This topic

Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

sylvianc51 — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:30:03 GMT

Hi,

I'm writing this on behalf of my aunt.

To cut a long story short, a combination of Sky and Pop Telecom have resulted in her having no landline, and the number that she had for over 40 years has gone to quarantine. The landline & number were lost 3 months ago. She is keen to get her number back again.

Sky have advised that BT are probably the only provider that might be able to do this.

The details that are probably relevant:

- The number will have been allocated by BT originally, and has moved between TalkTalk, Sky, and Pop Telecom in the past 10 years or so.

- My aunt's details will have been with the number originally - she has never moved.

- She is willing to take out a contract with BT if they can retrieve the number.

So....

- is Sky correct - BT may be able to help us out?

- if so, can BT check that they have "access" to the number to confirm that allocation of the number is a possibility?

Really hope someone can help!

regards

William

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 16:49:47 GMT

@sylvianc51

If her number is owned by BT retail, and she is living at the same address, then it would normally be possible for her to get her number back by moving her phone service to BT Retail.

What are the first seven digits of her phone number? Please do not post the full number here, just the first seven digits.

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

sylvianc51 — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 17:04:04 GMT

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response.

The first seven digits are 02890799

regards

William

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

iniltous — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 18:24:47 GMT

There are many similar posts, people who haven’t moved home, but have moved a long-standing phone number between providers and along the way those other providers have contrived to lose the number, generally if the number was initially allocated by BT then it should be possible for BT to reallocate it ( once the number has returned to BT , due to these other company’s ineptitude) but I doubt you will get a 100% guarantee from BT ( or be allowed to leave a new contact penalty free ) , if it turned out the number couldn’t be retrieved , you would have to proceed on the basis that BT would make ‘best efforts’ to get what you want, and as already stated that usually is successful.

I think you would have to accept it’s a bit of a ‘risk’ and hope for a positive outcome, but if that isn’t good enough , and the only way BT will get your business is with some sort of get out clause , then , I suspect you will have to simply accept any number from whoever the preferred provider is, and give up on the possibility of getting the number back

Assuming you ( or your aunt ) do use BT then the process is a ‘random’ BT number is allocated to a new order for service with BT and once it is in and working , a renumber order issued to get the original wanted number back.

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 18:51:35 GMT

@sylvianc51 wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for the quick response.

The first seven digits are 02890799

regards

William

That number does not appear in the Ofcom list, so I assume its not a number on mainland UK?

Is a NI number? If that is the case then I cannot find a way to look that up, as I think the situation in NI is different.

http://static.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/index.htm#geog1

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

sylvianc51 — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 19:10:42 GMT

It is a Northern Ireland number. I hope that doesn't make things more difficult. I'm not sure why it would be handled any different than the rest of the UK.

It would be really useful if it was possible for someone could check that the lost number is available. I know there are no guarantees, but it would be good if we had some indication if it was potentially possible or not before committing to a contract. I would have thought someone would have the means to check.

I've just had a look at the data linked to above. In this file "SABCDE2= S1 Geographic Codes Starting 2" is see this entry:

2890 79

Allocated

2+8

26/05/1999

Does this confirm that the number is allocated to BT?

regards

William

PS: Thanks for the info, it is useful and a step forward from what I have been able to find so far.

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

imjolly — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 19:16:17 GMT

Have you tried phoning the number to make sure not already allocated

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

sylvianc51 — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 19:25:27 GMT

I have just tried the number again, and it is not allocated. I would not expect it to be, as I have been told numbers are "quarantined" for at least 6 months, and this number was lost less than 3 months ago. Maybe someone can confirm the 6 months quarantine? And also that it is possible to allocate a quarantined number if the customer details match?

regards

William

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 19:33:18 GMT

@sylvianc51

Sorry, my mistake, I have not downloaded that spreadsheet before, as I had only downloaded the mainland ones.

As it is allocated to BT, then there should be no problem getting it back, by moving the phone service to BT, provided the address is the same, or an address connected to the same exchange building.

Initially a new number has to be allocated, but once its active, a renumber can be requested back to the original number. Any issues, then please post back here and a moderator may be able to help.

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

iniltous — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 19:38:49 GMT

If the number has been in existence for 40 years, because it predates other network operators then it must be a ‘BT’ number , but confirming it’s ‘status’ will be difficult if not impossible for you to know, if it’s currently still set as exported from BT and the other operator has indicated the port is no longer needed because they have ceased the service of whoever they ported the number for , then it’s sort of on its way back to BT, if that process is completed, BT wouldn’t usually look to re use the number for a while ( so it’s back but in quarantine ) but if the other operator has not indicated that BT can have the number back , it’s sort of in the ether, that’s one reason why an absolute guarantee that the number can be retrieved , cannot be given, company’s that BT have no control over are involved.

No doubt , someone at BT could check the status of the number, but why would they do that for someone who isn’t a BT customer , it may even be against some GDPR ‘ data’ rules.

I suspect you would have to show some commitment to BT , by raising an order , for BT to do anything other than offer ‘general’ advice.

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

sylvianc51 — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 21:14:55 GMT

I'd like to thank everyone for their help. I understand there are no guarantees, but it looks like BT are the only hope for getting the number back, so we will place an order and cross our fingers that it does work out. The only think we're missing out on is potentially better deals from other operators, but that is what caused the problems in the first place....

I'm sorry I can only nominate 1 post as the solution, as I gathered useful information from others, but I have selected Keith's. I see from the footer of one of the posts that it is possible to "thumbs up" the other posts, but I can't see how to do it.

But thanks everybody, and hopefully I'll be back in a few weeks with a request for guidance on how to request a "renumber".

regards

William

Re: Allocating a "lost" number from quarantine

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 21:26:20 GMT

The "thumbs up" is not enabled on this board as it just a general discussion board for non-service affecting issues, and somewhere to get advice.

The other boards are for BT Retail customers to ask for help with their connection, and do have that feature.