I have two pay monthly numbers with T-Mobile, one of which (1) is my default number on Solo20 plan (30-day rolling plan) that I've been using for few years, and the second (2) is a brand new 18-month contract number I've got with Nokia N900.

Now, the idea is to transfer primary number (1) onto new contract (2). Since T-Mobile can't do that directly (which I think is just silly), I decided to get a PAC code and port it out to Vodafone pay-as-you-go service just in order to port it back to T-Mobile again couple of days later. This is exactly what I did today and my primary number should be activated in Vodafone next Tuesday.

Unfortunately, while processing porting request with Vodafone, I've been told that I'd need to wait at least 30 days after porting number to Vodafone until I could get another PAC code from them and port it back to T-Mobile! The lady explained this is because of the way how PAC code system in the UK works and same rules apply to all networks in the UK, hence I would always need to wait that 30 days, no matter which 'gap-network' I choose. Bummer!

Question is - does that really work that way and am I really going to be stuck with pay-as-you-go service on my primary number for a month? Any input from people who already tried this way would be appreciated.

I'm replying to myself, as I now have an answer to this matter, and I thought it could be helpful for someone else.

So, my primary number is now on its way back to T-Mobile. And it turned out that Vodafone customer service department is just a bunch of blunt liars when it comes to porting number away from them!

Firstly, I called them yesterday around 9pm, but I was told that department dealing specifically with PAC codes is open until 8pm so I should call back tomorrow. So I did, today at 6:55pm. When I asked for PAC code, first response was "sorry, department is closed". When I pointed out that I was told otherwise yesterday, she said "ok I put you through". Can you imagine?!? She was simply lying to keep me for at least another day in their network!

Secondly, when I got to correct department, I didn't say the whole story, just asked for PAC, nothing else. The guy tried to put me off from leaving Vodafone by trying to match the offer, but I refused. He also noticed that I've brought that number to the network couple of days ago, but apparently this time infamous "30-day waiting rule" did not apply and I've been given PAC code straight away!

No comments... :|

Intersting, I've not heard of the 30 day rule before but some networks do like to take up to 10 days to port across.
With Tesco it was a different story, by the time I had ordered by me Omnia2 and had it delivered two days later the new SIM was ready to run after a few hours of putting it in the phone.

I came across couple of PDFs on Ofcom page, which clearly describe how porting process works. First of all, I haven't found anything that would justify that "30 day rule" (so it was basically a lie), also a "donor" operator is obliged to provide PAC code within two working days, however there are specific cases when it's possible to reject PAC code request, which are also clearly described in one of these PDFs.

Basically, whenever operator creates artificial problems with porting a number, it's worth to go through Ofcom's regulations and see how should the process really work. See: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ioi/numbe...mob_num_portab/

Glad you got somewhere with this. 30 days is just made up numbers to keep you on their network.

Like you found out, Ofcom recently published it so it should "happen" within two days. If they're saying 30 days ot whatever, they're talkng out of their you-know-where.

Thanks for sharing.