Changing cellphone carriers

[danaeris]

A word of unsolicited advice to everyone...

Everyone and their mother is going to try to change their carrier on Nov. 24th.

Don't be one of them.

Wait a week, a month, a few months, for the dust to settle.

First of all, for I'd guess about a week afterwards, customer service will be putting you on hold for HOURS to get through. Even if they bring some extra folks on for the duration, I doubt they'll all be able to accomodate the calls.

Second of all, networks get overloaded. If everyone shifts to the same network, it will no longer be a worthwhile network. Wait for the dust to settle and then reevaluate your options. Otherwise its a total potshoot whether you'll end up with good service/reception/etc.

Feel free to correct, contradict, etc. in the comments. I'm interested in hearing suggestions/corrections etc., even though I won't be switching since my contract expires June 5th anyway and I might as well wait and NOT pay a $175 fee.

Comments

I missed something

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

What the hell is happening on Nov. 24th?

Re: I missed something

[epicureanangel.livejournal.com]

ditto

Re: I missed something

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

On Nov. 24th, the number portability act goes into effect. This means that for the first time, cellphone users get to keep their cellphone number even if they change carriers, which is all that has been holding some people back from switching. Everyone knows their number and switching would be a nightmare for them.

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

Well, right now I'm with Verizon, and for the most part, they are great.

There are two factors which might convince me to switch when my contract expires.
-phones. I'm not sure but I suspect the best PDA phone out there (value etc) is the Treo 600, and Verizon will not be carrying it. So it very much depends on what PDA phones they carry when my contract expires and if they'll have one that I find satisfactory (since between now and then a new PDA phone may come out which Verizon DOES carry and which I like as much or more than the Treo 600)
-quality of service. I really do believe that if the musical carriers game that happens on November 24th plays out the way I suspect it will, the Verizon network may wind up way overloaded. While it is rated best overall in the nation NOW, come June 5th, it may be mediocre at best because everyone switched to it. So the quality of reception, customer service, etc. should not have depreciated noticeably come June 5th.

[hastings1066.livejournal.com]

I am definately changing, but I may wait a couple of weeks to see what breaks. We get a major deal with AT&T GSM through work, including major discounts on the phones. I will make the contract break fee back in < 3 months by my estimations. Also Cingular's GSM gets really really strange coverage at work b/c of the EMI oddness of the buildings. We have base stations onsite for AT&T so reception is crystal.

[nathanjw]

I don't think it's likely that any of the cell networks will be overloaded by everyone switching to it. None of the carriers have an absolute-best service, and market surveys show that there are similar churn rates (change of carriers) for all of the major carriers. So I think the dust will settle with similar numbers for the carriers - though of course they all fear being the loser, which is why they fought number portability so hard. The churn rate will probably stay higher than it is now (though less than the one-time jump that this will cause), and that will have interesting effects on the market.

Customer service will be swamped for a while, though. Perhaps the best advice is to not fall for any of the "great deals" that are being offered right now, in an attempt to lock people into long-term contracts before portability happens. I expect the overall pricing structure to change quite a bit after it happens. My current contract is up in January, and I hope the dust has mostly settled by then.

[tsgeisel.livejournal.com]

Are there really that many people waiting to change their carrier?

I'm sticking with Cingular because of the rollover plan, so that after a month of not really using my phone, I pretty much don't have to worry about minutes ever again. For me it's worth a small amount of inconvenience, but then I'm not often completely off-network.