Industry

Internet Service Provision
 Monday, May 17, 2004

Portable Property

I'll second Martin Geddes's recommendation to sell telephone numbers directly to the public.

Telephone number portability requirements reduce the ability of the carriers to use the customer's dependence on the number as leverage to retain the customer. Perhaps I'm not steeped enough in regulatory affairs to understand the logic of requiring number portability without explicitly stating that the number belongs to the buyer.

Regarding the value of some area codes over others, the 212 area has a certain cachet. When I was a student at Fordham, it was well-known that you stood a better chance that the sweet thang you met downtown would call you, because it seemed like you lived in Manhattan. Manhattan numbers were worth more than the outer boroughs; the Bronx was just lucky, for a while.

11:14:20 AM # Google It!
categories: Industry

Daddy, Phone!

Little Sister reaching for the phone After sharing a cellular phone with my wife for years, I finally took the plunge and got a line for myself. The new hardware, an LG VX6500 is feature-rich, which means that in the week I've had the phone, I've spent more time taking pictures and messaging than talking. And Verizon likes that.

But shouldn't I be supporting my employer? Sure, I'd love to do that. But competitors lose on three counts here:

  1. Verizon provides my local and long-distance voice service.
  2. In our area, Verizon's wireless coverage is better.
  3. We're already Verizon customers.

Would the triple distraction of voice, Internet, and video help? Not in the least: We are TiVo.

10:19:15 AM # Google It!
categories: Industry