Number portability is rubbish
BIZARRELY, LAST Sunday (March 16) was the D-day for faster mobile number portability in the UK, but no-one appears to have celebrated it for fear of counter-selling.
Until last Sunday, UK mobile network subscribers had to wait around seven days if they wanted to swap from one network to another and take their existing phone number with them.
From now on, the process should take just two days – although the Inq was unable to discover whether this is just two days or two working days.
According to our mole, however, the change-over does appear to have gone smoothly and even Orange – where there were some doubts – seems to have met the deadline.
Yet none of the major industry players appears anxious to promote this fact to consumers – not even the telecoms regulator itself, Ofcom.
The reason appears quite simple. In the UK the whole process of swapping over a telephone number – ie mobile number portability – is donor led.
So for the consumer, as soon as you ask your existing supplier for the ability to swap networks, that company instantly has the ability to counter-sell and attempt to lure the consumer into changing his or her mind.
Which in the typical UK mobile phone shop is counter-productive. No salesperson wants to spend time persuading a customer to 'churn' (swap) from one network to another, only to give the 'losing team' the chance to win the customer back again.
Consequently, retail stores and independent retailers don't bother to mention the existence of number portability.
Presently both Vodafone and Orange are attempting to fight the whole issue of diminished number portability transfer times through the courts – claiming all sorts of reasons for doing so.
The main excuse is 'slamming' – a practice where existing subscribers are moved from one network to another without their proper consent. The Inq's mole, however, claims that swapping numbers over from the old network to the new network is unnecessary for the typical 'slammer'.
There's simply no real incentive for a slammer to migrate a telephone number. Which is probably why Eire's telecoms watchdog, Comreg, recently claimed that there's no evidence to show that number portability increases slamming.
And in Eire, swapping over a number can take as little as 20 minutes. µ
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I went from Vodafone to Orange . Whole thing was painless and I swapped the sims the night before the swapover date and it was all done.

I'm now told if anything goes wrong with the voda network my phone will still be affected . But heyho thats the price for free calls I suppose lol .
Its been while since I've done it, but in Ireland it only takes a few hours. why does it have to be two days?

(at least thats my memory of when i did it a few years ago)
Nicely, in Canada, if you want to exercise your rights on number portability, your old supplier can't try to re-sell you for three months.

It's nice to be able to make up your mind without being whined at on how lovely your (ex) supplier really is.
When it comes to renewal time (a date I set in my mobile as a reminder) I like my current operator having the chance to counter sell. I use "Can I have my PAC please" to get their best deal... It generally gets you transferred from the muppet who is only going to give you £10 off the new phone to someone with a bit more authority who'll give you that nice shiny new phone for free, and throw in some extra free minutes while he's at it.
waow. You guys have it bad over there. Here in the US its an instant transaction. Well, not "instant", but probably about a 10 minute affair.
In Australia it takes a total of around 30-45min and they do it while you wait...

Whats the hold up? :-/
Why should anyone have to ask their current supplier for permission to churn? In Australia both mobile and ADSL broadband suppliers churn on request of the customer.

Mobile churn occurs for reasons other than the quality of the deal. My partner and I churned away from our previous suppliers so we could take advantage of same-network call savings. Clearly we're not going to get that deal from disparate carriers!

Also I do not want to spend time on the phone to my current supplier just to have to tell them no! That would make switching carriers almost as difficult as canceling an Amex card...

"Sir, can I ask why you're leaving us."
Your fees are too high
"I'm in a position to offer you a permanent reduction in your interest rate to 12.99%"
Yes, but your fees are still too high
...30 mins later we have canceled the card.