topic Re: 'keep alive' plan? in Get Support

'keep alive' plan?

boal — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 18:08:36 GMT

Is there, or will there ever be, a 'keep alive' plan?

I am an expat from Canada and even at the lowest subscription price, it adds up pretty fast over the years for something I basically get no value from from

However, I would like to preserve my number, just so I don't have to get a new one whenever I go back (ever 2 years or so).

It would be awesome if there was a $1/month option with no calls, no SMS, no data, nothing, just to keep the number alive/active.

If Public Mobile doesn't offer this, does anyone know of a provider that does? I'm not attached to PM, especially since the rebrand...

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

dust2dust — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 18:16:19 GMT

Numberbarn. $2US per month. It can tell you when someone calls. It can do texting on its web site.
You could do the pay every 4 months method here. Pay for the "month". Don't renew it. Let it sit for 85 days. Pay again for a month. Repeat.

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

Priority — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 18:20:20 GMT

That would be a pretty awesome feature, unfortunately not many providers do this.

We have a home phone with MTS that they actually did this for, we don't pay anything for it and they hold the number on our Home Services Account so we never lose it.

I was originally told it would be $3/month to hold, which was fine considering the bill was around $30 and we didn't use it.. they saw we've been a loyal home Services customer, and waived the $3 per month.

Not sure if they'd so anything similar for mobility..you could ask Bell.

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

softech — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 18:18:18 GMT

@boal

sorry, three is no way. $15 for ever 120 days is the best way to keep your rewards status and phone number

if you don't care the rewards and only want to keep the number

Port out the number from PM (account must be active during port out, not suspended) to Fongo. $25 port in fees, free to port out if stay over 3 months. Then you can port it out back to a mobile provider when you are back

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

hTideGnow — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 18:39:32 GMT

HI @boal

To add to the list of possible action, you can also port out to TextNow

It's good to port out to VoIP app, you can still use it on the phone to make and receive calls

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

LitlLdy — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 18:49:31 GMT

@hTideGnow , I tried to do that with my Lucky mobile phone # but they said it can only be done with a US phone #!

@softech , Fongo wouldn’t let me port my phone # to them due to it was a NB phone #! 😞 My phone number is now gone as of August 8th! 😞

I must have gotten the wrong help from both of those companies 😞 I should have asked for help here 1st 😞

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

softech — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 18:57:25 GMT

@LitlLdy thanks for confirming that TextNow cannot port in Canadian number

Someone was going after me on that the other day..

thanks for confirming

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

LitlLdy — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 19:07:33 GMT

@softech wrote:

@LitlLdy thanks for confirming that TextNow cannot port in Canadian number
Someone was going after me on that the other day..
thanks for confirming

@softech, I was really disappointed!

From TextNow:

First: You need to have a US number. Sorry, Canada and the rest of the world, we can only port numbers that are currently with US carriers.

Second: You'll need to be either on Nationwide Talk & Text or using a data add-on with TextNow. While we're not able to port numbers into free accounts, we can port numbers out of free accounts. (To port your number out, you can contact our customer care team using the purple chat bubble on our site for help and we'll work with you on the next steps.)

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

softech — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 19:11:15 GMT

@LitlLdy surprise even Fongo cannot help with that 😞

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

LitlLdy — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 20:13:32 GMT

@softech , they said that I don’t live in an eligible province to transfer/port my phone # to Fongo! 😞

The list below indicates places where phone numbers can be transferred / ported to the Fongo Network.

If we currently cannot transfer your number to the Fongo network, we recommend that you get a Fongo number from an area nearby.

“ Phone numbers that can be transferred to Fongo Mobile “

Edit: I forgot to add that transferring/porting a phone # to Fongo Mobile would work for @boal if it is an eligible phone # from those provinces!

Re: 'keep alive' plan?

makkahn28 — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 22:11:08 GMT

I also agree, This should be an option