Should You Cut the Cord?

Starting next week, you can transfer your home phone number to your cell and ditch your landline completely. Here's what you need to know before going completely wireless.

By Alison Stevenson

November 20, 2003

With the November 24 deadline for cellular phone number portability fast approaching, there's an additional caveat to the new regulations that you may not be aware of: the ability to go completely wireless without losing your home telephone number.

Landline services have long been required to allow customers to take their numbers with them if they change providers. Starting next week, it will be possible for many wired customers to transfer their home numbers to their mobile phones. But should you? The answer depends on how you use your phones, and how often.

"A lot of people are ready to go wireless, and don't need to have two phone numbers," says Sam Simon, chairman of the Telecommunications Research and Action Center.

With today's technology, cellular phones are generally equipped with features that are the same or sometimes better than their landline counterparts. "People are overbuying," adds Simon. "They're paying twice for identical services like caller ID or call waiting. In reality, many people don't need both."

But consumers have been reluctant to give up their home numbers, mostly due to emotional attachment to what has generally been their most basic telephone identity.

Now that phone customers can take their numbers with them, the FCC expects a large number to pull the plug on wired service altogether.

But there are a few things to keep in mind before severing your landline completely:

Incoming calls to your mobile are likely to increase, particularly from telemarketers who have your previously listed home number in their database. This could potentially eat up minutes on your service plan and increase your costs, not to mention that solicitors will now hound you wherever you go.

You won't have any extensions, so you'll also need to make sure that your handset works, with a strong signal, in every room of the house. And be prepared to tote it around with you from room to room.

Dial-up Internet users will also have to trade-up to a cable modem and a higher monthly service charge -- if cable service is even offered in their area.

Check availability with both your wireless and landline providers to ensure that a number switch is possible. While some companies, like Verizon, are already offering portability options, others may lag the November deadline, which only applies to the top 100 cities in the country, or about 70 percent of the U.S. cellular telephone market. The remaining areas aren't required to have number portability until May.

Even then, Simon suggests waiting three to six months after portability becomes available before transferring your number to avoid the inevitable glitches and headaches that are a part of any new technology. "Wait for the system to get streamlined," says Simon. "There will be a lot of horror stories and initial problems that you're better off avoiding."

Have your home calls forwarded to your mobile for a month before cutting any lines to make sure you're comfortable with the switch. You'll also be able to measure how many minutes you eat up.

Shop around for the service provider or plan that's best suited for a higher number of calls. And there should be plenty of tempting offers available. After the 24th, carriers will likely offer freebies, additional minutes or several months of a premium service, such as text messaging, to entice you. But sign on for the shortest period available. While rates won't drop initially, number portability could prompt carriers to introduce cheaper plans by the middle of next year.

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