Can I keep Home digital voice phone number if I change ISP

[AnotherGOM]

My situation is that I am coming to the end of my current contract which is Full Fibre with DV. My "landline" number has been with our property since it was built over 70 years ago and we wish to retain it.

My wife (in her 70s like myself) refuses to use anything other than a corded handset. We therefore currently have an old handset connected via an adapter for her use. I have tried searching for options such as purchasing a corded phone that will use a sim. These are available but it seems that I cannot port the existing 0151 *** **** number over to a mobile provider.

It begins to look as though it is virtually impossible to keep our 0151 number unless we stay with BT or find another ISP who offers a comparable digital phone service. None of the comparison sites are any help at all with retaining a landline. I can see why landlines are being phased out - simply because providers are making it too difficult or expensive to retain them.

Anybody out there got any useful ideas?  

[licquorice]

You're asking on the wrong forum, it is not up to BT if you retain your number with another provider. You need to ask the prospective provider.

[iniltous]

What are you actually trying to achieve, your DV service adds £3 to your broadband, or around £12 if you want to include unlimited calls , so what is it you want to do , save the £3 but keep the number with someone else providing  it …..if keeping the number with someone else , who do you want that to be  ? , a third party VoIP provider ? the days of free VoIP are over , although you may save a small amount by moving the number to a VoIP provider it’s likely to be a very small saving .
If you are asking why you can’t have a landline number on a mobile phone contract , for the same reason you can’t have a mobile number on a landline, that’s a somewhat silly notion.

….FYI , you can arrange to answer calls to a landline number from an associated mobile with the appropriate ‘app’ and provider , but the mobile still has its own mobile number and its own costs as well as the organisation hosting the landline number has their costs .

If what you really want is to use a different broadband provider on a completely different network, and they don’t offer a telephone service but you want to keep your landline number , that’s a conversation to have with that Alternative broadband provider , no one is holding you or your landline number hostage.

[VeteranISPUser]

Hi @AnotherGOM   When I moved from BT to a cheap AltNet broadband only provider, I simply moved my 40 year old BT home telephone number to a VOIP provider. I am paying £6 a month for 100 minutes, after which it is only 1p per minute! Use a search engine to find Home VOIP providers. I even tested the VOIP phone while still connected to BT (you get a temporary 05 number before the BT number is moved across). I'm in my 70s and found the whole process easy. They will hold your hand during the transfer.

[iniltous]

Care to name the VoIP provider…Voipfone as an example is £6 for 100 minutes not 500 , but admittedly they may be others cheaper, but as stated if you use your line mainly for incoming calls and only the very occasional short outgoing call , you may be paying more than a BT customer on PAYG , it depends on the individual calling habits.

The OP question isn’t specifically about VoIP .

Any reason as an ex BT customer you continue to post here ? 

[VeteranISPUser]

---

@iniltouswrote:

Care to name the VoIP provider…Voipfone as an example is £6 for 100 minutes not 500 , Any reason as an ex BT customer you continue to post here ? 

---

Hi @iniltous   You are correct, I started with the 500 minutes but dropped to 100 minutes because at 1p a minute after 100 suited me better. The plans have changed since I joined. Can you please point me to the community rule that says you must be a BT customer to post here, and why do you care so much? Over 40 years experience with BT. Was it you that asked me that question before, my apologies as I am not a BT user, but can provide an unbiased alternative view.

[iniltous]

Perhaps you misunderstood, asking why you continue to post on this BT customer forum when you are not a BT customer isn’t a prelude to myself saying or implying you are not allowed here so go away  , AFAIK , no rule exists baring non customers from contributing , it’s more a genuine question of what’s your motivation ,

I’ve posed the same question to a few ex customers, why if you have left BT , do you still feel part of the BT Community given this is a BT customer (Community ) forum , not a general telecom chat forum there are plenty of them if you feel the need to provide an opinion on an old provider .

 I’m an ex Virgin customer and an ex Sky customer, I’ve no idea if they have customer to customer forums but as I’m no longer a customer , personally I’d feel no reason or motivation  to post on their  customer forums  ( assuming they exist that is )  that’s with either positive or negative contributions , I’ve moved on ,  I’d feel it’s basically not my place as I can’t possibly contribute not being a user of their products.

There are plenty of other ‘general’ forums where BT are discussed , sometimes positively , often negatively, I occasionally post on some of them ,  but in essence given this is a BT customer to BT customer forum, I’m always slightly confused why non customers or ex customers feel the need to ‘watch’ what’s going on here , I once suggested BT must be like the Hotel California for some ,  in that they seem to checkout but never leave .

If you continue to contribute that’s fine , makes no real difference, as the saying goes haters gonna hate, it just strikes me as a little odd, but perhaps that’s says more about me than you .