Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room

Cell phone number porting

<< < (2/2)

edbro:
I don't even know if we use sim cards. I've never had to mess with one. I've had 5 or 6 phones, all with Sprint and never had a sim card.

steeladept:
Verizon does not use SIM cards.  To my knowledge, only T-Mobile and AT&T do right now, and even then, not on all phones.  One of my gripes about Verizon, because SIM cards make life MUCH EASIER.  To answer the question, you will be without a phone number for a few days if they send it ready to go.  The only other option I know of is the one I use and that is to take the phone to a store (or authorized reseller of Verizon products) and have them port the number for you.  I don't know how likely or even doable this is, but I always buy from the store so the number switches immediately without interruption.

edbro:
Thanks steeladept for the clear answer.

Buying from the store is not an option as I have already ordered online. I'm getting an HTC Incredible. Unfortunately, they are backordered everwhere. You will rarely find them in stores and online sales are backordered for about 3 weeks. I ordered on 17 May and have an estimated ship of 4 Jun. If ordered today they show a 17 Jun ship date. All the reviews say it is worth the wait though.

steeladept:
Believe me, I understand.  Let me know how it goes, as it is one I have been considering for when I can upgrade in the fall.  Hopefully they will be caught up by then.  

As for when to expect the phone to go dead, I would expect it to be the ship date (June 4 in your case).  If it doesn't drop by then, they may ship it without a number and then transfer your number over the phone (must be from a different phone) after you get it.  I really don't know how they do so through the mail.  What I do know is they can not port the number while it is in service.  Behind the scenes, they turn off your current phone, port the number, register it to their network, then assign it to the phone via the ESN number.

parkint:
Your number CANNOT exist with two carriers at the same time.

Exactly how the transition takes place is really up to the new carrier (what their procedure is).
I would suspect (I would like to hope) they provide you the new phone and then give you an option to determine/control when you have the number ported.  The actual process of porting the number takes only a few minutes.

HTH

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page