Sky won't port 10 digit landline number

Why won't Sky port a 10 digit landline number minimum is 11?

In reply to a post by Nervous:

Why won't Sky port a 10 digit landline number minimum is 11?

My guess, and it is just that, is that there systems will not accept what seems, to the system, like an incomplete entry.

AFAIK ten digit numbers are/were only found on BT Wholesale PSTN exchange equipment, even then they are quite rare.

Could you not transfer the old number to a VOIP provider, and then just take data only from Sky ?

Yes I could but that adds £10 a month to the bill unless you know of reliable cheaper ones?

Try A&A or Voipfone

Thanks both for the replies. Guess I'm going to have to learn how to move from Vodafone to Sky and port number to VOIP provider.

Which order do I do that in? In this case I just want to use old telephone Any help is appreciated.

If there is a choice, I would port the number to a VOIP provider first; then there will be less risk of losing it.

If you want to use "any old telephone" then you need to buy a box called an Analogue Telephony Adapter (ATA). However if you only want a single handset, it may be cheaper and more reliable to buy a dedicated SIP handset which connects over ethernet or wifi, and throw away your old analogue phone.

It would be cheaper and is often more convenient to use an app on your mobile phone. I recommend Acrobits Softphone because it uses native push notifications to wake up the app on incoming calls, so it doesn't drain your battery while waiting. It has a one-off cost which was about £6 when I last looked, or a couple of quid more for Groundwire which has some extra PABX-like features. If you have family sharing on Google Play or the Apple App Store then you only need to buy it once and all family members with the same type of device can share it.

You asked about the sequencing. The first thing you should do before anything else is to set up your VOIP service. The VOIP provider will typically give you a temporary number, which you can use to test your ATA or handset or app for both incoming and outgoing calls. Then when the number ports, you know it's all ready to go.

Next: if keeping the old phone number is very critical to you, then you should order a completely separate line from Sky, in parallel with your Vodafone one. Then when it's installed and working, you port the VOIP number, which should automatically kill the Vodafone broadband on the day of the port. This is the most reliable approach but you may end up paying for both lines for a while (e.g. Vodafone may insist on a 30 day notice period, and/or a line cease charge, if their line was not directly migrated away to another provider).

The cheaper way to do it is to do a simple migration from Vodafone to Sky using one touch switch, but getting a new number from Sky. When Sky terminates the Vodafone line, the old number goes into a sort of limbo where you have 30 days to reclaim it via your VOIP provider. This *should* work, but it's not impossible the number will get lost.

Note: have you actually spoken to Sky? Maybe they can use your 10-digit number by porting it manually. But in your position, I would in any case recommend the VOIP solution. It means you never have to worry about number migration again (unless you change VOIP provider), whatever you do with broadband.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

If you want to use "any old telephone" then you need to buy a box called an Analogue Telephony Adapter (ATA). However if you only want a single handset, it may be cheaper and more reliable to buy a dedicated SIP handset which connects over ethernet or wifi, and throw away your old analogue phone.

It would be cheaper and is often more convenient to use an app on your mobile phone. I recommend Acrobits Softphone because it uses native push notifications to wake up the app on incoming calls, so it doesn't drain your battery while waiting. It has a one-off cost which was about £6 when I last looked, or a couple of quid more for Groundwire which has some extra PABX-like features. If you have family sharing on Google Play or the Apple App Store then you only need to buy it once and all family members with the same type of device can share it.

You asked about the sequencing. The first thing you should do before anything else is to set up your VOIP service. The VOIP provider will typically give you a temporary number, which you can use to test your ATA or handset or app for both incoming and outgoing calls. Then when the number ports, you know it's all ready to go.

Next: if keeping the old phone number is very critical to you, then you should order a completely separate line from Sky, in parallel with your Vodafone one. Then when it's installed and working, you port the VOIP number, which should automatically kill the Vodafone broadband on the day of the port. This is the most reliable approach but you may end up paying for both lines for a while (e.g. Vodafone may insist on a 30 day notice period, and/or a line cease charge, if their line was not directly migrated away to another provider).

The cheaper way to do it is to do a simple migration from Vodafone to Sky using one touch switch, but getting a new number from Sky. When Sky terminates the Vodafone line, the old number goes into a sort of limbo where you have 30 days to reclaim it via your VOIP provider. This *should* work, but it's not impossible the number will get lost.

Note: have you actually spoken to Sky? Maybe they can use your 10-digit number by porting it manually. But in your position, I would in any case recommend the VOIP solution. It means you never have to worry about number migration again (unless you change VOIP provider), whatever you do with broadband.

What candlerb wrote is spot on.

If you want to keep the equivalent of a landline VOIP is the way to go and by separating your ISP from your phone service provider it is easier to change ISP.

We have two VOIP providers which are:

(1). Sipgate Basic/Starter. - (Which is no longer available to new customers).

(2). Voipify - (Which costs us £5.40 per month, (including VAT), for line rental and this includes 200 minutes per month of free 01/02 calls with a cheap cost per minute for other calls.

https://www.voipify.net/call-charges/?utm_source=goo...

Both of these VOIP Providers are OK for me.

If you decide upon a VOIP provider you will be provided with a new VOIP phone number partly chosen by you, for free, and porting of your old number is usually possible. - I have not heard of a 10 digit phone number before but if you ring Voipify they will be able to let you know if porting of a 10 digit phone number to them is possible.

Personally, I would just choose a new 11 digit phone number if you do decide upon a VOIP solution.

There is another option that may be better: As I said we have VOIP phone numbers from two VOIP providers which works well but we also have Sim Only mobile phone deals, (with unlimited calls and texts), that costs us less than £6.00 per mobile number per month.

My wife likes to have the equivalent of a landline because it provides alternative if the phone masts failed but I would probably just use the mobiles instead.

In reply to a post by Fido:

My wife likes to have the equivalent of a landline because it provides alternative if the phone masts failed but I would probably just use the mobiles instead.

Depending on your mobile provider, if they support wifi calling properly, then you're not dependent on any local mast.

Thank you for a very detailed response candelrb and thanks to everyone else for advice. I have now actually moved the person to Sky on a new number and hope to port old number soon.

Thanks again to all.

Could you not add a '1' as the 11th digit for Sky's benefit? or is that too simplistic?

In reply to a post by BXW:

Could you not add a '1' as the 11th digit for Sky's benefit? or is that too simplistic?

They'd very likely reject the port request as an invalid number.

In reply to a post by Nervous:

Why won't Sky port a 10 digit landline number minimum is 11?

Could be because of Who runs it? Why thus far Has NO 1 mentioned https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/number-porting/ ? Obviously it may not be everyone cup of char, But IMO it's your cheapest option if you fo NOT make lots of OUT going Calls, But Once ported switching providers Should not be as problematic, maybe?

Edited by tommy45 (Thu 29-Oct-26 21:38:42)

In reply to a post by tommy45:

In reply to a post by Nervous:

Why won't Sky port a 10 digit landline number minimum is 11?

Could be because of Who runs it? Why thus far Has NO 1 mentioned https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/number-porting/ ? Obviously it may not be everyone cup of char, But IMO it's your cheapest option if you fo NOT make lots of OUT going Calls, But Once ported switching providers Should not be as problematic, maybe?

A&A were mentioned in the 4th post in this thread by @Pheasant !
The OP may find Sky's CS rather difficult to deal with as a friend of mine recently discovered, they seem to have too many staff that just read the scripts!

As @pheasant says they would reject the port because number invalid. Thanks anyway

In reply to a post by ChrisAO:

In reply to a post by tommy45:

In reply to a post by Nervous:

Why won't Sky port a 10 digit landline number minimum is 11?

Could be because of Who runs it? Why thus far Has NO 1 mentioned https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/number-porting/ ? Obviously it may not be everyone cup of char, But IMO it's your cheapest option if you fo NOT make lots of OUT going Calls, But Once ported switching providers Should not be as problematic, maybe?

A&A were mentioned in the 4th post in this thread by @Pheasant !
The OP may find Sky's CS rather difficult to deal with as a friend of mine recently discovered, they seem to have too many staff that just read the scripts!

Yes, I decided from this conversation that this would be best option but woman I'm doing this for didn't like the complication of paying two bills Anyway I asked her to tell me why she wanted to keep her existing number and it turned out she only needed a landline and number wasn't that important after all If only she had said that upfront.

All I got was she wanted to keep her number so made decisions from there until she told me why and I quickly came to the conclusion she didn't need her existing number for that purpose, just a landline with any number would do the same thing.

She plays a streaming quiz game with a lady who only has a landline which includes a call package. The woman calls her on her landline and the other streams game on her mobile and holds it near the phone so both can hear the quiz and give answers over the landline.

So, no need to port old number just a new number for lady to call once she is told what it is. Go figure.

No, sorry I don't know the quiz that made this so important but anything to stay connected and active with your friends.

At a minimum it is worth checking that doctors, NHS and financial institutions have a mobile number associated before loosing access to the landline number.

It can be difficult as you feel attached to a 50+ year old landline number but with mobile phone monthly SIM only unlimited call plans easily at <£5/month if you are able to just completely forgot about landlines and switching to mobile is well worth it if you have appropriate coverage and WiFi Calling for backup.

It is bad enough updating everyone with your mobile number and removing an old landline number having to update everyone with a new landline number would be "madness" in nearly 2027!

Vonage for home is extremely easy to use they send you a preconfigured adapter. https://www.vonageforhome.co.uk/

Does the 10 digit number you have include a leading 0?

To get to 11 digits I have to add a 0 at the start.of the two landline numbers I have.

In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by Fido:

My wife likes to have the equivalent of a landline because it provides alternative if the phone masts failed but I would probably just use the mobiles instead.

Depending on your mobile provider, if they support wifi calling properly, then you're not dependent on any local mast.

As usual you are correct.

I had already set up WIFI calling on my own Google Pixel Pro phone and at the time I had tried to set it up on my wife's Samsung Galaxy Phone but had not succeeded.

Your post remind me to revisit it and I succeed in setting up WIFI calling on my wife's mobile as well so the reason to keep VOIP lines is lessened.

My wife still likes the VOIP lines but we very rarely use them and we may decide to just use our mobiles instead.

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

Does the 10 digit number you have include a leading 0?

To get to 11 digits I have to add a 0 at the start.of the two landline numbers I have.

Standard UK numbers are 11 digits including the leading zero. (e.g. London: 020 + 8 digits)

But I believe there are still a few areas that have one digit less.

But I believe there are still a few areas that have one digit less.

I *think* it is governed by some specific BTw PSTN exchange equipment. Round this way Camberley has two or three verts of 10 digit numbers, but none of the other nearby exchanges have such equipment