Reactivation of PAYG SIM card

[sachpatel]

Hi,

My EE PAYG SIM card has been deactivated now that I've passed the 6 month period. I've just spoken to EE and the good news is the number has not been activated by anyone else just yet.

Is there any way to obtain that number again if it's in the recycled pool of numbers or find out where the number is residing on a particular SIM card or, in the worst case scenario, purchase the number back?

I've had the number for 18 years now and when I moved abroad for work, it wasn't used and I'm now moving back to the UK and hoping to obtain my lost number.

Thanks

[Chris_B]

@sachpatel  Sorry it’s not possible to get it back if your sim is deactivated.  

[sachpatel]

Thanks for the quick response @Chris_B.

There's no way to purchase the number from EE either? I spoke to them earlier and they confirmed that the number hasn't been activated by anyone else yet.

[Jon_K]

Hi @sachpatel.

Welcome to the community.

Once your number has been deactivated it will usually be recycled after six months.

Unfortunately, it's not possible to get this back.

Jon

[XRaySpeX]

You only lose you no. after 9 months of inactivity. If it is still between 6 & 9 months since you last made a chargeable action you should be able to get it back by calling EE.

[sachpatel]

Hi @Jon_K

I've spoken to EE and incredibly, the number has not yet been recycled. They still have the number available on their system.

The representative I spoke to mentioned that I could purchase the number from EE however I would need to have an EE SIM (which I don't have).

Are you able to confirm if this is the case as I'd hate to purchase an EE contract only to find out this isn't possible? Is there anything that can be done since the number has not yet been recycled?

Thanks

[Chris_B]

@sachpatel   If they are saying you can purchase it why get it on a contract can you not get it on a PAYG sim and have this posted to a UK address that you can get it from when your back in the UK you can then if you wish take out a contract and gave that number moved to it.

[sachpatel]

@Chris_B That's what I was hoping to do. However, the EE guys are saying you can only purchase a number if you have a contract with EE, not PAYG.

Just want to make sure if this is all possible before I spend additional money on top of what it would cost to buy the number  itself.

[Chris_B]

@sachpatel   If they are saying that how you have to do it then get the cheapest sim only deal possible as you can always increase the allowance if you want.  And you can upgrade usually after 6 months to a full contract. 

   Might be worth asking if you can have this with a flex tariff.   Flex tariffs are the next one up from PAYG but are not a fixed term contracts.  

[sachpatel]

@Chris_B

Thanks, I'll try that. I wasn't aware of the flex tariffs.