Switch networks in 24 hours unless perhaps you're with Three

[pctech]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/11/ofcom_porting/

[Simon]

Interesting reading.  I didn't realise that...

numbers remain the property of the donor network, who forwards calls onto the recipient network forever.

I've always been with O2, but I had always assumed numbered were fully transferred to the receiving operator.

[pctech]

Nope, a centralised routing database was proposed but the networks campaigned against it because it would of course lose them revenue, nothing to do at all with slamming as they could issue a PAC or auth ID as is the case with domain transfers for .com domains.

In my case my number comes from Everything Everywhere's allocation because I was a Virgin Mobile customer and ported to O2 so if EE were to go out of business I'd lose the number which is frankly nonesense in 2011.

[Simon]

But surely it costs the donor operator to continue forwarding calls to the number?  Wouldn't they be better off letting it go with the customer?  Otherwise, it seems it would be like someone moving from one ISP to another, but their connection still remain routed via the first ISPs network. 

[pctech]

No, the recipient network (in my case O2) has to pay Everything Everywhere a fee for each minute of each call I receive.

[Simon]

Interesting, thanks.

[pctech]

Np

The other interesting thing is that inter mobile network routing is performed directly so say f my number was called from a Vodafone mobile it will query the server at T-mobile which will tell it my number has been ported to O2, Vodafone will then route the call over its O2 interconnect but if my number is called from a landline the PSTN will just route it to T-mobile which will have to do the onward relay during the call and on the bill it appears as a call to T-mobile and not O2.

[Rik]

But the industry successfully argued that recipient-led porting would lead to customers being slammed - changing networks without their permission, as happens with gas and electricity suppliers every now and then

So how come Ofcom hasn't stopped accepted the argument for land lines being treated the same way?

[pctech]

Probably because BT have told them it will cost too much to upgrade the core switching equipment, blah blah blah.

Remember they have hit a brick wall with migrating voice services to 21CN.

[Gary]

How would this apply to companies like metallic numbers that sell you a number you want?

[pctech]

Don't they supply you with a PAYG SIM on the network you ask for with the number attached to it?

[Gary]

Don't they supply you with a PAYG SIM on the network you ask for with the number attached to it?

Not as far as I am aware, a friend got one and it was an Orange number but for use on the O2 network, definitely not paygo sim though 

[pctech]

Depends on the company policy I suppose, some will do the transfer for you but never having purchased a Bronze/Silver/Gold number I don't really know.

Had my number for the past 8 and a half years and I remember it well enough to quote it should I need to so its good enough for me.