Competition's Final Obstacle

The most benign prediction I've heard about the November arrival of local number portability on the wireless scene is that it will be a wake-up call for mobile carriers. Some industry observers go further, saying wireless number portability's imminence is provoking dramatic changes in the way many carriers do business. Some say the customer churn that springs from the Nov. 24 implementation date will be like a bolt from the blue for service providers still in denial about their customers' loyalty. (The best analogy in that vein comes from Eric Anderson, VP of practice development, marketing and strategy for Ericsson: “Come November, I think the carriers will be like parents finding out their teenagers smoke.”)

Whatever the reaction, wireless LNP certainly will make wireless the most competitive services sector in telecom. Why? Because it will eliminate the last of the artificial barriers wireless carriers are able to hide behind. They may still be able to draw customers with cut-throat pricing or empty promises about coverage, but they no longer will have any guarantees that their customers will stick around. (Maybe this will finally put the legacy concept of service contracts out of its misery as well.) Wireless customers no longer will be hostages on carriers' networks, trapped by a 10-digit number that's on their business cards and in the speed dials of all their own customers and contacts.

Perhaps most important, wireless carriers no longer will be able to pay lip service to network quality and service reliability. As much as wireless service providers like to talk about the advanced data and entertainment applications they can offer, the basic requirement for providing those services is still a consistent wireless signal to customers' handsets. As impressive as the wireless industry's progress is, the issues of dropped calls, incomplete network footprints and the inexplicable appearance of the “no service” indicator on a wireless handset in the middle of a major metro area still linger. Even as carriers develop and promote new applications, they also must continue to address their coverage and network enhancement challenges. Wireless number portability will see to it that they do.

Finally, there's customer service, the subject of this month's cover story. With wireless LNP allowing customers to jump ship the moment they feel slighted by their mobile service provider — or even brusquely treated by that company's CSR — what carrier can afford not to overhaul its customer service practices? Beginning on page 32, Wireless Review's staff explores how three mobile carriers are changing their customer service ways in preparation for a pending exodus.

Once number portability helps enhance all those aspects of mobile service, the wireless experience truly will be a model for providers of other services to follow. And if it turns out not to be, we can always switch carriers.