Number porting

One of the most frequent questions that will certainly come up from time to time, also from many English-speaking customers, relates to the transfer of telephone numbers.

Therefore, I would like to take up this particular topic in order to provide a valid explanation also in English. This is mainly because the process has changed a little in the past. It has become easier for customers to submit a porting declaration in order to release their own number.

But let's start from the beginning...

In the beginning there was... Yes, what was there exactly? The earth was still a rather inhospitable place back then. Oh - you don't want me to go back that far, do you? Oops. Okay, let's fast-forward a bit.

Civilisation. Telephony. Mobile telephony. Contracts. Various providers. Everything already exists. And then there is the following question that worries many owners of a mobile phone contract:

How can I keep my current phone number when I switch to another provider?

In general, there are two possibilities:

• the number transfer before the end of the contract and
• the number transfer at the end of the contract.

In the case of number porting before the end of the contract, customers must have their number released by their current provider, as it is ported out of the current contract. In the past, it was necessary to contact the customer service to set the so-called opt-in so that the telephone number is released. The innovation here is that customers no longer have to contact customer care for this. Instead, customers can now do this themselves online under their Mein o2 account. You can find an overview of everything you can do yourself under Mein o2 here: Mein o2 FAQ in English.

For porting, you only need to go to the menu item "Tarif & SIM-Karte" and then to the tab "Vertrag verwalten". There you will find "o2 Rufnummer zu einem anderen Anbieter mitnehmen”. This link will take you directly to the relevant menu item in Mein o2: Click here.

There you can directly release your phone number for porting. The process will then be confirmed and you can apply to transfer your number to another provider. Once the porting is completed, you will be assigned a new number until the end of the contract. Porting does not end the normal contract period!

The other variant refers to the number porting after the end of the contract. You do not have to have your phone number specially released for this, as phone numbers are automatically released after the end of the contract. What you have to do is apply to a provider to have your number ported at the end of your contract. The order is then passed on to the other provider and carried out after the end of the contract. This often means that the contract will be continued for a few days until the number is ported. So don't be surprised - if you have cancelled your contract properly and in due time, you will still continue to be supplied. This is all correct, as it is a legal regulation!
As soon as your number has been ported, your contract will be terminated.

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If you have further question or any comment about this topic and process you can visit our English o2 community and write a question! 

Latest Update: 05/2021