The Gong Show

I tried to buy a new cellphone today on Cingular (I have Verizon now). I was well into the sign-up process when the sales rep asked if I would like to port my number over. I confirmed that I wanted to keep my number, so the sales rep asked for it. It’s a 650 number, and I was in Boston at the time, but I didn’t think that would be an issue. Apparently it is… the rep told me that numbers can’t leave their market of origin. Brutal! I thought this whole lose-your-number-when-you-change-services problem was resolved years ago.

Aside from getting a new phone number, here is my only option right now (according to the sales rep): Get a credit card tied to an address billable in the bay area, then sign up and port my number to my new service. Taking this route, I can have the phone and all paperwork shipped anywhere in the country, and then I can immediately change my billing address to a new location of my choice. No Cingular paperwork ever needs to be sent to my Bay Area address. This is an interesting hack, but I still have the problem of getting a credit card tied to an address in the Bay Area.

The option I like best is eliminating the archaic area code system. I see no value to area codes as a consumer. All they do is mark my geography, which is an involuntary release of my private information. Why does everyone who knows my phone number also get to know my hometown?

I understand that some phone users still depend on area codes to know whether or not they are making a long distance call, but that’s just a sign of how old and dusty our phone system is. I think it’s silly that I have been able to connect to a server in China for days on end with zero additional charge since 1994, and yet twelve years later I’m still stuck wondering if 617 numbers can call 781 numbers without additional charge. I’m not saying that VOIP or Skype or whatever is the answer… I don’t know enough about telecom infrastructure to know what the solution is, but as a consumer I am baffled why I still need to deal with area codes.

One thing I really like about blogging is that when I complain about a tech problem that has been bugging me, one of my commenters always pulls a good solution out of nowhere. Anyone know how I can move from Verizon to Cingular and keep my number?