Is it possible to change the operator leaving your number? Virtual tools and services. mobile communications without changing your number

Is it possible to change the operator while maintaining the phone number in Beeline, MTS, Tele2 or Megafon? In Russia, mobile communication providers were required to do this at the legislative level. Therefore, yes, it is possible. And it’s very easy to do this, without even leaving home. All you need to do is follow simple instructions.

What conditions must be met to keep the number when changing operators?

1. Personal number.

You must be sure that the SIM card with the number is registered to your full name and passport details. Make sure there are no errors in your profile (Beeline, MTS, Tele2 or Megafon personal account).

2. No debts.

The previous telecom operator should have a positive balance on your number. If there is a debt, then pay for the connection. There is a situation when the SIM card is blocked for many years (it has not been used for a long time). It can only be restored with a personal visit to the operator’s office.

3. Same region.

With a normal change of telecom operator, you are not limited to choosing the region where you buy a new SIM card or tariff package. However, if you want to keep your old number, then the connection region must be the same as that of your previous provider. That is, you cannot leave your phone number when changing Beeline to MTS and moving from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow, for example.

How to choose the right tariff and telecom operator?

1. Check out the history of your mobile communications expenses in your personal account on the operator’s website.

2. Write down for each month the minutes spent on local calls, long-distance calls, the number of SMS, the number of megabytes of traffic, and so on.

3. Generate the average and maximum costs for each month - this way you can predict approximately how many minutes you spend on certain communication services.

4. Now read the general description of tariffs for each mobile operator in your region.

5. Consider not only prices, but also coverage areas (if you often go to the village or fishing, check the map - is there a connection there?).

6. In addition to the general description, there is a full version of the tariff, usually attached in the form of a PDF file and a table.

7. Take a close look at the total (final) cost per month, which the telecom provider company is obliged by law to inform the client about.

Keep in mind that when you change operator while maintaining your phone number, the previous company will try to keep you with a favorable tariff. While sometimes you will be charged a fee of 100 rubles for switching to a new communication provider (not everyone).

How to start changing operators while keeping your number?

1. Having chosen the tariff you like from another operator, leave an electronic request on its website.

2. To do this, you need to fill out your passport information, indicate the number for transfer, and your contact phone number.

3. After completing the application, a company employee will contact you to coordinate further actions.

4. He will offer a convenient time for delivery of a new SIM card with a temporary number to your home.

5. After receiving the SIM card, you sign and wait for the process of transferring the old number to complete (up to 14 days for non-legal entities, otherwise you will have to wait more than 30 days).

6. You will receive several SMS notifications to a contact number about the progress of the procedure.

7. When everything is ready, your old phone number is linked to the SIM card received from the new operator and you can use it.

8. On the first day of using the SIM card on the old number, there may be problems with signal routing - you just need to wait.

Changing a phone number is often a very painful procedure for a business. By changing your number, you can, at best, create inconvenience for your customers, and at worst, you can lose them forever. However, the need for such changes arises quite often. This can happen for a variety of reasons - moving to another building, dissatisfaction with the quality of communication or the pricing policy of the telecom operator, etc.

Therefore, many are interested in whether and how it is possible to transfer a landline number to another operator. The simple answer to this question is that it is possible, but not always. In the case of IP telephony, this is usually done in one of two ways.

Option 1: Call Forward

The first method is quite simple. The old operator sets up forwarding from your current number to a new number that you connected to another operator. In fact, you have 2 numbers connected - both can receive incoming calls.

The advantage of this method is that you can smoothly accustom your clients to the new number, use it in advertising campaigns, catalogs, etc. Gradually, the need for the old number will disappear and it can be turned off.

Setting up such a scheme will not require much effort; you can start working with a new number quickly and without any obstacles.

The main disadvantage of this method is that you will be served by two operators; incoming calls via forwarding will be charged as if you were making a call from an old number to a new one. In other words, incoming calls to the old number will become chargeable for you until you completely abandon the old number.

Changing operator while maintaining number

Option 2: transfer of registration data

In this case, the old operator transfers the registration data from your phone number to the new one. The new operator will be able to set up work with the number directly, that is, you will not have a second phone number and will not need to use forwarding.

This option is beneficial for the subscriber from a financial point of view - incoming calls will be free. In addition, you will no longer have to interact with the old operator.

The disadvantage of this method is that it requires interaction between operators, which is not always possible.

How to avoid number porting

If you are reading this article before you connected the number, then it will be useful for you to know how to choose a telecom operator so that you do not need to change it later.

Between analog telephony and IP telephony, you should always choose the latter. This will immediately save you from the need to change your number when you move, because Internet telephony is not tied to a location.

Carefully study what opportunities your telecom operator offers you, even if you don’t plan to use them now. Think about whether they could be useful to your business in the future?

If the number of employees in your company increases significantly, will it be beneficial for you to use this telecom operator?

Does the operator have a trial period? Use it and test the quality of your connection.

Finally, mobile slavery has been abolished and anyone can quite simply switch to another operator while keeping their number if the old one does not suit them. For example, until recently, one of my friends was on Beeline, although he was not satisfied with the tariffs, but he could not switch to Megafon, MTS or Tele2, because he did not want to lose the number that he had been using for 7 years. Another friend switched to another operator with a more favorable tariff every 2-3 months and therefore changed his number. Accordingly, it was no longer possible to reach him on the old number. Fortunately, all this torment is over thanks to MNP technology, which we will tell you about in detail today.

MNP and phone number transfer

Quite a long time ago, already in 2012, the Communications Law was adopted in Russia, which preserved the subscriber’s right to keep the number when changing mobile operator. This is called Mobile Number Portability or MNP in abbreviated form. Until about 2017, the capabilities of MNP were not actively used, but recently this wave has been gaining momentum more and more.

Now you can easily switch from one mobile operator to another every three months, depending on your desires and needs. The main thing is that the data from the old contract coincides with what will be specified in the application for connection to the new operator.

How to change telecom operator while keeping your number

Main conditions for the transition:
— The agreement with the old operator is concluded in your name;
— You have no debts on your phone number;
— The data in the old contract coincides with those that you provide to conclude a new one.

Sequencing:

Step 1. Go to the website of the new operator and leave a request to switch without changing your phone number. Here are the links for the main Russian mobile phone companies:

Megafon - mnp.megafon.ru MTS - mnp.mts.ru Beeline - mnp.beeline.ru Tele2 - mnp.tele2.ru

Step 2. Representatives of the selected company will contact you and tell you where you need to go to sign an application for porting a number, a new contract and pick up a SIM card. In some cases, a courier may come to you with a package of documents (Megafon, Beeline, Tinkoff Mobile). You must have your passport with you. In MTS you also need to pay 100 rubles for the transition. Other companies usually do not require this.

Step 3. It remains to wait a little. According to the current law, the transition while maintaining the number must occur no later than 8 calendar days after submitting the application, unless the subscriber himself wishes otherwise. Until this point, a temporary phone number is provided.

As soon as the old SIM card loses registration and turns off, insert a new one into the phone. After that, you need to deposit money into your account and use it.

Restrictions when porting a number

— When changing your passport, you will have to print out the old contract and go to the new operator with it.

— Transferring while maintaining the number can only be performed within one region.

— The first day after the transition, you may have limited SMS and outgoing calls.

Relatively recently, a law abolishing “mobile slavery” was adopted in Russia. The meaning of this law is that now every person who is dissatisfied with the terms of provision of mobile communication services of his operator can switch to more favorable conditions offered by another operator without changing his number. Changing the operator while maintaining the number is possible for each operator, because now this possibility is provided for by law.

However, the operators themselves accepted this law quite positively. There is a fairly high level of competition in the mobile communications market and changing the operator while maintaining the number allows you to increase your customer base by providing better quality and more profitable services for subscribers.

As part of this review, we will look at the process of switching to the most popular operators in Russia (Beeline, MTS, Megafon and Tele2), and also tell you about all the pitfalls that you will encounter during this procedure.

Transfer from another operator to MTS while maintaining the number

The MTS company provides subscribers with quite a lot of attractive offers. If your current operator cannot offer the conditions that MTS is able to provide, you can safely transfer your number under the control of this operator.

The cost of changing the operator while maintaining the number is 100 rubles. The procedure involves the need to personally contact the MTS office, that is, it will not be possible to carry out a remote transition, although such an opportunity may appear in the near future, because some operators already have it.

To switch to MTS while keeping your number, follow these steps:

Contact your nearest MTS office or showroom. Inform the employee about your desire to become an MTS client, keeping your current number. Then write an application to transfer to a new operator and enter into an agreement for servicing the transferred number. An office employee will help you fill out the application correctly. The main thing is to take your passport with you. It should be understood that no one will accept the application if the phone number that needs to be transferred is registered to another person. If the formal owner of the number cannot visit the office, a power of attorney on his behalf will be required. Otherwise, changing the operator while maintaining the number will not be possible.
Choose a tariff plan that suits you and receive an MTS SIM card with a “temporary” number, to which your current number will be transferred after the procedure is completed. If the need arises to use a “temporary” number, you can safely use it immediately after receiving it.
Pay 100 rubles for switching to MTS. This money is used to maintain a common database in which the ported numbers are stored. This database is maintained by a government-appointed organization.
After completing the steps above, you can go home. Now all that remains is to wait for the completion of checking the specified data, the presence or absence of debt, etc. This process takes several days. Your temporary number will receive SMS messages with information about the status of your application. If any problem occurs, you will receive a notification via SMS.
One day before the number is transferred, you will receive an SMS message indicating the date and time when the number on the temporary SIM card will be changed. From this moment you will become an MTS subscriber with a number of another operator.

Attention

If you have any difficulties, call the toll-free number 8 800 250 8 250. We also recommend that you read the information at the end of the article about possible pitfalls.

Transferring from another operator to Megafon while maintaining the number

If you have read our article about that, then you are well aware that each operator has its own advantages and disadvantages. Megafon also has a number of offers that set it apart from its competitors. If any of these offers are interesting to you and you want to take advantage of them, then become a Megafon client and save your number. In addition, the operator provides the opportunity to remotely switch to his control. The cost of the service is 100 rubles.

To remotely switch to Megafon while saving the number, follow these steps:

Fill out the online application on the official website of the Megafon operator by following this link. The application is intended to order free delivery of documents and SIM. This way you will bypass the need to personally visit the Megafon office.
A specialist will arrive at the address specified in the application (you will be informed of the exact time of arrival), who will deliver all the necessary documents, accept payment (100 rubles), help you choose a tariff plan that suits your needs, issue a SIM card and conclude an agreement to change the operator while maintaining the number. You, in turn, must provide a passport so that the specialist can verify that the number indicated in the application is issued to you.
The transition will occur within a period of 8 days to 6 months, at your discretion. You will be notified of the successful transition to Megafon management via SMS message.

If you do not want a specialist to come to your home, or such an opportunity is not provided for your locality, then contact the nearest mobile phone store or Megafon office. An employee will accept your application for a change of operator and explain to you the procedure. We first recommend that you familiarize yourself with the possible pitfalls, information about which is given at the end of the article.

Attention

Changing the operator is not possible if there is a debt on the number. It is also important that the number is from the same region in which the transfer is being carried out, otherwise it will not be possible to become a Megafoa subscriber without changing the number.

Changing the operator on Beeline while maintaining the number

Beeline, like any other operator, has a range of offers that compare favorably with its competitors. If you want to take advantage of some offer from this operator or simply think that the quality of the services provided by Beeline is much higher than that of your current operator, then become a Beeline subscriber without changing your number.

Changing the operator while keeping the number will cost you 100 rubles. Beeline did not provide for the possibility of switching to its control remotely, so visiting the office is a prerequisite (Beeline has recently become able to submit an online application to change the operator).

To switch from another operator to Beeline while keeping your number, follow these steps:

Contact the nearest Beeline office or communication salon and report your intention to change the operator without changing the number. An office employee will ask you to write an application to change the operator. Fill out the application following the instructions of the office employee.
Choose a tariff plan that suits you and receive a Beeline SIM card, to which your current number will be transferred within 8 days. Pay for the service (100 rubles).
According to the law, a change of operator while maintaining the number must occur within 8 days. The operation status will be communicated to you via SMS messages. The day before the number is activated, an SMS notification will be sent to the new SIM card asking you to insert the SIM card into the phone.

The process of changing operators does not always go as smoothly as described in the instructions. If you have a debt or your number is not from the region in which the transfer is taking place, changing your number is impossible. You will also have to provide a passport, and the number must be registered in your name.

Attention

By law, a change of operator must occur no later than 8 days after submitting the application. However, at the request of the subscriber, the expected date of porting the number to Beeline can be postponed to a later date.

Transfer from another operator to Tele2 while maintaining the number

The Tele2 operator differs from its “big” competitors in its low prices. At the same time, the quality of services remains at a high level, which cannot attract the attention of subscribers. The coverage area of the Tele2 network is constantly increasing, and at the same time the number of people wanting to become subscribers of this operator is growing.

To switch from another operator to Tele2 while keeping your number, follow these steps:

Visit the nearest Tele2 communication store and indicate your desire to become their subscriber, while keeping the number that originally belonged to another operator. Don't forget to take your passport with you.
Write an application to change the operator while maintaining the number. The salon employee will help you write the application correctly and tell you how the process of switching to the Tele2 operator proceeds.
Get a SIM card to which your number will be transferred in the future and pay for the service (100 rubles).
After submitting your application, you can go home and wait for the procedure for changing the operator to be completed. The transition takes no more than 8 days after signing the contract.
The day before the transfer, you will receive an SMS with instructions on how to change your SIM card.

To eliminate the possibility of problems arising during the process of changing operators, we recommend paying off their debt in advance, if any. You should also make sure that the number is registered to you, otherwise the transfer will not be possible.

Changing operator while maintaining number: pitfalls

The above instructions for changing the operator while maintaining the number are practically no different from those presented on the official websites of the operators. Meanwhile, everyone knows perfectly well that official instructions reveal only general points, while few people pay attention to the pitfalls. This is especially true when it comes to mobile operators, who often mask hidden conditions.

The site is designed precisely to identify such tricks of operators and bring them to the attention of subscribers. Changing the operator while maintaining the number also implies the presence of pitfalls that every subscriber may encounter. As an experiment, we went through the process of changing the operator and identified a number of nuances that we recommend that you take into account before going to the office of the operator whose subscriber you decided to become.

1) The standard scenario assumes that the subscriber does not need to communicate with representatives of his current operator, listening to persuasion to reconsider and stay. In practice, quite often it is not possible to avoid such communication. There are cases when the passport data specified in the agreement with the current operator differs from those used when concluding an agreement with a new operator.

There are only two reasons for this problem:

an error when entering data by the current operator at the stage of concluding a contract;
change of passport data by the subscriber.

In both cases, you will have to go to your operator’s office and ask to make the appropriate changes to the contract. However, in order not to listen to excuses, you can simply remain silent about your plans to leave for another operator.

2) The procedure for changing the operator may take 8 days, and if the subscriber wishes, even several months. Of course, all this time you will continue to use the number. All this time it is important not to go into the negative. If a debt develops throughout the transition period, the system may prohibit the number from being transferred to another operator and the subscriber will have to re-apply and wait again.

3) The day before the completion of the procedure for changing the operator while maintaining the number, you will receive an SMS notification with the date of the upcoming transition. There may be communication problems on this day. Moreover, the connection may be lost on the old SIM card, when the new one has not yet been activated. Additionally, you may not be able to use your number for the first few hours after switching to a new operator.

4) Another not very pleasant point that operators forget to mention is that for the first few days (sometimes even weeks), bill payment is possible only through the operator’s call center. That is, it may not be possible to top up your balance with a bank card or through electronic payment systems. This is not relevant in all cases, but many subscribers talk about a similar problem.

That's all for us. In general, we can say that changing the operator while maintaining the number does not involve any difficulties and is a completely accessible procedure. It is enough to visit the office of the new operator, spend 10 minutes of free time and wait for the operator to change.

Do you want to try tariff plans from other mobile operators, but still need to keep your old number? In Russia, the service of changing an operator while maintaining a phone number is already available, and it is supported by all the leading mobile operators in the country. The abolition of “mobile slavery” appealed to many subscribers, and you can also use this service, which is also available to Beeline subscribers.

Instructions for changing operator without changing number

Before you switch to another operator, keeping your number, you need to make sure that your SIM card has no debts to pay for tariffs and services. If there are any, they must be paid off before replacement. Otherwise, it will not be possible to change the operator while maintaining the same number. You should also remember that you can make the transition only in the region in which your current SIM card is registered.

The procedure for changing an operator without changing a phone number has many common points for Beeline, MTS, Megafon and others, does not take much time and looks like this:

Contact one of our offices mobile operator in your home region, which one you want to go to, having previously taken your passport with you. It doesn’t make any sense to come in the role of another subscriber’s proxy - you can change the operator only if you are the owner of the number.
Fill out the application about switching to the service of another mobile operator, a form and sample of which will be given to you by an employee of the office or salon. In the application, in addition to personal data, you must indicate the telephone number and name of the operator with whom you are served at the time of transition.
Sign the contract to confirm your transition to service from another mobile operator. The date specified in the contract will become the date from the moment of which you will officially be considered a subscriber of the new network (you will be notified of this event via SMS message).

After signing the contract, you will be issued a temporary SIM card. In order to start using mobile communications, you will need to wait for the release of a new SIM card and pay the cost of the replacement procedure, which rarely exceeds 100 rubles. Until the replacement procedure is completed, you can use the old and temporary SIM cards.

How to switch to Beeline while keeping your number?

The procedure by which you can change your old network to Beeline, while keeping your number, does not differ much from the general procedure indicated above. You will also need to visit the Beeline office, provide a passport and fill out an application. Next, you will need to select the appropriate tariff and sign an agreement, after which the employee will give you a new Beeline SIM card with your previous number.

The period during which your number will be transferred to Beeline’s service is specified in the list of rules and is indicated in the contract. If it is not specified, the transfer is carried out without third-party intervention after 8 or more days have passed from the date of signing the contract. You can also indicate when submitting your application the desired date for porting your number to Beeline.

How to keep a landline number when changing operator?

The operator change service is not provided for landline numbers - you can only change those numbers that start with +79. It is not possible to change the operator while keeping the number - when you change the operator, a new landline number is issued, and the old one can be resold.