, the service will be available only to those in the Top 100 markets. For a list of those markets, click here. It's a PDF, so it may take a while to load. Everybody else gets portability sometime next spring.

I only know this because my mom and I went in to inquire about it and we had three different cell phone companies tell us that Milwaukee wasn't a Top 100 market. None of them will be getting our business, particularily the scum at AT&T who tried to sell me a "national" plan that didn't work in half of Wisconsin. :rolleyes:

This will be a great thing for consumers! Look for deals to get about as sweet as they've ever been and prices of handsets to drop through the floor!

Downside: contract lengths will probably extended to 3+ years.

You guys want to know a little secret?

Those contracts they try and keep you in have no validity once you bring up something. It's something that scares the crap out of every mobile company out there.

Tell them you're getting headaches. Tell them you're worried that the cell phone is the cause of it. Ask what they can do to help that. Then ask your doctor to write a note saying you've been getting headaches and you're worried it might be caused by the cell phones which could possibly lead to brain cancer. Send that in and ask to speak to a supervisor and let them know you'd like out of the contract or you could just stay in and have them worry about a lawsuit. If they say no or try to charge you, ask to speak with someone higher than them. Keep going higher and higher.

-Rudey
--A bunch of thieves.

I suppose we're so used to them that we wouldn't be able to live without them anymore.

But it sure was a lot more peaceful (and probably safer) before we all started carrying the dumb things.

Frankly, I don't like them, but they seem to be necessary for business these days.

(OK, a digression)

I have this fiendish plan.

For those of you who have been to the Vegas airport, you know that the minute you walk off the Jetway from the airplane, you hear slot machines. I want to program the slots so that they play that inane little tune that most news cell phones come with. Can you imagine? Everyone would be grabbing for their phones -- well, at least the ones who aren't already on them.

I'd be very upset if you did that. In my office everyone uses the same ringtone because where we work it's so conservative that you can't even think about using a beethoven ringtone or downloading a song for your ringtone. Every time a phone rings everyone runs around looking for their phones screaming "Is it me?"

-Rudey
--Clean out your pm box

That's why it would be funny. Everyone would be grabbing for their phone!

Mine is set for the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

(I'll clean the PM box. It's had a lot of use recently)