Reinstate landline number

[JohnJames]

My landline was disconnected 9 months ago. I would like my landline to be reconnected, but with my original number. My original number has not been reallocated. Is this possible, to have a landline with my original number.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@JohnJames 

Welcome to this user forum for BT Retail phone and broadband customers.

That is not going to be possible, as the limit is 28 days for a number to be recovered.  The PSTN network is closing down, and all new allocations use BT Digital Voice.

Numbers are not normally re-allocated to anyone else, as there are plenty of spare numbers, as many people just have mobiles.

[JohnJames]

Keith,
Thank you for making time to reply.
Could I have landline installed with a new number. Once installation is complete, then port my old number to new installation.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@JohnJames 

There are no new analogue phone landlines available.

See https://landlinesgo.digital/

You would be issued with a new number, carried over the broadband connection, but it would not be possible to get back a number which has been inactive for so long, and would have only physically existed on the old analogue PSTN network.

I can not recall anyone posting on this forum who has requested a number which has been inactive for so long, as there would be no reason anyway, as most people would have already been told of their new number.

[JohnJames]

Thanks Keith. We had the old number for nearly 50 years, but unfortunately it was lost when upgrading.

[Keith_Beddoe]

It should have been possible at that time, to get your number back, if you were with BT Retail, and had asked about it on this forum. Provided you had not moved to a different exchange area.

[Thomato]

Yet logically...

Is the PSTN system now entirely disbanded? If not, could the old number not technically be reinserted into that system? 

If it has been totally removed, a digital system should be free of the old restrictions and any old number should be possible to take back. 🤔

[WSH]

Not if it's been allocated to someone else.

By the way, this thread is 12 months old.

[Thomato]

It hasn't been reallocated at all - it's just dead in the water!
It was the number for an old family business that was active from 1983 - and, even long after closure, people still enquired at times.

[JohnJames]

Keith,

Thank you for making time to Reply.

My old landline number which is PSTN has not been reallocated. I understand the network is now Digital, but I still do not understand why the number cannot be migrated.

What are technical issues that prevent a PSTN number being  migrated to Digital.

i would have thought that the Digital network should be able to support a Virtual number. Such as my old PSTN number.

The reason this is important is that we had our number for over 40 years. This issue is threatening a Divorce.

regards

John James