How to save your SunRocket Phone Number
Given the SunRocket debacle, many folks have emailed and asked us, how do we save our phone numbers. I called around and asked some of my sources about the easiest way to save your phone number. It is a fairly easy process, though you need to hurry.
- Go to the nearest wireless store.
- Sign-up for the service, and ask them to switch the number to their mobile service. Reason you want to do this is because mobile carriers are most efficient when it comes to number portability.
- You have 30 days to cancel the service. Make sure you switch your number to another voice service before those 30 days elapse.
- Cancel Wireless Service.
The trick would be to do it soon – like today. There is a good chance, people who actually own the numbers SunRocket was giving out to customers are going to freeze them, because they want to recoup their monies.
The two companies which own the phone numbers are Global Crossing and Level 3 Communications. I have emailed them, to find out their policies around this issue.
Why you need to do this will be explained in my longer post on why SunRocket failed, and the inside story.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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or http://www.phonenumberbank.com
Brilliant plan!
this will indeed work if you plan on porting to a RBOC/Baby Bell, but beware – not all non-RBOC/CLEC phone carriers can/will port numbers from Wireless carriers (pretty sure Time Warner and ComCast don’t.)
Otherwise, get your order in to your preferred new carrier ASAP and wait out the inevitable backlog for porting…
As of 10:15 EST, my Sunrocket connection is still working too. What gives?
I talked to T-Mobile, my current cell provider and set up a third line on my current two-line family plan and started the port of my home number to the third line. When I gave them my home number, they told me that Global Crossing has the number and that it would take 2-24 hours to get the number to T-Mobile. I will check tomorrow to see if that is accomplished.
Also, I took a look at their T-Mobile@home offering and it looks very interesting. here is an independent review of the new service as of 6/27/07:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/06/27/hands-on-with-t-mobile-hotspot-home/
Make sure to transfer the number before canceling the wireless service. Also, those who have VoIP service from SunRocket, Lingo, Packet8 like services should beware – this will likely happen to you too. read more at http://techuntangled.com/5-reasons-why-voip-providers-will-go-bust” rel=”nofollow”>http://techuntangled.com/5-reasons-why-voip-providers-will-go-bust
It is my understanding that LNP assures a subscriber can port the service number to another carrier under certain conditions like geographical sameness etc. Your post and a subsequent comment seem to suggest that L3, GC, TW and CC may not observe that ruling. Am I right in that interpretation. If so, that is much bigger story than SR closing down.
Om, I hope you take on the brief on behalf of consumers in advising them what kind of rights they need to assert as they take on a new carrier, like whether the carrier will abide by LNP.
0545 P, San Diego, and my SR service is still up and well.
Sunrocket victim here….. NO service since Monday. Everyone says if is line dead, no transfer. Also, talked to FCC, FTC, and Viginia SCC – there are NO consumer protections or rights with VOIP problems as there are with other telephone services.
While I appreciate the need for a real resolution to the problem, what you are suggesting is just as crappy as what SR did to their customers. You basically just told everyone to screw the wireless companies by wasting their time, money and equipment when you know you aren’t going to stay with the service. That’s pretty sleazy.
Aswath -
it is true that wireline carriers are required to port between themselves (as long as factors such as geographic sameness are met), there are a couple of issues that could cause problems with the strategy Om outlined above:
SunRocket appears to not be location dependent (like Vonage and other independent VoIP providers) and customers may have non-local numbers (out of Rate Center) that would not be portable to a more traditional location-based provider.
All the FCC info I could find regarding porting between wireline and wireless providers was heavily peppered with “may” and “in some cases” and only addressed porting from wireline TO wireless, not the reverse. I understand this to mean that while porting between wireline and wireless and back is possible, it may not be in practice with all carriers yet.
VoIP providers are still not required to follow all of the wireline regulations (see also: SunRocket up and leaving hundreds of thousands of customers in the lurch with no prior notice). most markets with the cable companies are considered VoIP carriers rather than traditional wireline carriers, even though they voluntarily follow the bulk of the wireline regulations.
I do hope that some clarity comes soon from SunRocket or Global Crossing on where these numbers are going and how. I feel bad for all these folks stuck in the middle of this mess.