Landline Porting Issues

[ian_v]

So we have recently moved to VM from Sky and are having major issues with porting our landline number across to our new service. Multiple attempts have been made by VM to port the number and, despite ensuring there was a good overlap of service between providers, the number porting issue is still going on and my Sky service has now terminated.

My understanding is that VM attempted the number port on 5 occasions while our Sky service was still active and are in the process of trying again. The first four attempts apparently failed as the Sky number was not active (despite speaking to them from the Sky landline on at least one occasion) and on the fifth attempt was told that BT had rejected it due to an incorrect postcode? After speaking to a manager, I have now been asked to speak to Sky to get the number reactivated to allow VM to attempt the port again. Unfortunately, Sky have told me that they cannot do this now the service has been ceased. Having worked in Telecoms for many years, I know that retrieving a disconnected number is not as easy as a live port but is technically possible although the longer it is left after disconnection makes this more unlikely.

I feel that I am not getting through to the people that can actually resolve this problem and have seen that some people have had success with similar issues through this forum so though I would give this a try. Having held this number for 12+ years and the number having been given to many places including my Sons school, Doctors, etc, I really want to avoid losing this number.

Thanks

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @ian_v

Thank you so much for your post and welcome to our community forums! 

I am so sorry to hear that this has happened with your landline! Unfortunately this is a little complicated of an issue. 

If the number is active then we cannot port it across as we have stated, it does require the number provider to keep it active. If the former provided has stated that it cannot be activated then we cannot port this across. 

I'm very sorry again for this. 

[ian_v]

The issue here is that for the first 5 attempts, the number was active. Still I am left with excuses blaming other suppliers for the issue.

[Ashleigh_C]

I've spoken to our Telephony Porting Team who has checked the number and have advised that as it's an inactive line and cannot be ported in that current state following Industry Guidelines. To port, both Operators  require certain technical details that are available when the number is active and we use this information and other details for security when porting across networks.

We advise that where a customer wants to port, they should always contact the new Provider and we will initiate the port request and cancel the telephone line on your behalf. Once the number has fully ported to us, you may contact the old provider to check and cancel any remaining services you may have with them. For more information, please see the Cease and Provide section following this Ofcom link.

Please contact your current Operator to get the line active again and once the number is fully active (if you ring the number and it rings) then we can quickly submit the request to port the number.

Thank you.