Number Porting in Germany

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by petkow

How easy is it to port numbers in Germany? My Dad lives in Germany and has a German T-Mobile prepaid that he is spending way too much money on. I keep suggesting he switches over to one of the cheaper MVNO's, but he would like to keep his number. Are there any restrictions on number porting with prepaids? How long does it take on average? I can't even figure out which of the MVNO's is best value at the moment. He does not need data. Just decent international SMS rates and domestic calls. The new Fonic looks very good. What do you German guys think about reliability? This is so important to him as he uses it for work too. A few years ago I suggested he go for EasyMobile, but it's a good thing he didn't follow my advice now.

He may after all need a contract, but he spends on average 3 to 4 months away from Germany in the year, so he would only go for one if it is a low monthly payment. Any advice on where I can find comparisons and good deals?

You can quite easy port numbers in germany. It cost about 25 Euro on the old contract or prepaid card. So make sure you have enough balance on your dads T-Mo prepaid when you start the porting.
Not all prepaid operators allow inbound porting though. I dont know about Fonic (which runs on o2-Network). For postpaid/contracts porting is in possible everywhere as far as i know. You just have to state that you want to keep your old number when you sign the contract and they will give you the required documents.

Usually the porting will be timed to the start of the new contract. In case that your old contract didnt run out yet you will get a temporary number assigned (i did that from vodafone to o2 once) before your number will get ported. Some other providers (T-Mobile) can only port the number if it is already available for porting (no prob for a prepaid, its always available there).

If you need some special info i could try to gather it. Just tell me.

Regarding the offers: I use a o2 contract and a Simyo prepaid.
O2 offers a contract without monthly basic charge and also offers a home zone with a assigned landline number (o2 genion s card). All calls outside the homezone are 19ct/min. A contract has the advantage of easy porting of your old number. There are many other options too - depends on which network your dad would prefer.

Chris