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Transferring old number to new phone same provider

Theomiddleton
Explorer

Hi there

 

I have a current contract with EE that is due to end next month. I have purchased a new phone from car phone warehouse with a pay monthly contract, also on EE. However I never had the option to keep my old number. Is there any way I can transfer my old EE number over to my new EE contract when the old one finishes?

1 SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
XRaySpeX
Grand Master
Grand Master

EE won't port nos between contracts. So you need to 1st port your existing no to another network's PAYG using a PAC from EE & then in reverse port it back to your new contract. This will also have the effect of cancelling your old contract.

You could alternatively "upgrade" your old contract to PAYG & then ask EE to transfer the no to your new contract.

If you think I helped please feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button below.

To phone EE CS: Dial Freephone +44 800 079 8586 - Option 1 for Mobile Phone & Mobile Broadband or Option 2 for Home Broadband & Home Phone

ISPs: 1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 20 Meg WBC => 2014: EE 20 Meg WBC => 2020: EE 40 Meg FTTC => 2022: EE 80 Meg FTTC (no landline number)

View solution in original post

10 REPLIES 10
XRaySpeX
Grand Master
Grand Master

EE won't port nos between contracts. So you need to 1st port your existing no to another network's PAYG using a PAC from EE & then in reverse port it back to your new contract. This will also have the effect of cancelling your old contract.

You could alternatively "upgrade" your old contract to PAYG & then ask EE to transfer the no to your new contract.

If you think I helped please feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button below.

To phone EE CS: Dial Freephone +44 800 079 8586 - Option 1 for Mobile Phone & Mobile Broadband or Option 2 for Home Broadband & Home Phone

ISPs: 1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 20 Meg WBC => 2014: EE 20 Meg WBC => 2020: EE 40 Meg FTTC => 2022: EE 80 Meg FTTC (no landline number)

Thank you. 

 

So when my contract ends, ask ee for my number to be transferred to a pay as you go sim. Once I have the sim, ask EE to change my number to my new EE contract?

Yes, but you won't need a new SIM. They just change the plan on your existing SIM.

If you think I helped please feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button below.

To phone EE CS: Dial Freephone +44 800 079 8586 - Option 1 for Mobile Phone & Mobile Broadband or Option 2 for Home Broadband & Home Phone

ISPs: 1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 20 Meg WBC => 2014: EE 20 Meg WBC => 2020: EE 40 Meg FTTC => 2022: EE 80 Meg FTTC (no landline number)
mdc1983uk
Established Contributor
Established Contributor

@XRaySpeX100% they can port numbers between contracts cos it didn't work quite like that for me. I was told to go on PAYG on old contract (main number) so I could switch that number to my new additional line contract I got via a better deal than doing direct upgrade.  The result was a confused CS rep telling me later the other rep should have asked for the switch before I went on PAYG.  PAYG accounts don't come up under same account number as contract so he had to arrange for old PAYG to be upgraded back to SIM only, wait 24 hours til it showed on account the following day.  Then he called back next day, took it out of commitment because the swapping team was shut.  Called back after weekend and did the swap then removed the SIM only upgrade from the old number...  Much hassle.

 

Downside was I lost the number from the new contract which I wanted to keep as well and have go back the other way onto SIM only/PAYG.  That number got recycled so I just said sod it.  Can't actually fault them on that, they did try bend over backwards to make me happy but then when I went for unlocking code for the old handset that they messed around so i'm gonna sack the whole lot and stick with Vodafone now with 6way calling from inclusive minutes and their blanket 800MHz VoLTE coverage.  It's been 8 years since I left them previous and things have changed since Cornerstone project.  Their 4G VoLTE penetrates very very well.  And they have 10MHz of spectrum down there.  EE only see 800MHz out in the sticks and at 5MHz its sloooow.  Voda have 800 plus 900MHz to refarm, plus 2100 to refarm and still some 2600 in town centres.  I think EE were trying to be smart going for all this 1800MHz blanket cos it just doesn't work as well as 800/900MHz.  And when they push the ESN rollout through all the bandwidth we been paying for... No wonder they couldn't match the deal I was offered from a competitor!  Most of the ESN in rural Yorkshire will probably be on 800MHz and at 5MHz bandwidth thats quite a share.

mdc1983uk
Established Contributor
Established Contributor

@TheomiddletonDon't do that. Once they put the old number on PAYG they will tell you that they can't port between PAYG and contract!  If you already have the 2nd line taken out, wait until the standard upgrade date (45 days before the end of contract).  You are actually out of commitment at that point.  Tell them you will take a PAC code to another network and then swap it back to the new contract, but would rather just take other number to the new contract. They CAN do it!

@mdc1983uk 

 

I'm sure you're aware, but EE are refarming 2100Mhz from 3G>4G on EARFCN 522 & 547 (area dependent, so either 10Mhz or 15Mhz), and are deploying 4G on 2600Mhz on EARFCN 3179 & 3350. You will also sometimes CA with 800Mhz as a second-carrier.

 

Any network relying wholly on low-band spectrum in urban areas is going to get congested with heavy users rather quickly - a combination of high band (for capacity) & low-band (for coverage) is a much better way to go.

 

New coverage in rural areas is often coming from brand new radio sites carrying 2G & 4G on 1800Mhz as well as 4G on 800Mhz which should only be the primary carrier when B3 or B1 isn't available.

mdc1983uk
Established Contributor
Established Contributor

@bristolian   Yeah i'm well aware of what they are doing.  On paper though when 4G first started, EE looked to be at massive advantage.  Now, not so much.  Vodafone is catching up because they still have 2100MHz to refarm, plus their 2600MHz.  Also a bit of 1800 and a lot of 900/800 MHz.  O2 are really lacking in the higher bands for 4G!

 

And when this ESN actually goes live, remember this government funded safety network actually competes with us on capacity! They may keep the ESN on a seperate MNC code but its the same antenna and backhaul the people in blue/green/yellow will be using as us!  Do a manual network scan on your phone and nearly everywhere now there is 2xEE 4G networks.  One of them is the ESN!  I wonder who would get kicked off the masts first in any incident?  Ahh the good old days of 2G MTPAS coming back, but this time via a network thats funded by the government 🙂

Both EE & Vodafone are already refarming their 2100Mhz bands for 4G, you might find @Peter_C excellent site at https://pedroc.co.uk/content/uk-commercial-mobile-spectrum interesting to compare the different holdings.

 

Remember all networks have to use their pre-existing spectrum to maintain 2G & 3G services, as well as expanding 4G.

 

Apart from some urban locations (where new, smaller cells are the only sensible solution) EE have plenty of capacity to support ESN as well as commercial service.

 

Healthy competition between good networks is an excellent thing!

EE are increasingly deploying 50MHz LTE on 2600MHz to compliment the 35MHz on 1800MHz, 15MHz of 2100MHz and then 5MHz 800MHz (105MHz paired total LTE).

 

Vodafone's highest capacity LTE site has 20MHz 2600MHz FDD, 20MHz 2600MHz TDD, 20MHz 1400MHz, 15MHz 2100MHz and 10MHz 800MHz, so 65MHz paired, 20MHz unpaired.