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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  Contact:  December  9,  2003  Rosemary  Kimball  (202)  418-  0511 
 e-  mail:  rosemary.  kimball@  fcc.  gov 
 WIRELESS  PORTABILITY  COMPLAINTS:  APPROXIMATELY  600  CONSUMER  COMPLAINTS  SINCE  REPORTING  BEGAN  ON 
 NOVEMBER  24 
 Washington,  DC  –  In  the  two  weeks  since  wireless  carriers  in  the  top  100  MSAs  implemented  the  FCC’s  local  number  portability  rules,  thereby  enabling  consumers  to  switch 
 carriers  and  “port”  their  telephone  number  to  the  new  carrier,  the  Commission  has  received  approximately  600  informal  consumer  complaints  as  of  4  PM,  Monday,  December  8. 


 The  majority  of  these  complaints  allege  delay  in  moving  a  number  from  one  wireless  carrier  to  another.  There  are  similar  complaints,  although  fewer  in  number,  alleging  delay  in 
 moving  from  a  wireline  carrier  to  a  wireless  carrier.  The  second  biggest  category  alleges  refusal  or  failure  by  carriers  to  “port”  a  number  after  receiving  a  consumer  request. 


 The  six  carriers  most  frequently  mentioned  in  the  complaints  are:  AT&  T  Wireless  (332  complaints);  Verizon  Wireless  (129);  Cingular  Wireless  (98);  Sprint  PCS  (94);  Nextel 
 Communications,  Inc.  (46)  and  T-  Mobile  USA,  Inc.  (44).  The  Commission  receives  many  complaints  that  do  not  involve  violations  of  a  Commission  rule  or  order.  Therefore,  the  receipt 
 of  these  complaints  does  not  necessarily  indicate  any  wrongdoing  by  any  of  the  companies  involved.  Further  analysis  is  required  to  determine  what,  if  any,  violations  occurred.  In 
 addition,  these  statistics  do  not  reflect  the  number  of  complaints  against  a  particular  carrier  relative  to  the  number  of  porting  requests  made  to  the  carrier. 


 On  December  4,  noting  the  pattern  of  complaints  and  various  press  reports,  the  FCC’s  Wireless  Telecommunications  Bureau  sent  a  letter  to  AT&  T  Wireless  asking  for  information 
 about  the  nature  of  the  problems  the  company  appeared  to  be  facing  with  the  porting  process  and  what  the  company  was  doing  to  remedy  the  situation.  AT&  T  Wireless  has  until  December  10  to 
 respond. 
 In  releasing  these  latest  complaint  numbers,  K.  Dane  Snowden,  the  chief  of  the  FCC’s  Consumer  &  Governmental  Affairs  Bureau,  said.  “Since  implementation  of  wireless  local 
 number  portability  on  November  24,  many  consumers  have  changed  companies  and  kept  their  numbers.  Number  porting  is  a  complex  procedure  and,  as  with  any  new  system,  we  expected  a 
 few  bumps  along  the  way  in  the  beginning.  We  will  continue  to  work  with  the  companies  to  overcome  any  initial  glitches  to  ensure  that  consumers  who  wish  to  take  advantage  of  this  very 
 popular  option  can  do  so  easily  and  quickly.” 
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