Monday is the big day I've been waiting for—I can switch carriers and keep my phone number. Problem is, now I don't know what I'm going to do; shall I stay or shall I go?
I have been an AT&T (McCaw Cellular even, I think) customer since 1993. And although I've had different phones (I think I still have enough of them somewhere around here that I could open a cell phone museum), I have had the same phone number for the past 10 years. This has been very convenient for friends in Seattle to call me at my Seattle number, even while I lived in Spokane, Denver and now San Diego.
My hesitation to switch carriers stems from not knowing whether it is my current phone or my phone service that is so horrible. Actually, I know my current phone is horrible—it is that dreadful little Nokia 3360 that often 'hangs' when I try to dial, has the alarm that only works part of the time and dies during calls (not related to a dead battery). The only reason I haven't upgraded it is because I didn't want to be stuck in another contract when this glorious number portability day finally arrived! Then again, maybe my service here is awful too—a lot of dropped calls. I have to admit though, that the service in SD beats the service in Denver.
Bob is a big Nextel fan. He is putting the pressure on me to switch; however, the handful of times I have used his phone I have heard a noise that I can only equate to a lawn sprinkler. I find this too distracting to have a conversation. He insists it must just be his phone, but I have yet to be shown otherwise.
Then there is the issue of plans—Nextel (if I can find a sprinkler-free phone) has a National Shared Plan, but it is only 1200 minutes/mo. Granted, our monthly minutes would be reduced by using the walkie-talkie feature, but 1200 minutes still isn't enough for both of us.
Then I looked at the Verizon plan, but I can't seem to find a family plan with the same coverage I currently have with AT&T (I have the 'Digital One Rate Plan' that they don't offer anymore...I can call from anywhere to anywhere without roaming or long-distance fees. None of this 'home area' stuff). I haven't heard enough good things about Cingular and Sprint to spend the time looking at their plans.
So the big happy day will likely come...and go...and I still won't have made the switch. It will probably come at a moment of weakness when the first cell phone salesman grabs me at a mall and tells me he has just the plan I need...
Heather - Let us know how it works.
I was researching ditching my local (land-line) carrier, Qwest in favor of Vonage, who offers the ability to keep your current number. Caveat emptor, though because on the Vonage web site, they say it takes up to 15 days to get the phone number from the old carrier.
So, I'm wondering if it will take 15 days or what on the cellular phone side. My money's on the 15 day delay.
Posted by: jeff at November 21, 2003 04:36 PM