I thought this situation would be the norm from now on? Ofcom's process for withdrawing support for all copper lines at an exchange takes a minimum of 5 years from when OR give 1 year's notice to Ofcom that they will achieve 75% fibre coverage at an exchange. So for exchanges for which they have not yet done that, ie the vast majority, the earliest copper support could be completely withdrawn would be 2027. If PSTN switch-off goes ahead as scheduled end-2025, then most exchanges will be running copper broadband services for some years thereafter.

Um - I was going to insert links to the Ofcom docs. I'm sure I've been able to do that before, but I don't seem able to do it any more. Have I gone dulally?

When I go to "Reply" I see 5 buttons - B(old), I(talic), U(nderline), Link and Quote. Are they showing on your screen?

Yes, I can see them again, and I'm sure I've seen them in the past. But I'm on a different machine now. I think this is probably a script blocker issue; I'll investigate some more when I get back to the first machine.

The link I intended was to this page, and the pdf file referenced at the end.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

One possibility is to order a new FTTC service on your existing line and then port the number to VOIP a few days before the new service is due to start.

I believe the order of a new FTTC service on the same line (basically a migration) would block the number being ported.

The long and short of it is that it just isn't possible to migrate a landline number to VOIP without it ceasing the broadband service that's bundled with it.**

**It isn't possible without using Openreach's "renumber with number export" service, which very few providers offer.

AIUI A&A do offer that service to port a number to their own VOIP. As mention in this thread on the Plusnet forum.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

AIUI A&A do offer that service to port a number to their own VOIP. As mention in this thread on the Plusnet forum.

Yes, but you need to migrate your broadband and phone to them 1st.

They then use the "renumber with number export" that I mentioned in my previous reply.

Thanks for the pointer. The object of this exercise was to try to save a few pennies, and A&A are not cheap. Plus they have a usage quota (500MB/mo - how quaint, I didn't think any ISPs still did this) which we would certainly get near to. A lot of our usage is trundling very large files about.

But I'll give them a call sometime soon, see what they can come up with.

500 MB a month!! 🤣 Can’t be true surely.

No, sorry, 500GB. I'd just spotted the typo and logged in to fix it - you got there first.

In reply to a post by Thaumaturge:

Thanks for the pointer. The object of this exercise was to try to save a few pennies, and A&A are not cheap. Plus they have a usage quota (500MB/mo - how quaint, I didn't think any ISPs still did this) which we would certainly get near to. A lot of our usage is trundling very large files about.

But I'll give them a call sometime soon, see what they can come up with.

You could ask whether they really do insist that you use their broadband for the number porting to work.

They don't https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/number-portin... as the broadband provider has to accept the PSTN number change, being in control of both PSTN and broadband simplifies this.

I suppose you could port both to A&A and later port broadband out to a less expensive provider, however the setup fee for short broadband contracts and the hassle of migrating the broadband twice may be less attractive that just getting a second line installed.