Wireless Number Portability and Regulatory Power

Starting today, wireless carriers must allow customers in the 100 largest service areas to take their phone numbers with them when transferring service.
While many argue that deregulation is the best way to increase competition and create efficient markets, here’s an example of increased regulation increasing the efficiency of the market. The wireless companies fought the portability requirement. Without number portability, the cost to customers of switching carriers is high– many customers would stay with an inferior service in order to avoid the costs of changing a phone number. Only because FCC regulation forced the cell phone companies to enable local number portability are consumers able to choose the service that works best for them, without being constrained by the desire to keep the same phone number.
Where company policies create an artificial, rather than natural, monopoly power, regulation will increase competition.
Some Links:
Gizmodo: Number Protability Arrives
MobileTracker: Pre-LNP tidbits
AP: Moving Cell Numbers? Wait a Sec
GigaOm: Number Portability tips for Consumers
NumberPortability.com.