[BC] Cell Phone Number Questions

[Rich Wood]

------ At 09:29 PM 5/22/2008, Broadcast List USER wrote: -------

>The really interesting thing is that the GSM standard allows each
>phone/handset to have two numbers.  This is VERY common in Europe.
>People put two numbers on their phones, one for work, and one for
>personal use.

I called AT&T because I've always noticed what seemed like the 
ability for a phone to have more than one number. It's often in the 
system setup menu. Since the general consensus is that we're a third 
world country when it comes to installed cell technology I wouldn't 
doubt all sorts of things are possible in Europe and Japan. I was 
told no phone could be assigned two numbers. I've just had a very 
intimate relationship with AT&T since my Treo 680 went belly up two 
months after the warranty expired. Until recently they offered no 
insurance on Smartphones. The only two options were to send the phone 
to Palm for repair or extend my contract for two years. After more 
than an hour talking to various departments, customer service simply 
cancelled my contract, issued another and made me eligible for an 
upgrade six months before I reached the eighteen month date.

As part of this I talked with their advanced services department and 
was told only a single number was allowed. My guess it's more a 
company policy than a technological restriction. I have a code and 
instructions for unlocking the phone. However, once unlocked, they 
won't have anything to do with it. Even firmware upgrades won't work 
on an unlocked phone. Like your brain, a phone has many capabilities 
we don't or aren't allowed to use.

Rich