So much for number portability

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 21, 2005 Posts: 1

I called to investigate switching from AT&T CallVantage Voip service to Vonage. No chance. Vonage says that can't transfer my existing number because they have no "relationship" with AT&T.

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 16, 2005 Posts: 31

That`s strange. When i was talking to Vonage about number transfer they told me that according to federal law phone companies cannot hang on to phone numbers anymore. Am i missing something here?

Posts: 20 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 19, 2005 Posts: 20

I understood you could transfer any personal number. Vonage told me that if I decide I want to cancel my Vonage account that I could take my number with me because I own it. They don't have any control over it.

I would think this would apply to all carriers including AT&T CallVantage.

Did you try punching in your number on their site to see if they can transfer it?

Posts: 492 · Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2005 2:23 pm Post subject:

Here is the scoop! Telephone numbers are increasingly hard to get. It may not necessarily be Vonage that dropped the ball. AT&T is a strong competitor to Vonage. Vonage has over 50% of the VoIP marketshare. It may be possible that AT&T won't cooperate either out of shear orneriness or they have a severe shortage of telephone numbers themselves. Believe it or not, the U.S. is quickly running out of telephone numbers.

Some years ago, 10 digit dialing was introduced so that additional area codes could be employed and the base of phone numbers could be increased. However, with the spread of wireless phones and now VoIP, the available pool of phone numbers is near exhaustion.

As long as the PSTN remains, the wireless and VoIP companies are restrained from reprogramming to another dialing system. That is something that the antiquated PSTN is physically and monetarily unable to do unless they spend near billions of dollars to scrap the present system and build a new one for the new century.

Finally, if AT&T refuses to sell a phone number that they own outright, there is nothing that Vonage can do about it. They can sue at a cost that far exceeds the value of a single telephone number. Sorry.

Posts: 31 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 16, 2005 Posts: 31

But...what federal law are they talking about then?