I'm thinking about porting my BT phone number to Sipgate (I use Virgin
cable for broadband) but have a concern about what happens if Sipgate
ever were to cease their service...
Would I be able to port the number again to another VOIP provider (or
even back to BT if I'm not happy with VOIP)?
I've seen references about porting of Sipgate numbers to Gradwell (for
instance) but the numbers were Magrathea originally rather than BT - Not
sure if moving an ex-BT number around makes a difference?
Grateful for any advice, even "Don't Do It!!" if appropriate :)
In article <8puj1gFfhdU1@mid.individual.net>,
Peter Watson <peter@pwatson.org> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I'm thinking about porting my BT phone number to Sipgate (I use Virgin
>cable for broadband) but have a concern about what happens if Sipgate
>ever were to cease their service...
Sipgates upstream is Magrathea - and they have a large number of resellers
- my understanding is that they may be approached to take things over
should the worst happen to Sipgate..
>Would I be able to port the number again to another VOIP provider (or
>even back to BT if I'm not happy with VOIP)?
In principle, yes. However not all telephone companies have porting
agreements with everyone else (other than BT) Going back to BT will
incur a new installation fee, long term contract and might actually be
impossible if you've moved to a different exchange code... (Or they'll
put a permanent divert on it for the small fee of £22.50 a month approx)
>I've seen references about porting of Sipgate numbers to Gradwell (for
>instance) but the numbers were Magrathea originally rather than BT - Not
>sure if moving an ex-BT number around makes a difference?
Magrathea and Gradwell have a cross-porting agreement, so it ought to
be possible.
>Grateful for any advice, even "Don't Do It!!" if appropriate :)
Remember that porting a number in will *cease* all services on your BT
line - including broadband. If you have a separate broadband provision
then it'll be fine.
On 22/01/2011 08:53, Gordon Henderson wrote:
> In article<8puj1gFfhdU1@mid.individual.net>,
> Peter Watson<peter@pwatson.org> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm thinking about porting my BT phone number to Sipgate (I use Virgin
>> cable for broadband) but have a concern about what happens if Sipgate
>> ever were to cease their service...
>
> Sipgates upstream is Magrathea - and they have a large number of resellers
> - my understanding is that they may be approached to take things over
> should the worst happen to Sipgate..
>
So does porting a BT number mean it becomes Magrathea's and therefore
subject to any agreements thay have? At least that would mean that the
number doesn't belong to Sipgate so is therefore 'safe'...
>> Would I be able to port the number again to another VOIP provider (or
>> even back to BT if I'm not happy with VOIP)?
>
> In principle, yes. However not all telephone companies have porting
> agreements with everyone else (other than BT) Going back to BT will
> incur a new installation fee, long term contract and might actually be
> impossible if you've moved to a different exchange code... (Or they'll
> put a permanent divert on it for the small fee of £22.50 a month approx)
>
I'm not expecting to want or have to go back to BT and understand the
contractual issues of going back...
>> I've seen references about porting of Sipgate numbers to Gradwell (for
>> instance) but the numbers were Magrathea originally rather than BT - Not
>> sure if moving an ex-BT number around makes a difference?
>
> Magrathea and Gradwell have a cross-porting agreement, so it ought to
> be possible.
>
As above, if the ported number belongs to Magrathea rather than their
re-seller this makes me feel more comfortable about the proces.
>> Grateful for any advice, even "Don't Do It!!" if appropriate :)
>
> Remember that porting a number in will *cease* all services on your BT
> line - including broadband. If you have a separate broadband provision
> then it'll be fine.
Happy for the BT line to cease - This is why I'm contemplating porting
to save the line rental. However, like I suspect many, the actual
number is worth more to me than the service as it would be a pain to
notify all contacts if it were to change.
In article <8q0emuFk17U1@mid.individual.net>,
Peter Watson <peter@pwatson.org> wrote:
>On 22/01/2011 08:53, Gordon Henderson wrote:
>> In article<8puj1gFfhdU1@mid.individual.net>,
>> Peter Watson<peter@pwatson.org> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I'm thinking about porting my BT phone number to Sipgate (I use Virgin
>>> cable for broadband) but have a concern about what happens if Sipgate
>>> ever were to cease their service...
>>
>> Sipgates upstream is Magrathea - and they have a large number of resellers
>> - my understanding is that they may be approached to take things over
>> should the worst happen to Sipgate..
>>
>
>So does porting a BT number mean it becomes Magrathea's and therefore
>subject to any agreements thay have? At least that would mean that the
>number doesn't belong to Sipgate so is therefore 'safe'...
It's a funny old thing... From what I gather, numbers don't "belong"
to anyone... They're defined by Ofcom then given/rented/leased out to
telcos who then do with them what they need.
In this case, one telco (Magrathea) is managing the technical side of the
numbers for another company (SG) one step down the chain as it were, so
if the end company goes phut, then the holding company still holds those
numbers and subject to any contractual agreements with the end-company
I suppose they could do anything they wanted with them..
At least that's my understanding! (And I'm also a customer of Magrathea,
like Sipgate, although my target is somewhat different)
>As above, if the ported number belongs to Magrathea rather than their
>re-seller this makes me feel more comfortable about the proces.
I can't see SipGate going belly-up in the foreseeable future, but I'm sure
that if they did, someone else would step in to take their place...
"John R" <truthseeker55@ymail.com> wrote in message
news:3uquj6d7pponpqf9alurcpfmnvfuope7cd@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 11:11:56 +0000 (UTC), Gordon Henderson
> <gordon+usenet@drogon.net> wrote:
>
>
>>I can't see SipGate going belly-up in the foreseeable future, but I'm sure
>>that if they did, someone else would step in to take their place...
>
> Are sipgate in any kind of problem? I have a number registered with
> them.
>
This is how rumours start, and companies can suffer. Read the top post
carefully again, especially the "I can't see SipGate going belly-up in the
foreseeable future", which appears to be an opinion expressing faith in the
continued reliability of Sipgate, nothing else.
On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:24:08 -0000, "Harry Stottle"
<thiswontwork@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:
>"John R" <truthseeker55@ymail.com> wrote in message
>news:3uquj6d7pponpqf9alurcpfmnvfuope7cd@4ax.com.. .
>> On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 11:11:56 +0000 (UTC), Gordon Henderson
>> <gordon+usenet@drogon.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I can't see SipGate going belly-up in the foreseeable future, but I'm sure
>>>that if they did, someone else would step in to take their place...
>>
>> Are sipgate in any kind of problem? I have a number registered with
>> them.
>>
>
>This is how rumours start, and companies can suffer. Read the top post
>carefully again, especially the "I can't see SipGate going belly-up in the
>foreseeable future", which appears to be an opinion expressing faith in the
>continued reliability of Sipgate, nothing else.
It was more this comment that caught my eye
>Sipgates upstream is Magrathea - and they have a large number of resellers-
>my understanding is that they may be approached to take things over
>should the worst happen to Sipgate..
"John R" <truthseeker55@ymail.com> wrote in message news:27a0k6hq057rqsqg555lh3pih0fp3ht3qf@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 10:24:08 -0000, "Harry Stottle"
> <thiswontwork@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>"John R" <truthseeker55@ymail.com> wrote in message
>>news:3uquj6d7pponpqf9alurcpfmnvfuope7cd@4ax.com. ..
>>> On Sun, 23 Jan 2011 11:11:56 +0000 (UTC), Gordon Henderson
>>> <gordon+usenet@drogon.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>I can't see SipGate going belly-up in the foreseeable future, but I'm sure
>>>>that if they did, someone else would step in to take their place...
>>>
>>> Are sipgate in any kind of problem? I have a number registered with
>>> them.
>>>
>>
>>This is how rumours start, and companies can suffer. Read the top post
>>carefully again, especially the "I can't see SipGate going belly-up in the
>>foreseeable future", which appears to be an opinion expressing faith in the
>>continued reliability of Sipgate, nothing else.
>
> It was more this comment that caught my eye
>
>>Sipgates upstream is Magrathea - and they have a large number of resellers-
>>my understanding is that they may be approached to take things over
>>should the worst happen to Sipgate..
>
> My apologies as I now realise I read it wrong.
Don't be too apologetic :-)
I have no idea how many families have lived in this house since it was built,
but I do know it has had the same phone number since it was connected
in the 1930s
I doubt if Sipgate will guarantee it for a further 75 years ;-)
In article <ihpdlm$aqg$1@news.eternal-september.org>,
Graham. <me@privicy.com> wrote:
>I have no idea how many families have lived in this house since it was built,
>but I do know it has had the same phone number since it was connected
>in the 1930s
>I doubt if Sipgate will guarantee it for a further 75 years ;-)
I'm sure someone would. At the end of the day, it can always go back
to BT.
Probably just the single word: "actioned" (or similar).
I regularly port numbers in for my clients - it's not big deal for
most numbers (not all are portable) and off we go...
>Still, if my broadband could arrive on separate infrastructure I would probebly
>port my BT number to VoIP and cancel the line.
That's the issue right now - we can't get "dry copper" (as I think it's
known in some places - ie. copper + ADSL but no phone) - it has to come
with a phone service and if you've only got one phone line, it's a royal
and expensive PITA to port the number in - which ceases the line and ADSL,
then re-provision the line and start a new broadband service...
You can always use an ITSP who'll allow you to place outgoing calls via
VoIP and present the existing BT number - which is what I do myself and
for some customers - it allows us to both take and make a call at the
same time, and the caller sees our home number, even though it's going
out via VoIP.
"Peter Watson" <peter@pwatson.org> wrote in message
news:8puj1gFfhdU1@mid.individual.net...
> Hi,
>
> I'm thinking about porting my BT phone number to Sipgate (I use Virgin
> cable for broadband) but have a concern about what happens if Sipgate ever
> were to cease their service...
>
> Would I be able to port the number again to another VOIP provider (or even
> back to BT if I'm not happy with VOIP)?
>
> I've seen references about porting of Sipgate numbers to Gradwell (for
> instance) but the numbers were Magrathea originally rather than BT - Not
> sure if moving an ex-BT number around makes a difference?
>
> Grateful for any advice, even "Don't Do It!!" if appropriate :)
>
> TIA
>
> Peter
I asked about this. Apparently there is an arrangement if an SP goes bust.
Number porting 
Linear Mode
