Local Number Portability (LNP)
It many locales it is possible to change telephone carriers and still keep your existing telephone number. If losing your phone number has prevented you from switching telephone carriers in the past you'll be interested in learning about LNP (local number portability). It allows you keep your telephone number when you move to a new carrier. The transfer process is called "porting".
There are still a few show stoppers but we cover the issues here, so read this carefully to learn about common problems.
Issues involving your existing carrier
Make sure you have no contract or special services from the current service provider that will block the porting of your number(s).
- There must be NO outstanding disputes with your current service provider/carrier.
- The number must be ACTIVE and in working order. Carriers will reject porting requests numbers that have been disconnected.
- The number must not be scheduled for cancellation. Even if the number is still active, carriers will reject a request for porting.
If you are not sure that your number(s) meet all the conditions, please contact your current provider.
Other Issues
Not all telephone exchanges are eligible for local number porting. Most large urban centres in North America are within our coverage are but some smaller exchanges and rural exchanges are not available to our up-line service provider.
Prior to accept your order will check to make sure your number is within our service area.
How to apply for LNP
If you would like to port your telephone number please email us the number and we will confirm that it is in our coverage area. At any rate, we will check it before submitting an LNP porting request to our up-line service provider.
Please insure that your prepaid VoIP balance is enough to cover the transfer fee. We will deduct US$15 at the time we submit your LNP transfer request.
You'll need to provide proof that the telephone number is yours to transfer. Please print out your latest invoice or statement and sign it. (Signature must be on a blank part of the page. Do not sign it over any lines or graphics.) Scan the signed page and email it to us as part of your request for an LNP transfer.
We also require the FULL NAME and SERVICE ADDRESS, exactly as it appears on Customer Service Record of your existing service provider. Please note that the service address is not always the same as your billing address. The billing address will get rejected unless it's the same as your service address. Contact your existing provider if you don't have this information.
What to expect
We will notify you by email when your LNP transfer request has been submitted. We will also email you whenever there is a status change in your request.
A US$15 transfer fee will be deducted from your prepaid balance at the time we submit the transfer request. Once the request has been submitted, if you decide to cancel the transfer request, we'll need to verify if the losing carrier has established an FOC day with our carrier. If there is already an FOC, we will not be able to refund the fee. There may also be an additional fee charged by the carrier, even in the case even if no FOC notification has occurred.
On the day of the transfer expect that your telephone number will be totally out of service for a period of time. If it is not back in service by the following day, please notify Network Support.
Porting time can take from a few days to a few weeks, depending on losing carrier response time and cooperation level:
Canadian LNP
Porting Canadian telephone numbers can take as little as 1 week for Ontario and Quebec rate centre and 2 to 4 weeks for other rate centres.
US LNP
Porting US telephone numbers typically takes 2 to 4 weeks.
Toll Free LNP
Porting toll-free numbers can take as little as 1 week for Ontario and Quebec and 2 to 4 weeks elsewhere in Canada and in the US.