Mobile phone number question

[aJumpedUpPantryBoy]

I have an iPhone 3s which I use with a T-Mobile Sim.

I want to buy an iPhone 4s and the best deal I have found is with T-Mobile but not purchasing it from them directly.

Will it be possible for me to transfer the number from my current sim (it's a monthly contract which I will end)
I rang customer services and the person I spoke to just kept telling me how to back up my contacts' numbers.

I know if I were changing providers I could just use a PAC, but is it possible to port a number within the same company?

Shouldn't be a problem but you need to call customer services and get them to sort it out. DH just moved his number within 02 from pay monthly to pay and go, just took one call, no pac code.

Are you transferring from one pay monthly deal to another? Whilst the upgrade should be straightforward, usually upgrading customers can't get as good a deal as switching customers (mobile companies want to spend more to get a new customer than to keep an existing one!).

The trouble is its not actually an upgrade.

I have a TMobile sim which is on a thirty day contract. I want to buy my new phone through mobiles.co.uk but it is on the TMobile tariff.
TMobile can't match the offer - if I upgrade it will cost me more that £100 extra compared to mobiles.co.uk for the same phone and a similar deal

've been ding lots of googling and from what I can gather they don't have to port internally - only between companies.

I think the only way around it would be to port my number out to another company (eg O2) and then after a few days get a PAC number and port it back into TMobile which seems very long winded.

Apparantly O2 are the only company who will port a number from one account to another.

Sorry - I forgot to say thanks for your replies

Yes, I think porting out and back again would work, though it would be tedious!

Can you find a deal that's nearly as good as the one you want on another network and ring T-Mobile and see if they'll match it to keep you as a customer? Or did you try that already?

I tried that this morning - the young man I was speaking to kept telling me that the deal he was offereing was the same as the one I had seen - it wasn't.
Mind you he was also the one who thought I wanted to know how to back up my contacts.
It was a frustrating phone call.

I've been looking but I can't find anything similar - there is one on Three that isn't too bad but coverage here is poor.

Have you tried ringing mobiles.co.uk customer service? I've dealt with them before and found them very helpful!

Is it this deal for £36 pcm?
TMobile-Iphone

If so, this deal on Orange is nearly the same, though 500 MB free not 750MB, is that any good?
Orange-Iphone

T-Mobile and Orange share masts so your coverage should be OK.

I did exactly this with Vodafone last summer. After HOURS on hold with their ghastly music, I found the only way to do it was to transfer my old number to a pay as you go sim. Buy new phone with new number, then transfer the path number to my new phone.

Sorry, not path, payg!
Bloody iPhone!

It's this deal
£114 for a 32g phone and then £31 each month

I am tempted by a similar deal with Three - I've been looking at their coverage map and it seems to be better than I thought - although I don't want to be tied into a 2 year deal with limited service.

Ahhhh - I though the hard part was making the decision to actually buy the phone (I am a ditherer by nature) but this is driving me mad.

Quejica, can I ask how long it took to transfer the number out, then back in again?

Naoko - it is T-Mobile who won't transfer the number, mobiles.co.uk are just the company selling the phone

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions

Ooh, wow, that's a really good deal!

Do you know anyone with a Three phone who could come round and see if it really works at your house/office/wherever you are concerned?!

What quej said. Buy a simcard from poundland on any network but Tmobile, get the pac and port to the PAYG sim, then do the same thing to port your number to the new Tmobile simcard. Seemples its not, its long winded but worth it

I've just been on the phone to TMobile upgrades who told me they couldn't match that deal - the deal they offered me works out at £205 more expensive over two years.

I think I'm going ot have to bite the bullet and buy it, port in and out - now the big decision black or white!

I was on T-mobile PAYE and got a T-mobile contract. They couldn't port my number from one to the other and said I would have to port out to another provider and port back in.

Ordered a free SIM from somewhere (Vodaphone I think) and did that, took about a week to get the move over and back fully completed, and I spoke to some pretty arsey people at Vodaphone (which I can understand as I was basically using them), but also a couple of other really nice helpful people who moved it along.

I just had 2 phones on the go during the porting process.

I was told I had to be on payg for at least 24 hours before I could transfer again. I had an old payg sim (still with vodafone) which I used.

I actually didn't transfer the number back for a month though because while trying different methods of transferring my number, vodafone took out a 2nd iPhone contract for me, then cancelled it after 48 hours and billed me over £900 all without telling me.

Naturally I wanted to resolve that mess before transferring the number.

My reason for not simply upgrading was a big quidco cashback for a new contract. I accept I was playing the system but would do it again now I know how to transfer the number efficiently!