FCC Allows Wired-to-Wireless Number Portability

The FCC ruled yesterday that consumers will be able to not only port phone numbers from one mobile phone carrier to another, but from landline telephones to mobile phones, also by November 24, 2003, "unless [wireline carriers] can demonstrate that complying with these regulations would be technically infeasible."

News release: FCC Clears Way for Local Number Portability Between Wireline and Wireless Carriers
FCC Ruling
Commissioners' statements: Powell, Abernathy Copps , Martin , Adelstein

NY Times: F.C.C. Backs Phone Number Portability

The ruling by the F.C.C. was a defeat for phone companies that argued that transferring wire-line phone numbers to wireless services was logistically difficult. They proposed a more limited measure that would have allowed only about one in eight phone users to move a wire-line number to a mobile phone, the agency said.

FCC: Wireless Local Number Portability Frequently Asked Questions