TELETRUTH NEWS ANALYSIS
November 24th, 2003
Wireless Number Portability starts today. However:
The Bells had 20 years to deliver on the simplest basic service that customers need.
While the recent decision to require wireless companies to allow a customer
to take their phone number with them when they switch to a new provider is a
good first step --- let's get real. Most people are thinking --- "Who cares?
I still can't take my wireline local phone number with me when I move my
home or to another office."
According to the US Census approximately 15% of the population move every year.
Worse, the FCC has allowed the local phone company to tack on to customers'
phonebills a charge for "local number portability", which only allows a customer to
switch local phone providers at the same location.
To add insult to injury, Congress, who created this portability charge,
stated that we, the customers, shouldn't be paying for this privilege. "The
cost of establishing telecommunications numbering administration
arrangements and number portability shall be borne by all telecommunications
carriers on a competitively neutral basis as determined by the Commission."
(SEC. 251. [47 U.S.C. 251] (e) (2))
Maybe someone should have told the FCC that the collection of almost $1/2 a
billion dollars for local number portability was NOT supposed to be paid for
by the customers.
More to the point, horror stories abound of customers who try to keep their
current local phone number when they even move cross-town. One customer
was quoted $558.00 to start and a monthly charge of $96.04 a month to keep
the same number when they moved 20 blocks in New York City.
Their story: http://www.teletruth.org/About/newsletter/Portabilitynightmare.htm
This story is not new for Teletruth. In 2000, with New Networks Institute,
we filed a Petition with the FCC requesting the agency to either drop the
local portability charge or do what customers want --- allow customers to
take their phone numbers with them when they move.
http://www.newnetworks.com/New%20Portability%20Petition.htm
And from our new forthcoming book on phonebill charges, published January
2004, the dirty little secret is that this charge is quadruple taxed! In
New York, for example, this charge is taxed a Universal Service Fund charge
and then the Spanish American War Tax (Federal Excise Tax). Both of these
taxes are supposed to only be applied to Interstate charges, not an obvious
LOCAL charge. Then there are "Surcharges" (more than one) applied
not to mention and state, city and local taxes. All of this adds an additional
28% worth of taxes to an already existing charge in the "Taxes and Surcharges"
section of America's phonebills.
It's the 20th Anniversary of the creation of the Bell companies in January
2004. And even with the simplest of things -- keeping your phone number ---
they still haven't bothered to give the Public this essential basic service.
We gave them 20 years. Maybe it's time for a serious examination and change
from the monopolies who haven't served us well.
Bruce Kushnick, Chairman
212-777-5418