How Number Portability Worked In Finland
As US wireless carriers gear up (or not, as the case may be) for local number portability they might want to look at how things went in Finland, where they just introduced local number portability a few months ago. Turns out that TeliaSonera discovered quite a bit more churn than usual, with over 20% of their customers leaving - as compared to an average rate of about 10%. This isn't a huge surprise, and while TeliaSonera did lose some customers, they didn't lose that entire 10%, suggesting much of the churn was also from other carriers to TeliaSonera. Also interesting is that TeliaSonera has taken the position which Verizon Wireless is currently taking - saying that they welcome wireless local number portability and believe that they can compete and win on such a level playing field. As evidence of that, they're already introducing newer, more consumer friendly pricing plans.
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