This topic

Landline number porting prolems

Hedgetop — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 19:58:56 GMT

Hi,

I'm having trouble having my BT landline ported.

I've been told ofcom rules say landline number must be left active for 30 days after service ends to allow for number porting requests to be processed.

This hasn't happened in my case and now I've lost my landline number I requested to be transferred.

Can anyone advise me what to do I've been told my old number is now gone

Any help would be great

Re: Landline number porting prolems

imjolly — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 20:13:48 GMT

When you placed your order with your new ISP did you not request your number be ported during the transfer? It was then up to your new ISP to organise line and number porting

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Hedgetop — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 20:19:38 GMT

Yes I requested to keep the number, they say the porting request was sent as requested, BT say they didn't receive the request.

I'm stuck with what to do now, I don't even know if the number is still active or not

Re: Landline number porting prolems

iniltous — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 20:25:32 GMT

Your post implies you have left BT and joined another provider, you don’t state who the new provider is, but as they are now your provider, it’s should be them , not you , to sort out any issue , if the number you wanted to port from BT hasn’t been successfully ported to the new provider .

I recall seeing something about a 30 day window for porting issues, but cannot recall if it were just a proposal or was now policy, but even if it is policy, it shouldn’t be yourself doing the chasing, getting the issue resolved should be an indicator of how good ( or bad ) your new provider is.

FWIW , in every porting problem I’ve seen on this forum and ones like it, the ‘new’ company always blames the old company, but the fact is your contract is no longer with the old company, and if your new company uses that ( its the other company’s fault ) then it’s nothing more than an excuse .

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Hedgetop — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 20:53:46 GMT

You're quite right, unfortunately my new contract is with virgin media. Yes I would expect them to be doing all the legwork also but all they are doing is, like you say blaming BT.

BT have been very helpful but without an active number I'm stuck, and virgin media aren't helping

It was VM who suggested I reach out you you guys, nightmare...

Re: Landline number porting prolems

-Richie- — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 20:55:54 GMT

@iniltouswrote:
I recall seeing something about a 30 day window for porting issues, but cannot recall if it were just a proposal or was now policy, ct is no longer with the old company, and if your new company uses that ( its the other company’s fault ) then it’s nothing more than an excuse .

They are new proposed rules for switching, not due to come into force until December 2022.

The regulator will also be making some “limited” changes to phone number porting, which includes giving customers the “right to port their number for one month after they have terminated their contract and a prohibition on charging customers to port their number.” This should be a big help as at present it can be quite tedious to get your number back if it’s lost during a switch.

Providers have been working behind the scenes for a while to develop a new switching process through the Office of the Telecoms Adjudicator (OTA) and a separate consultation is due to follow, which will set out the technical details of the proposed process. These are significant changes to how switching processes work and as such, the new rules are NOT expected to come into force until December 2022.

Source - ISPreview

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Hedgetop — Wed, 06 Jan 2021 21:16:09 GMT

Thanks for taking the time to help.

I'm afraid I may be at the mercy of VM

Re: Landline number porting prolems

pompey1898 — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 17:47:26 GMT

I suspect Keith may be along shortly but I have a feeling you can't port a BT number to VM.

Either way it is VM's problem, not BT's, as VM is your provider now and you should post on its forum

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:27:56 GMT

Its down to VM to sort this out, but I can see problems, as both networks are totally separate and I am not sure that VM can "emulate" phone numbers from other providers, unlike Sky. TalkTalk, and some others.

There is nothing this forum can do. If the number is really important, then you would have to retain your BT landline, and just take the other services that VM offer.

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Hedgetop — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:31:11 GMT

Thanks Pompey,

I first posted this on the VM forum the other day. It was VM who suggested I contact this forum ( I know it sounds crazy ).

I'm just trying everything to keep my number.

A few treads on the VM forum show it can be done but the details are through private messages.

Thanks again

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Hedgetop — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:41:43 GMT

Thanks Keith,

Yes I was considering taking out a new BT landline but BT tell me the number is with Openreach now and I probably wouldn't get it back anyway

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Hedgetop — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:42:23 GMT

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:45:18 GMT

@Hedgetop wrote:

I'm just trying everything to keep my number.

You do not have to take your phone service from VM, they offer that as an extra. You still have your physical copper landline, so provided you are prepared to pay the BT Retail line rental, you should be able to get your number back quite quickly.

You could then cancel the phone part of your VM contract, which may help to offset the cost.

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 19:56:03 GMT

@Hedgetop wrote:

Thanks Keith,

Yes I was considering taking out a new BT landline but BT tell me the number is with Openreach now and I probably wouldn't get it back anyway

That is not true. If the number was originally issued by BT Retail, then it returns to them, it has nothing to do with Openreach who only provide the external network.

If you ring the number, it will tell you that its unobtainable.

All that has happened is that it has been made unavailable to be issued to a new customer, unless BT Retail run out of numbers, which is not likely to happen.

If you order a phone line from BT Retail, you will be given a new number. Once that is active, you can request your old number back. As a past customer, this should be easy for BT to confirm this.

If you have problems getting the renumber, once you have a working BT Retail phone line, then help can be arranged via this forum.

If you need to confirm the ownership of your number, that can be checked via the Ofcom website.

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Hedgetop — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 20:02:58 GMT

Thanks Keith,

That's great to know,

I just don't think I can afford to pay for the two services concurrently

Re: Landline number porting prolems

Keith_Beddoe — Thu, 07 Jan 2021 20:33:30 GMT

@Hedgetop

Its quite possible that your old phone number is now just a "stopped" line, and if you plug a phone into the Openreach phone socket, you may still have dial tone.

If you have still got dial tone, then dial 17070 and see what number is announced, it may be the number you want.

Quite often when service is ceased, the routing is left through, and the number "stopped". This enables service to be re-instated should a customer change their mind.

As for the cost, you would have to pay the line rental cost, and if you intend to make any calls, then they would cost 20p a minute, unless you add a calls package.