number porting problem

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vicleong@gmail.com - 28 Feb 2007 07:23 GMT

so this is a long sordid affair and i can't seem to get a straight
answer from anyone at sprint. here's the problem. i started out with
sprint more than 10 years agoin sacramento, ca. a few years ago,
however, i switched to at&t, which became cingular, which is now at&t
again.

in the move, i ported and took my number with me. now i'm looking to
move back to sprint, but they're telling me that the number can't be
ported. the most intelligent thing that i heard was something to the
extent of sprint not having converage for the area the number belongs
to. but wait, the number originally came from sprint?!?!

anyone have any ideas as to why the number can't be ported and what my
options are now? i'd even be willing to go so far as to port the
number to a land line (if possible) and forwarding calls to my new
spring phone. thanks for and and all input!

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Bill Marriott - 28 Feb 2007 07:50 GMT

You should be able to port the number to Vonage (or another VOIP provider),
if you can't make it happen with Sprint.

As for Sprint, I would just go to a different store and try it.
Unfortunately it seems customer service in the cell phone industry changes a
lot from one rep to another.

> so this is a long sordid affair and i can't seem to get a straight
> answer from anyone at sprint. here's the problem. i started out with
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> number to a land line (if possible) and forwarding calls to my new
> spring phone. thanks for and and all input!

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vicleong@gmail.com - 28 Feb 2007 08:02 GMT

Thanks Bill. I wish I could just get a concrete answer from them so
that I can stop wasting time researching/calling/holding to determine
whether or not I'll ever be able to port the number. I'm looking now
and they have a cell tower right in Sacramento, not that it means that
they should be able to port the number over...sigh.

> You should be able to port the number to Vonage (or another VOIP provider),
> if you can't make it happen with Sprint.
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -

Reply to this Message

Dennis Ferguson - 28 Feb 2007 08:54 GMT

> in the move, i ported and took my number with me. now i'm looking to
> move back to sprint, but they're telling me that the number can't be
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> number to a land line (if possible) and forwarding calls to my new
> spring phone. thanks for and and all input!

You might discover why it can't be ported by going to this web page

http://www.telcodata.us/telcodata/telco

and typing in the area code and exchange prefix. This will tell you
who owns the block of numbers which includes your's, and the ratecenter.
The ratecenter is what Sprint seems to be complaining about not having
coverage at. If you click through the rate center it will show you
all the companies that have numbers in that ratecenter.

If the number does indeed come from a Sprint block, or if you find
that Sprint does have coverage at the ratecenter, you should make
another try at getting them to port the number since there is no
reason I know of for them not to. If not, however, there's not a
lot you can do except to look for a VoIP service that will port
the number in and can forward it to you.

Dennis Ferguson

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vicleong@gmail.com - 28 Feb 2007 11:10 GMT

Wow, Dennis. Thanks! This has been quite enlightening. Sprint
definitely has coverage at the rate center and not only that, they own
the block of numbers that includes mine! I'm thinking that a trip to
the Sprint store might prove to be futile...doubt the customer reps
would know much about this let alone correct the problem. Looks like
i'll be be sitting on hold for a while...

Thanks again Dennis!

> > in the move, i ported and took my number with me. now i'm looking to
> > move back to sprint, but they're telling me that the number can't be
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> Dennis Ferguson

Reply to this Message

Bill Marriott - 28 Feb 2007 16:40 GMT

I'm not so sure. I would just walk into a Sprint store and get your
phone/port... acting as if nothing unusual is going on. They will probably
just process everything routinely.

I wouldn't try "calling ahead" with Sprint customer service, and if you went
in-person before, I would go to a different store. If something goes awry
then you can whip out your printout... but I bet it won't be needed.

Good luck

> I'm thinking that a trip to
> the Sprint store might prove to be futile...doubt the customer reps
> would know much about this let alone correct the problem. Looks like
> i'll be be sitting on hold for a while...

Reply to this Message

Steven J. Sobol - 28 Feb 2007 19:01 GMT

> I'm not so sure. I would just walk into a Sprint store and get your
> phone/port... acting as if nothing unusual is going on. They will probably
> just process everything routinely.

I believe Sprint has a separate porting department. I would try
calling customer service or tech support (try tech support first) and
see if they can transfer you.

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Todd Allcock - 28 Feb 2007 17:34 GMT

> If the number does indeed come from a Sprint block, or if you find
> that Sprint does have coverage at the ratecenter, you should make
> another try at getting them to port the number since there is no
> reason I know of for them not to. If not, however, there's not a
> lot you can do except to look for a VoIP service that will port
> the number in and can forward it to you.

Just an FYI- AFAIK, VoIP providers don't play by the same porting rules
as "real" telcos, unless things have changed recently. Many at
broadbandreports.com have reported trouble porting out of the smaller
VoIP providers- check the fine print.

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vicleong@gmail.com - 28 Feb 2007 18:27 GMT

Thanks for the heads up Todd! I was already looking around at the
smaller voip players since their rates were so much better. I'll
definitely keep that in mind as being able to keep my number is
defitely the priority here!

> > If the number does indeed come from a Sprint block, or if you find
> > that Sprint does have coverage at the ratecenter, you should make
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> broadbandreports.com have reported trouble porting out of the smaller
> VoIP providers- check the fine print.

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