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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACTS:  November  4,  2003  Chelsea  Fallon  at  (202)  418-  7991 
 e-  mail:  chelsea.  fallon@  fcc.  gov  Rosemary  Kimball  at  (202)  418-  0511 
 e-  mail:  rosemary.  kimball@  fcc.  gov 
 FCC  PROVIDES  INFORMATION  FOR  CONSUMERS  ON  WIRELESS  LOCAL  NUMBER  PORTABILITY 


 Washington,  D.  C.  –  Today,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  released  a  fact  sheet  for  consumers  on  wireless  local  number  portability  (WLNP).  WLNP  allows  a  wireless 
 consumer  to  change  service  providers  within  a  given  location  and  keep  the  same  phone  number.  The  FCC’s  rules  require  wireless  carriers  to  make  WLNP  available  to  consumers  in  the  top  100 
 Metropolitan  Statistical  Areas  (MSAs)  starting  November  24,  2003.  In  areas  outside  the  top  100  MSAs,  WLNP  will  be  available  by  May  24,  2004,  or  within  six  months  of  a  wireless  carrier’s 
 receiving  a  porting  request  from  another  carrier,  whichever  is  later. 
 The  WLNP  fact  sheet  explains  the  steps  consumers  should  follow  to  keep  their  wireless  telephone  number  when  changing  service  providers  and  highlights  what  consumers  should 
 expect  from  the  porting  process.  The  fact  sheet  includes  information  on  how  long  the  porting  process  should  take,  possible  charges  consumers  may  incur  for  number  portability,  and  the  use 
 of  911  services  during  the  porting  process.  The  fact  sheet  also  includes  a  map  and  a  list  of  the  MSAs  where  number  portability  will  begin  on  November  24,  2003. 


 The  WLNP  fact  sheet  is  attached  and  is  available  on  the  Consumer  and  Governmental  Affairs  Web  site  at  www.  fcc.  gov/  cgb. 
 -  FCC  - 
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