toronto.ctv.ca

Cellular telephones are about to become a little more mobile. With a regulatory change, wireless phone numbers will become as portable as the tiny devices that place the calls.

Wireless number portability was mandated by the previous federal Liberal government two years ago. Since then, cellular companies have been making the required technological changes and Wednesday is the deadline for their work to be done.

When Canada's mobile phone giants flip their switches, customers will be able to take their phone numbers and move to a new cellular carrier.

Observers expect number portability will spark a round of intense competition in Canada's cellular industry, which is dominated by major players Bell Canada, Rogers Wireless and Telus Mobility.

Until now, cellular phone numbers were controlled and assigned by the companies and most customers were locked into term contracts.

Wireless number portability will allow customers to shop around for a better service plan and price without having to change their phone number.

Government and industry priority

The federal government made wireless number portability a priority in the Feb. 2005 budget. In April of that year the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) said that the country's wireless companies reached an agreement to make portability happen.

By December, the Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) weighed-in, setting the March 14, 2007 deadline. The CRTC said that customers in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec should be able to switch to any phone service provider, including traditional wireline companies, and keep their number by that date.

The wireless industry disagreed and said they would offer portability nationwide.

"It was just a month later (after the 2005 federal budget) the industry announced that they were implementing it," CWTA spokesperson Marc Choma told CTV.ca.

"When we did get the CRTC decision in December we thought 'no,' this has to be something that is available to all Canadians and it has to be all at the same time," Choma added.

The only cases where people cannot move their phone numbers will be in communities where competing carriers do not exist or local phone number portability has not yet been implemented.

Publicity stunt

Canada's wireless service market may be dominated by a handful of companies, but many others players are competing for customers.

Among them are Fido (owned by Rogers) and Virgin Mobile Canada, which is controlled by billionaire Richard Branson. Several companies act as resellers of services provided by Bell, Telus and Rogers.

Branson's service is partly owned by Bell and uses that company's cellular system. A relative newcomer to the Canadian marketplace, Virgin sees number portability as a plus.

The jet-setting business mogul has been lobbying in favour of portability for years. On Tuesday he suspended himself in a cage above Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square, and then made a staged escape from his prison cell.

He said it was symbolic of the act of setting people free from their cellular phone contracts.

"The fact that people can move their mobile phone companies and bring their phone number with them is a day to celebrate in Canada," Branson said.

"It will bring a lot more competition (and) I think it will bring prices down and it will make mobile phone companies have to sharpen their pencil and get their quality and customer service better as well."

Points to bear in mind when switching providers (Source: Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association):

  • Portability exists only in areas with more than one provider.
  • Changing carriers means getting a new phone from the new provider.
  • Penalty clauses may apply to get out of a contract.
  • Only active phone numbers can be ported.
  • Companies may charge a fee to accept an existing phone number.
  • Only the phone number -- not services such as voicemail -- can be transferred.
  • Switching entails taking on a new rate plan.
  • Fax numbers, but not pagers, can be switched to a new carrier.

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