Want to transfer my BC phone number!

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4

My phone number is 604-948-XXXX. Vonage keeps telling me this number cannot be transferred. Can anyone in the 604 area code transfer their number?

What is the holdup anyway? Is it agreements with Bell and Telus?

Richard

Posts: 13 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 13, 2005 Posts: 13

I think it's because Vonage doesn't have phone numbers based out of the same rate centre as 604-948. They can't transfer the number unless GT (the company that provides Vonage with their Canadian numbers) has service their.

Hope that helps.

Posts: 188

richardh wrote:

My phone number is 604-948-XXXX. Vonage keeps telling me this number cannot be transferred. Can anyone in the 604 area code transfer their number?

What is the holdup anyway? Is it agreements with Bell and Telus?

Richard

You are in the Ladner rate centre. Only Vancouver rate centre numbers are transferrable right now. Earlier this year, Vonage announced that more BC "area codes" (they use the term to describe prefixes or rate centres) would be available "in the summer" but so far only numbers in the Vancouver and Victoria rate centres are offered. The announcement didn't say what rate centres they would be expanding to however. Hopefully this will be soon as I noticed that more rate centres in AB were added to the availability page today but not announced. This doesn't mean that Ladner will be added though. I checked CNAC and discovered that GT doesn't have numbers in the Ladner rate centre so I wouldn't get my hopes up. I expect the expansion will be to Richmond and New West rate centres only as this is where GT has numbers currently. Let's see what happens though.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4

miket603,

Thanks for the great information. I didn't know any of this. I have a choice to either give up my current 604-948 number at the end of September or transfer it to Vonage. Looks like I'll be giving it up. Hopefully Telus will provide some kind of call forwarding for several months....I hate sending out phone number changed e-mails.

Richard

Posts: 188 · Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 2:23 pm Post subject:

richardh wrote:

miket603,

Thanks for the great information. I didn't know any of this. I have a choice to either give up my current 604-948 number at the end of September or transfer it to Vonage. Looks like I'll be giving it up. Hopefully Telus will provide some kind of call forwarding for several months....I hate sending out phone number changed e-mails.

Richard

No problem Richard. I would wait to see what Vonage's expansion in BC looks like first. They might make a liar out of me Smile

The information in my post is based on where GT and Bell West has numbers locally and they don't have numbers in the Ladner rate centre at the present time (I've learned that Vonage is using Bell West in AB as their number provider in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and likely other areas outside of Calgary and Edmonton for all your keeners out there, this makes sense as Bell owns GT anyway).

In case you don't know this already, once you give up (cancel) your Telus line, you lose the phone number forever. You're not going to get any "call forwarding" or number change notification from Telus unless you plan to keep your Telus line active. I agree that having to notify everyone of a new phone number is a pain but the money that you will save will ease the pain.

Now that I have learned that Vonage is using Bell West in AB, they will likely use them here in BC also. This will greatly increase number portability opportunities here.