How exactly does switching my cell number between carriers work?

[blurredvision]

I currently have T-Mobile as my carrier, and after a couple of years, I've been perfectly happy. I've only had to call customer service for changes or questions, and every time they've been extremely nice. Unfortunately, though, the wife and I are missing the extended coverage into the hills of eastern Kentucky, which is where we both grew up. Once we venture out of the city, we get no signal.

By looking at coverage maps, it looks as if a switch to Verizon or Cingular would cure this, and I think this is the way we're headed. The wife needs a new phone anyhow, so instead of reupping our contract for 2 more years with Tmo, we're looking into these new options.

The one thing we want is to keep our current numbers. Now how exactly does this work? Should we sign up for a new plan with another carrier before we cancel the one with Tmo? Is it a fairly instant process to switch numbers? Our contract is up next Tuesday, and I'd like to make this switch pretty quick, but we'll be going out of town for a couple of days on Wednesday, and do not want to be out of a cell phone while waiting for any changes to take effect. If that's the case, then I'll wait.

Thanks for any info guys.

 

[imported_Mike]

Sign up for a new plan and inform the new company you want to port your number over. New company will take it from there. Once your numbers are ported over, Old Company will cancel your service and send you a prorated bill.

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: Mike
Sign up for a new plan and inform the new company you want to port your number over. New company will take it from there. Once your numbers are ported over, Old Company will cancel your service and send you a prorated bill.

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