NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Google Voice permitting porting of mobile phone numbers
Google Voice permitting porting of mobile phone numbers http://bit.ly/eaaOJh (Engadget) The comments associated with this link illustrate the expected confusion about this procedure. One issue of course, is that by definition it needs to be a mobile number at this point, and porting that number terminates the existing service plan for that phone, and may trigger early termination charges. If you only have one mobile phone, and you port its mobile number to GV, what number are you using on your mobile phone? None. So that phone is offline unless you get another number. I'm wondering how many people actually have working mobile numbers to "spare" in this kind of scenario for porting? Normally when you a change a mobile number you're not able to port the old one, you have to give it up. Hmm. Obviously, the real game changer would be porting of landline numbers, but that might trigger carrier-level regulatory scrutiny, depending on FCC interpretation. This appears right now to mainly apply to people who have two or more mobile phones and are willing to shut one down anyway, or go through the hassle of shutting down their only mobile phone and then restarting with a new number, toward the goal of preserving the original mobile number as a GV number. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com) http://www.vortex.com/lauren Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 Co-Founder, PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility): http://www.pfir.org Founder, NNSquad (Network Neutrality Squad): http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, GCTIP (Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance): http://www.gctip.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz