Switching
Can I keep my landline number when switching broadband?
The number is not the broadband. If you want it, say so at the start of the order, not in week two when the cards have been printed.
12 min read · Switching
A landline number is a small piece of public identity: printed on a dentist’s form, stored in a parent’s phone, used by a GP surgery that still faxes like it is 1998. It is easy to lose in a broadband order because the order is about megabits. The number is about who can still reach the house.
Say it in the order, not in the complaint
Gaining providers can request the number as part of the switch. If you stay silent, many will sell you broadband-only because it is cheaper to advertise. That is not malice. It is a missing tick box. If the number matters, it is a product requirement, as real as upload.
Digital voice is still a number
The digits can survive the death of the analogue pair. What does not survive is the assumption that the phone works in a power cut. If the number is a safety device, porting without backup is a different article — the landline one. If the number is stationery and relatives, port it and test it on day one from a mobile that is not on the house Wi-Fi.
| You want | Tick |
|---|---|
| Keep 01234 567890 | Voice product + port the number |
| Broadband only | Do not port; the number will die with the old line |
| Temporary number first | Ask; write down the port reference |
When the number will not move
A number tied to a different address, a business product, or a provider that is not in the porting club can refuse. That refusal is cheaper on the order form than on the day the dentist cannot call back. If the number is load-bearing, do not buy a broadband-only teaser and hope.
Questions
- Can I keep my 01/02 number on full fibre?
- Usually yes if the gaining provider offers digital voice and you ask to port it. Not every cheap broadband-only deal includes voice.
- Will the number work in a power cut?
- Not in the old PSTN way, unless there is backup. That is a digital-voice fact, not a porting fact.
- How long does porting take?
- It should align with the switch date. If it slips, you may have a temporary number. Ask for the port reference.
- What if I no longer want a landline?
- Say so. Do not port a number into a product you will not use, then wonder why you are paying for voice.
- Can I park the number with a cheap VoIP firm instead?
- Sometimes. That is a different product, with its own 999 and power-cut story. Do it on purpose, not as a panic after a broadband-only order.
- Will 0845 and non-geographic numbers port the same way?
- No. This piece is about geographic 01/02 (and some 03) numbers on a household line. Anything else is a specialist port.
Sources
- Ofcom number portability
- TOTSCo voice switching notes
Figures move. Prices, coverage and eligibility must be confirmed with the provider. OneTouchSwitch is not Ofcom, TOTSCo or a broadband network. Last fact-checked 10 September 2026.
Continue in this issue
Home
14 min read · Home
Home
The landline that still matters
The copper phone network is closing. Most homes will not notice. The ones that will — telecare, lift lines, alarm panels — need a plan before the socket goes quiet.
Switching
16 min read · Switching
Switching
Inside a One Touch Switch
You do not cancel first. You choose a new provider. They run the switch. The rest is messages, dates and the things that still sit outside the rules.
Networks
13 min read · Networks
Networks
Stop-sell
In more and more exchanges you cannot buy the old product even if the old wires still work. That is policy, not a fault on the line.
Practical guides