New reg will allow people to keep their phone number.
This sounds like it may be very good news for HPON.
Also, note how few people in the USA use cell phones compared to other countries. This tells me that the USA would buy a lot of disposable phones just to have something in case of an emergency, but without all the hassles and monthly bills that come with being a subscriber.
story.news.yahoo.com
Mobile Number Portability May Spike User Turnover
Tue Aug 27, 6:10 PM ET
By Sinead Carew
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A controversial new U.S. regulation that would allow cell phone users to take their number with them when they switch carriers could turn the wireless industry on its ear, one research group has found.
The regulation, which comes into effect in November of 2003, will create a spike in the number of customers who jump between service providers, at least in the short term, said analyst Ken Hyers at research group In-Stat/MDR.
Right now, many customers stick with their cell phone companies because it would be inconvenient to change their cell phone number. Presumably, if allowed to take their phone number with them, customers could change providers as easily as they do with long distance phone companies.
This could wreak havoc among service providers who count on steadily growing subscribers to improve sales,
"The first 12 months after the regulation will be very painful but then the pain will diminish. Carriers should accept that rule as inevitable and move forward," Hyers said.
He forecast that about 46 percent of U.S. mobile customers would switch to a rival operator in the year after the Federal Communications Commission ( news - web sites) rule takes effect. That compares to an estimated mobile customer turnover rate of 30 percent for 2002, the researcher said.
Industry heavyweights including the leading U.S. provider, Verizon Wireless , managed to get the portability rule deadline pushed back a year but the Federal Communications Commission refused to scrap the plan entirely.
Similar rules in Australia, Hong Kong and parts of Europe increased customer turnover rates by 25 percent to 50 percent, In-Stat said in the research note.
Hyers argued U.S. companies shouldn't delay upgrading their systems to accommodate portability, because there is an even higher turnover rate seen in countries where a bigger percentage of the population used mobile phones.
"Each year you wait it gets worse," he said noting that the longer consumers have mobile phones the more attached they become to their phone numbers.
He predicted that U.S. operators would fare a little better than companies in other countries since only about half of the population use cell phones. According to In-Stat/MDR, total mobile subscribers in the United States totaled 125.5 million in 2001, with 2002 subscribers estimated at 143.1 million.
This is a relatively small proportion of the population compared with some countries where more than 70 percent of the people use mobile phones. ...<< |
