Dial tone on landline after porting number

I have a FTTP connection with Community Fibre and I have just ported my BT landline number over to A&A. All is working. My issue is that I still have a dial tone on my BT line after the port. Is that expected? I had expected the line to go dead. I plan to disconnect the incoming BT line from my master socket so that I can connect my ATA to it and use all my existing phone extensions. Is there going to be any problem disconnecting the incoming line if there is still a dial tone?

Unless you have cancelled the landline you are still paying line rental and I expect another number has been assigned to that line.
You may be able to find out the new number if you use it to call a mobile that shows the caller ID (without answering).

In any case the PSTN dialling tone is generated by exchange equipment for an active line in the sense that it does not really care what telephone number in a database happens to point to that line.

Edited by prlzx (Mon 13-Nov-23 21:28:13)

It will go dead in a few days

In reply to a post by prlzx:

You may be able to find out the new number if you use it to call a mobile that shows the caller ID (without answering).

Dial 17070 and it will tell you the number

Thanks I knew there was a service number but could not remember it,
good that either way it will show if the existing line is still able to place a call to a known number.

Edited by prlzx (Mon 13-Nov-23 22:19:37)

After my CityFibre fibre broadband was installed, I didn't want to just hack the incoming BT/OR copper so I contacted OpenReach and they readily agreed to formally disconnect their cable (which wasn't still connected to anything at the exchange as far as I could tell). The very helpful guy chopped the line and even removed the wall box that had been nailed in place by the builder 50 years ago. Then I filled all the holes and redecorated, with no trace of the old master socket. This was all done FOC.

Edited by cjn (Mon 13-Nov-23 23:17:18)

All BT services have definitely been cancelled. I’ve had a “we’re sorry to see you go” email from BT. However, when I dial 17070 I do get a number reported, the ring back test fails however and I get a “failed to connect your call” if I dial the number. It’s also not possible to make outgoing calls as I get an “Unrecognised number” message before dialling is complete.

My question is whether it’s safe to disconnect the incoming connection to the master socket when the line is in this state, or should I wait until it goes dead?

In reply to a post by coyrls:

My question is whether it’s safe to disconnect the incoming connection to the master socket when the line is in this state, or should I wait until it goes dead?

Do what you need to do

I believe the master socket is in effectively NTE and remains the property of OpenReach especially on the supply side, subscribers are only meant to access the faceplate or test socket behind it.

So I would not touch the supply side and would probably at most use a multimeter to detect when the DC line voltage is no longer present.

OpenReach usually handles whether there needs to be a physical disconnection of a line as the next (hypothetical) person to order service over that cable would have paid a new connection charge either way.

If your extension wiring currently connects to the rear of the faceplate such that it gets unplugged when you lift off the faceplate then I expect you do need to unplug that to achieve the outcome, so you might need some kind of blank box to reattach it to, unless the original provider can advise more definitively.

Edited by prlzx (Tue 14-Nov-23 15:18:44)

In reply to a post by prlzx:

I believe the master socket is in effectively NTE and remains the property of OpenReach

Yes its a demarcation point but it no longer has an active paid for service on it. It may not lose dial tone or 50V for many many months yet as it now has soft dial tone on it.