Starting Monday, 11/24/03, when you switch your cell-phone carrier you will be allowed to keep your old phone number. Good news!
Should you rush and switch right away? No, you’re better off waiting for couple of weeks, or even couple months. Why? Here are couple of good reasons (taken from WSJ.com).
1) The first few days under the new rules — possibly even the first few weeks or months — will likely be filled with technical glitches, long lines and confused customer-service reps.
2) The deals that carriers have been throwing at consumers to keep them from jumping ship are expected to get better once subscriber defections mount.
So, yeah, those seem to be valid points. So just wait a little before you switch (I know I will.)
11/25/03 — Update on the switch on News.com.