> What are they going to do to stop current customers from jumping ship to
> other
> carriers? Are they allowed to charge a fee if you want to take the # with
> you?
They may try that, but there's no allowance for them to get away with it.
It's not that they let you take the number; it's that the new carrier
takes the number. Cingular (and any other carrier) doesn't have any say
in who takes the number and when or why.
This will lead to price drops, as people who stayed with a carrier to
keep a number can suddenly move to another carrier to take advantage of
better pricing.