Verizon can kiss my ass
So an appellate Federal court told cell phone providers today that they've got until basically Thanksgiving to get their shit together with a plan to provide portability for cell phone numbers. Thank God.
The opportunity to keep your number when switching providers is something that people in the UK, Hong Kong and elsewhere take for granted. It's also taken for granted by people in the U.S. with land lines. It *should* have been an option for cell phone users starting in 1999, but the FCC has extended the deadline three times to suit the whining cell phone companies, who say it's too scary for them to do too.
US wireless telcos are asswipes. People in Lagos who have never worn shoes in their lives can e-mail each other movies of their goat herds. Tibetan monks can play wireless MMORPGs on their phones. But most folks in the US are still lagging behind on ANCIENT 2G digital phone networks. And, to add insult to injury, every time they switch providers, they have to get a new phone number.
No mas, said the feds today. The industry lackeys at the CTIA are bitching that the feds haven't provided "guidance" about how portability will work. Well, look around, shits for brains. It's done in other parts of the world already.
If you're wondering why I'm ragging on Verizon, it's because they were the plantiffs in the case. *spit.*