If you go into someone’s shop and take something without paying, it’s shoplifting and is punishable by jail time and a fine. But when a customer who owes a carrier money takes his or her phone number with them to another carrier without paying the first carrier, it’s porting. And the FCC has mistakenly decided this is good business.
The wireless industry is crying foul at a recent ruling by FCC Wireless Telecom Bureau Chief John Muleta that wireless carriers must fulfill a porting request from a customer, even if that customer owes the carrier money. Carriers are right to protest this decision. To be fair, wireline carriers also have to port phone numbers, even if the customer owes money to the carrier. “Even if they owe us Fort Knox, we have to release the number,” said Jim Smith, spokesman for Verizon Communications Inc.
I’m all in favor of the consumer. I am one. But America isn’t filled with only Honest Abes. It’s filled with a wide mix of people, some of whom are quite trustworthy and others who spend too much time thinking about how to cheat the system. A recent survey found that one-fourth of Americans pay at least one bill late each month. Bankruptcy filings are up 7.7 percent, and credit-card debt increased 8.5 percent in 2002 compared with 2001, according to information from Cardtrak.com. If a customer already is abusing its relationship with its carrier by not paying on time, that customer is even less likely to pay once he no longer has a relationship with said carrier. If the FCC believes customers are clamoring to keep their phone numbers, carriers should be allowed to use that tool to try to keep a dialogue going with delinquent customers. And to be fair, if the billing is in dispute, carriers should resolve the issue as quickly as possible to allow those customers to churn.
A new carrier could find itself in the same boat as the first, with a customer who owes money and is simply choosing to skip out-and take his phone number, too. Carriers will have to ask themselves whether it is worth going after each customer who owes money. And while carriers can harm a consumer’s credit report, that action still does not put any money to their bottom lines.
In the end, other “fees” likely will increase to cover the costs of these delinquent customers. And good, honest, on-time-paying customers will bear the financial burden of those who try to beat the network. And just like the legacy of the shoplifter, we’ll all pay for the sins of others.
