Some consumers are hesitant to change their cell phone provider,
even if they see a better deal, simply because too many people
already know their existing cell phone number. Meanwhile, that
cell phone contract service may be costing you an arm and a leg
every month. You can better manage your cellular budget with prepaid,
and you don't have to lose your old cell number. Depending on
your carrier, there may be a small fee involved for the transfer
of service.
The FCC has required most carriers to implement Local Number Portability
(LNP), which is a service that lets you transfer a phone number
to another carrier, so long as the new carrier is still in your
local area. You can take advantage of the LNP mandate to switch
wireless carriers and keep the same number, or even to transfer
your landline phone to a cell phone. You can't transfer a pager
number, toll free number, or some other types of special use numbers.
Usually, when you transfer your phone number
from an old service to a new service, your old service will
be disconnected automatically. If your old service was a contract
type cell phone service, and your contract has not yet expired,
you may still have to pay fees to the old service. But if you're
transferring between prepaid services, as always, no long-term
contracts or related fees will apply.
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