_____Nextel Communications_____ • (NXTL) Stock Quote and News • Historical Chart • Company Description • Analyst Ratings _____Sprint Corp-PCS Group_____ • (PCS) Stock Quote and News • Historical Chart • Company Description • Analyst Ratings __Guide to Wireless Phone Plans__ The Sept. 28 issue of The Post's Sunday Business section reviews the six major wireless phone carriers in the metropolitan Washington region. Check out the following features: • Interactive Guide: Compare rate plans, coverage maps and reviewer's notes, plus see which plan performed best in 18 locations throughout the region. Reviews and More: • One Phone Number, to Go: Wireless Firms Working Out Details of Painless Switching Between Carriers. • Focus on the Big Picture -- Where the Phone Works: Rob Pegoraro's Fast Forward Column • Cell-Phone Internet Service Gets Up to Speed but Remains Pricey Expert Advice: • Transcript: Rob Pegoraro was online to answer all readers' wireless phone questions _____FCC In The News_____ • Telecommunications Case Moves to D.C. Circuit (The Washington Post, Oct 1, 2003) • FCC Promises to Try to Enforce Phone List (The Washington Post, Oct 1, 2003) • FTC to Appeal Latest Do-Not-Call Ruling (The Washington Post, Sep 30, 2003) • FCC News Archive E-Mail This Article Printer-Friendly Version

From News Services and Staff Reports
Tuesday, September 30, 2003; Page E05

Nextel Communications Inc. and Sprint Corp. said yesterday that they have agreed to a formal process to let each other's customers switch wireless telephone carriers while retaining their old cell-phone numbers when new federal regulations kick in Nov. 24.

The two companies said the Federal Communications Commission has failed to provide sufficient guidance about how to implement the new federal rule requiring "number portability" for cell phones. Particularly thorny are questions of how information will be swapped between rival carriers about numbers being moved and how quickly they should be transferred.

The main goal of the FCC's mandatory portability rule is to allow most of the country's 150 million mobile phone users to keep their numbers when switching wireless providers. But carriers have asked the FCC to clarify the terms under which they must transfer numbers, saying the absence of clear guidelines could make implementation chaotic.

The agreement announced yesterday between Sprint's PCS Group of Overland Park, Kan., the country's No. 4 mobile phone company, and Reston-based Nextel, the fifth largest, is one of the first attempts to set standards for number portability.

The new FCC rules do not specifically mandate that wire-line carriers must let their customers move their conventional numbers to wireless carriers, but analysts say the movement toward number portability eventually will embrace both wireless and wired lines.

Last week, Verizon Communications Inc., the biggest U.S. local-telephone company, said it has established procedures that will allow its customers to move their home numbers to a Verizon Wireless phone when the FCC rule takes effect.