Porting landline number

[diane0211]

My broadband and phone (DV) are due to renew shortly.  I contacted BT to find out whether it was possible to port my landline number to a VoIP company (virtual phone?).  It wasn’t helped by the guy not understanding what these companies were as he had never heard of them!  The conversation ended up going round and round in circles.  He kept saying that if I cancelled my phone it would also cancel my broadband.  Also the router was tied to my phone number.  Looking online I am none the wiser.  Do BT allow numbers to be ported to companies such as Vonage and Voipfone both of which, I understand, have adapters?

[jac_95]

Hi diane0211,

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[Keith_Beddoe]

@diane0211 

Porting out your number will cease your broadband.

The BT Smart Hub 2 has a socket which you can plug in a normal wired phone or DECT base station, you do not have to use any of the BT digital voice phones, if that is what you are concerned about.

[imjolly]

you would need to  wait until you fixed term contract ended and you move to rolling monthly then you could port number to a VOIP provider which will end your BT broadband contract.  you could then either contact BT for a new broadband only package or move to another ISP

[FTTPlease]

Number porting is really the in gift of Openreach rather than BT - yes they are both owned by the BT Group but what we all know as BT is treated by Openreach just same as hundreds of other companies that Openreach service (Sky, TalkTalk etc.) The BT Customer service line will not be able to tell you if the "VOIP Company" you want to use can receive an Openreach number. I would suggest asking the "VOIP Company". The BT Customer Service line wouldn't be able to tell you.

However you may need to cancel the phone service with BT first and then ask your new company to request that number. Which is not what porting means per se but would mean you can keep using the same number - albeit with a little interregnum.

Are you going to use this "VOIP Company"  as your Broadband provider too? Or are you going to stick with BT? And does the "VOIP Company" use the Openreach network for BB or another network like CityFibre, Hyperoptic etc?  There are many variables but that can make porting not possible but the cease of the old service followed by a renumber on the new service could still get you what you want.

[iniltous]

DV numbers , or numbers that were BT PSTN numbers and now are delivered via DV are ‘portable’ , but you asking BT if a VoIP company can import numbers is like asking Sainsbury’s if Tesco sell bananas, you are asking the wrong company, you should be asking the VoIP provider you want to use .

As stated , if  you contact a VoIP provider and they arrange transferring ( porting ) your BT number , it will cease the BT broadband that is associated with the number , you then access the now ported number via whatever method you have arranged with the VoIP provider.

In the past a VoIP service could be had for very little cost , those ‘deals’ are generally no longer available, and what is charged by VoIP providers isn’t much cheaper than the price ( after negotiation ) that BT offer for calls , as an example BT Unlimited Calls can be had for around £12 , VoIP providers will not be much if any cheaper.

[VeteranISPUser]

Hi @diane0211   I ported by BT DV telephone number to Voipfone, which automatically cancelled my out of contract BT broadband. I was lucky that an AltNet full fibre was available at the same time, so ended up paying a third of the price of BT for the next 18 months and finally broke the link between ISP and landline phone.

[iniltous]

Yet you still post on a BT customer forum , any reason why an ex customer would want to continue to post ?

[VeteranISPUser]

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@iniltouswrote:
Yet you still post on a BT customer forum , any reason why an ex customer would want to continue to post ?

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Hi @iniltous   Because I have had over forty years experience with BT, and can offer an alternative view. Why do you care?

[diane0211]

Hi, just to clarify - I was not asking BT to port my number to a Voip company but asking whether this is something they would do if requested by said company.  As my contract is coming to an end I am checking out various options.