Landline number porting rejected

[#1]

Yes, I did wonder about that, but in fact the port was also rejected again after the line had gone dead.

I've spoken to A&A again today and it seems that the process is rather opaque to them, as they pass number porting requests to a third party.

[#2]

Thanks for checking the number status. However, A&A's number porting supplier simply reply with the message: "number not in service". Is it possible that this actually relates to some other problem on the form passed to them, or would it mean that they have a different view of the number status than the person you quoted earlier?

[#3]

@Peter-J technically that's correct, the number isn't in service, it's been ceased but under the OFCOM rules it's still available for porting for 31 days

 A & A know that it's a recently ceased number , you e told them!  I don't understand what their problem is, they've ported ceased numbers before. In fact they were one of the few suppliers who seemed to be able to cope with it...

[#4]

I tried talking to A&A technical support as I thought they might have more detail to add, but they don't deal with number porting because it is seen as a part of the sales process. The salesperson I spoke with said that "number not in service" doesn't mean the line is ceased, but rather that Plusnet don't have the number available (confusingly).

[#5]

Hi MisterW,

Might Plusnet have a record of number porting requests sent to them? If so, I'd be grateful if you could ask your contact for details of the outcome of any porting requests made for my number.

Thanks.

[#6]

Plusnet arent involved in the process , the porting is handled by the BT porting desk since they are the rangeholder of the number. I've asked the question again about the status of the number but they get that from Openreach

[#7]

Is it still the case that Plusnet aren't involved and BT are the number holder? I've seen conflicting information, and during my call with Plusnet support, they insisted that porting requests are made to them and that they could check the status of the number during the call.

[#8]

@Peter-J have A&A managed to port your number in yet?

[#9]

Is it still the case that Plusnet aren't involved and BT are the number holder? I've seen conflicting information, and during my call with Plusnet support, they insisted that porting requests are made to them and that they could check the status of the number during the call.

@Peter-J every CP using landline numbers operates under a CPUID (Communications provider userid). AFAIK all the BT group companies ( BT retail,EE & Plusnet ) operate under the same BT issued CPUID. So any numbers that they 'own' are effectively owned by the BT group. So port requests should go to the porting authority of that CPUID i.e BT.

Now what I don't know is how the OTS (One touch switch) system MAY have changed things. Now everything is done via the central OTS system porting requests could be routed differently. However I'm sure that if the request HAD gone to Plusnet, my contact who checked the status would have said so. TBH I'd be suspicious of what support are saying, they've already given incorrect information regarding the quarantine timescales. I'm afraid this scenario of porting ceased numbers is relatively new and not a common siuation that 1st line support see often.

I would suggest a complaint to OFCOM but I'm afraid they don't have a procedure for actioning personal complaints, they merely note them and use any common situations to inform/take action against ISPs. The problem is by the time they've got around to doing anything its way too late to save any numbers!

Have you raised a formal complaint with both A & A and Plusnet ?

[Lawrencium103]

Hi Lawrencium103

Unfortunately not! I think that the problem is worsened by both Plusnet and A&A using third party services to handle number porting which they only have minimal communication with. Along with Openreach, this means that 5 organisations are involved, and I haven't seen anywhere a comprehensive technical explanation of the number porting process for them to follow.

I have asked A&A to seek an explanation from their supplier as to why their view of the status of my number is different from that checked on here with Openreach.

Hopefully you will have a different experience, but it would be good to find out why it isn't working.

[#11]

@Peter-J my contact has replied again to my query on the number status

Spare should be the right status and the number is ceased, but I've sent it to ORDI to see if it can confirm. 

ORDI is the Openreach data integrity checker.

[MisterW,]

Thanks MisterW,

A&A say "Maybe it is listed with a different provider?", and have asked me to establish who the current RH is. Range Holders seem to have numeric codes in Ofcom's cupid.xls list. They can be different from the CP (Current Provider) if the number has been ported, but I don't think my number was ported.

[#13]

@Peter-J 

Put your phone number in to this - https://checkit.uboss.com/Calling/UkPhoneNumberRangeHolders 

AFAIK a phone number's "Range Holder" is always the original phone supplier that first issued the number,

even though the telephony service company the number is currently with might be different.

[edit]

Using the above link, I've just tested several numbers that I know that have had multiple service provider changes (including mobiles), and in every case the "Range Holder" is correctly identified as the original number issuer.

.

[A&A say "]

A&A say "Maybe it is listed with a different provider?", and have asked me to establish who the current RH is. Range Holders seem to have numeric codes in Ofcom's cupid.xls list. They can be different from the CP (Current Provider) if the number has been ported, but I don't think my number was ported.

@Peter-J I'm sorry but that's rubbish, they can easily  look up the rangeholder of any number themselves.

If you wish to then you can do it here https://nta.co.uk/number-rangeholder-lookup/ . The rangeholder is the CP who initially issued the number and yes, that can be different to the current provider. You told them the current provider on the porting form, they can get the rangeholder from the number so they now know everything they need to port the number!!!.

TBH I'm totally bemused by A & A s responses, they are renowned for their support and knowledge. I deal with them myself for the office voip lines and have always had superb support.

[outcast,]

Thanks outcast,

From that it is clear that the RH is BT since 1999.

Ofcom's page at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/phone-numbers/numbering-data/ has a link to a list of "Communications Provider Identity Code (CUPID), 3-digit administrative codes used to identify CPs".

Plusnet don't have an entry on that list; presumably that means that they are included as BT, but is there a way to find out what the 3-digit CUPID is (as BT have multiple entries)?