INPHONIC OFFERS PORTING AID

InPhonic, an Internet-based distributor of wireless services and products, is launching a new consumer Web site this week designed to ease the process of switching carriers amid what is shaping up to be a harried and complex transition to wireless local number portability.

The company's Wirefly site, at www.wirefly.com, will go live Wednesday, Nov. 19, and offer consumers the ability to search for new services and devices by carrier or manufacturer or by providing information about how much they spend on wireless services, said David Steinberg, founder and CEO of InPhonic. On the Wirefly site, consumers also can view licensed content from J.D. Power & Associates detailing which carriers and services have the highest quality ratings, Steinberg said.

After a user chooses a service—including providing the phone number to be ported—and clicks through the purchasing process, the Wirefly site works with both carriers involved to port the number to a new service and ship the activated mobile device to the customer.

“It should only take as long as the shipping method they choose,” Steinberg said. “With portability, there will be long lines of people waiting outside retail stores, and this will help.”

Wirefly leverages InPhonic's experience of already being the largest Internet-based provider and activator of mobile phones, as well as its legacy of relationships with 23 carriers. Through existing portals, InPhonic has become a successful distributor of services, software and other mobile products to business and enterprise customers.

Steinberg said InPhonic is spending “tens of tens of millions of dollars” marketing Wirefly. He acknowledged that wireline-to-wireless portability could bring even greater numbers of users out shopping for new services than expected, but that the Wirefly site should be able to handle the traffic.