How do I keep my number when switching phone contracts?
I moved the other way about a year ago, Orange contract to an o2 contract. The process worked as described – speak to the “old” network to get the PAC and then provide this to the new network. I had a few days of overlap, during which my new network (o2) gave me a temporary number, waiting for the porting to take place. the PAC is valid for 30 days, so if you are seeking to minimise your period of overlap, I suggest you request it, wait a couple of weeks, and then speak to Orange. You may come up against a “customer retention” (or whatever) agent at o2 at some point in the process. I had a cast-iron reason for leaving Orange that they could not argue with (iPhone), but you may want to think about that. Also, it might be pertinent for you to know how phone numbers (fixed and mobile) are allocated in the UK. Each network operator has a pool of numbers, and all operators know which numbers are allocated where (and this information is stored at thousands of local exchanges). When you move
