topic Getting an old number back in SIM cards & Porting

Getting an old number back

jackdanielmills — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 14:33:11 GMT

Hey everyone,

Some time ago (over a year) my sim plan was deactivated and I lost my phone number. It was supposed to auto-move to a sim only plan where I top up as my contract of over 10 years had ended. I was told that the number is now in some kind of phone number recycling system.

Is it possible to somehow still get this number back? The number is not in use or active so I assume it's still available.

Any info or help would be nice 🙂

Re: Getting an old number back

rkelly1 — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 15:01:37 GMT

If it is a pay as you go number that has been cancelled due to non use, the number would not be able to be retrieved. It will be recirculated eventually

Re: Getting an old number back

Chris_B — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 16:53:43 GMT

@jackdanielmills If it’s been over a year then it’s gone for good. You should have done something about that at the time as you’ll been able to get the number back.

Re: Getting an old number back

jackdanielmills — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:47:41 GMT

Left the UK, contract was supposed to end and transfer to a pay as you go
so I wouldn’t have to think about it and I’d keep the number in case.

However it didn’t convert to a pay as you go and EE tried to keep taking
payment. It was only by chance that I logged in to see if everything was ok
that I saw the account was in arrears. Paid off in full immediately and was
told in branch it will be restored. Only to be told the next day I’d missed
the cut off to keep the number active by 1 day.

So a bit of a mess 🙂

I was told it would be possible to get the number back at some point but
I’d have to wait up to a year to see if it comes back into circulation.

I still have PAK, SIM number and details etc but I don’t know if these
details are specific to the SIM or if they’re tied to the number itself.

Mostly just curiosity to see if I can get it back or not.

Sent from my iPhone //

Re: Getting an old number back

bristolian — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 18:28:42 GMT

@jackdanielmills wrote:
Left the UK, contract was supposed to end

A rolling contract ends when one of two things happen...

1: You explicitly give 30days disconnection notice, whether with or without a request to migrate to PAYG. Or....

2: You request and use a PAC (Porting Authority Code) to migrate to another telecoms provider.

If neither of these happened, then your pay-monthly account will continue. You also mention having a PAC, which suggests you requested it but didn't use it... if this is the case, then your pay-monthly contract should have continued.

If you had given disconnection notice and moved to PAYG, then that migration should have happened 30days after you gave notice - at that point your PAYG is subject to the hibernation policy. This is detailed in the link below, but in short you have 9months from the last chargeable action before your line is permanently disconnected and credit/number is lost.

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Pay-as-you-go/Understanding-Pay-As-You-Go-Hibernation-and-how-to-keep-your/m-p/1606627

A PAC is specific to a mobile number, a SIM-number (IMSI) is SIM-specific.