Do mobile phone companies recycle phone numbers?

Question

I changed my number a couple of years ago, but I was sitting around yesterday doing not very much and decided to call my old phone... and someone answered! And I also had my ols sim in front of me!

What's that all about? Do they re-issue phone numbers that have been in-active for some time?

Answer 1

prior to number porting...carriers had thier own set of numbers that they used, when a subscriber left, that number would sit inactive for a preiod of time...this was usually a year, but as demand for numbers, increased the time they waited did. so, after a while the deactivated number would be thrown back into the pool of available numbers to be reassigned again.

in the prepaid world, this usually happens because people don't realize they can sometimes transfer a prepaid number, and under FCC regulation, the carrier is required to allow it, but people don't...so the numbers are usually put back into the pool much faster. turn around on prepaid numbers is usually around 6 weeks...with the exception of cingular's gophone, which acts so much like a contract service the only thing that doesn't get done is caller ID name assignment.

Answer 2

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RE:
Do mobile phone companies recycle phone numbers?
I changed my number a couple of years ago, but I was sitting around yesterday doing not very much and decided to call my old phone... and someone answered! And I also had my ols sim in front of me!

What's that all about? Do they re-issue phone numbers that have been in-active for some time?

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Because we all change our pay as you go phones so often if numbers were not recycled we would run out of numbers

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Yes they do. Once it has been out of service or decommissioned, i think they wait a while then recycle the number. That way, they won't run out of numbers any time soon.

Answer 7

Yes they do, because I tried the same thing with my first mobile number from 8 years ago!

Answer 8

if your number is disconnected for more then six months then the mobile phone companies do recycle the numbers and reissue the number to other clients.

Answer 9

Yes they do. since a user becomes dormant and doesn't re-activate the SIM after a certain period, the network operator can use the number on a new SIM (kinda keeps the sequence or they'd have run out of numbers or would soon be). so yeah, they can and they do.

Answer 10

I never heard of this. I always thought that if you changed your number your old one stayed with you. Did you try putting the sim into a phone and ringing it to see if yours is active???