Could You Retrieve Phone Number from Quarantine

[Bloodfall]

I had a phone number that was with Asda but they disconnected it a good while ago and it still comes up as an incorrect number every time I dial it. I have tried phoning Asda themselves about this but only had a very frustrating conversation where they were telling me that they could not give me the same number and kept offering me a new one. So I called Ofcom and they told me that the number is in quarantine and that I need to contact any service provider and ask if they can take the number out of quarantine.Now I looked up the number and found that it is now owned by you (EE) so it seems that you would be the best place ask.

The reason I need this specific number is because it is connected to my Yahoo email account and they are suddenly demanding that I prove that it is me when I attempt to sign in. The only real way they would be able to do this is by texting a code to this number that is now quarantined and I am sure that if do not regain access soon they will close my account for good. So is there anyway to get this number back?

[Leanne_T]

Hi @Bloodfall 

Thanks for coming to the community. 

Did you have an EE account with this number previously and transferred the number to another network? 

Thanks. 

Leanne. 

[Bloodfall]

No, it was a number I bought from Asda for a backup phone and attached to the Yahoo account only because Yahoo made me attach a number to it. Though no looking up the number it’s said to be owned by EE and I also forget to mention that I tried putting in the sim card into an old phone and on sim info settings it says “EE” network even though it is an Asda sim.

[bristolian]

There is a popular misconception with MVNO "piggyback" operators that the MNO who happens to provide radio coverage at a particular time, can somehow assist with support queries. This is not the case - an Asda SIM is an Asda SIM, and it is Asda to whom support queries should be directed.

EE were historically Asda's host network, but that is no longer the case.

[Bloodfall]

Then why is the case that when you look up the number online it lists it as being EE and why does my sim display as being EE? The images I posted that have now for some strange reason been deleted show this (also why were they deleted?). Furthermore Ofcom told me that I should contact ANY mobile service provider and ask them to take it be taken out of quarantine even saying I should a different company when I told them how unhelpful Asda were being.

[bristolian]

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@Bloodfall wrote:

Then why is the case that when you look up the number online it lists it as being EE and why does my sim display as being EE?

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Every MVNO has a different arrangement as far as core network, additional services, CRM & number allocations go. Some will run their own systems for everything other than radio network coverage and this could include number allocations. Others will include everything except CRM (customer-relationship-management) in their wholesale arrangement, provide that themselves but otherwise rebrand everything from their host-MNO.

It's therefore not uncommon for MVNO's to use a number allocation within their host-MNO ranges, sometimes a particular block. It doesn't mean that end-customers can or should contact the host operator for support queries.

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@Bloodfall wrote:

The images I posted that have now for some strange reason been deleted show this (also why were they deleted?).

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The images haven't been deleted, but have been rejected from public visibility - due to them containing personal/identifiable information - specifically, a mobile number. This is covered in the forum guidelines.

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@Bloodfall wrote:

how unhelpful Asda were being.

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Asda's primary business is supermarket retail, not mobile telephony. This is a common problem with MVNO "piggyback" operators who tend to target the budget end of the market.

[Bloodfall]

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@bristolian wrote:

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Every MVNO has a different arrangement as far as core network, additional services, CRM & number allocations go. Some will run their own systems for everything other than radio network coverage and this could include number allocations. Others will include everything except CRM (customer-relationship-management) in their wholesale arrangement, provide that themselves but otherwise rebrand everything from their host-MNO.

It's therefore not uncommon for MVNO's to use a number allocation within their host-MNO ranges, sometimes a particular block. It doesn't mean that end-customers can or should contact the host operator for support queries.

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The way I understand it was that if a number has been disconnected for a certain amount of time then it is recycled and another company gains possession of it. Though regardless it certainly seems that Asda does not have ownership of this number anymore both because it’s most likely been disconnected for some time and they now longer piggyback off of EE. This combined information about number saying that it belongs to EE leads me to believe that it is now an EE number.

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@bristolian wrote:The images haven't been deleted, but have been rejected from public visibility - due to them containing personal/identifiable information - specifically, a mobile number. This is covered in the forum guidelines.

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What does it matter? It’s my number and it’s in quarantine anyway, it’s not like you can actually call anyone on it. Plus I hoped that if the number is visible that this would increase the change of someone being able to look into its status more and perhaps getting it reinstated.

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@bristolian wrote:

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Asda's primary business is supermarket retail, not mobile telephony. This is a common problem with MVNO "piggyback" operators who tend to target the budget end of the market.

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Yes, but I am not sure that they even have the number anymore and Ofcom told me that I should contact ANY service provider to ask for the number to be taken out of quarantine. EE seemed the best bet place to go to as all the information I can find about this old number is telling it’s EE.

[bristolian]

I wish you every success in your endeavours, but I suspect the process will be neither quick nor straightforward - and that's assuming it's possible. I have doubts. This forum doesn't deal with account-specific or individual issues such as this.

[Bloodfall]

Well thank you for being straight forward if I am unlikely to find any advice here could you point me to anywhere that I might be able to ask about this? Ofcom seemed to think it is possible when I rang them so there must be away or at least somewhere I ask about this. That is outside of calling every service provider and finding out which can reactivate it which most likely result in them hounding me to take up a contract or simply waiting for the phone number to recycled but it’s been months now and still nobody else has picked up this number.

[XRaySpeX]

Only the provider you had it last with. Anybody else will not have any contractual obligation towards you despite what OFCOM tells you.