Reactive Number on Old Feature Phone with new MVNO

[BullDog61]

I have an old 2G feature phone (non-smart) that I have been using as a backup for several years. When I went to use it recently, there was no signal or service. I contacted PagePlus who said it was not eligible because it was not 4G VolTE. They said it may be possible to reactivate the number on another phone. However, I don't really want another phone since it is just a secondary line. Is there a way to reactivate the number on the same phone but with another MVNO? Thanks.

[advcomp2019]

Verizon is dropping their CDMA network at end of the year. This has been on the web for a few years now too. There is talk about the drop date to change to the end of next year. So that is why that phone will not work on any Verizon MVNO. Now Verizon and Verizon's MVNO's phones have to use LTE and VoLTE.

[rpz1]

I have an old 2G feature phone (non-smart) that I have been using as a backup for several years. When I went to use it recently, there was no signal or service. I contacted PagePlus who said it was not eligible because it was not 4G VolTE. They said it may be possible to reactivate the number on another phone. However, I don't really want another phone since it is just a secondary line. Is there a way to reactivate the number on the same phone but with another MVNO? Thanks.

Apparently you didn't keep it active. If it was kept active it would have been good to whenever the CDMA shut down occurs.

[advcomp2019]

Apparently you didn't keep it active. If it was kept active it would have been good to whenever the CDMA shut down occurs.

I am thinking the OP might be within the deactivation period that he could get his number back, but since the phone does not have VoLTE, they will not reactivate the phone.

[loboheeler]

They said it may be possible to reactivate the number on another phone. However, I don't really want another phone since it is just a secondary line. Is there a way to reactivate the number on the same phone but with another MVNO?

Your old phone can't be activated anywhere. Cut off date was in April. You may not even be able to save the number, as they are recycled pretty fast after deactivation. New low end phones are cheap. The Alcatel MyFlip basic phone is $20 or less anywhere. Many providers require periodic use of the phone to keep the service active.

[BullDog61]

I last renewed the minutes in May but have sent/received only a couple texst since then. For some unknown reason it got listed as lost/stolen, even though I have been the only owner since 2010. I was able to transfer the number and minutes to a cheap smartphone for now though.

[loboheeler]

Seems they only froze the account instead of completely terminating it. Lucky! On Tracfone you would have lost the number very quickly, but sometimes the minutes stay in limbo for a while so you can reactivate. The PPC Terms & Conditions is not real clear on this.

What model phone did you replace with? Some of the cheapies are much better than ones a few years ago.

[rpz1]

I last renewed the minutes in May but have sent/received only a couple texst since then. For some unknown reason it got listed as lost/stolen, even though I have been the only owner since 2010. I was able to transfer the number and minutes to a cheap smartphone for now though.

The real question since you last added minutes in May is how it got reported lost or stolen. Was your May renew PayGo or a monthly plan ?
As long as you had an active account it doesn't matter how much you use it in the plan cycle. If you're PayGo with 120 days and have minutes it remains active even with zero use for the full 120 day cycle. It should never have been deactivated unless you were on a monthly plan and didn't renew since May.

But to the forum, wouldn't someone need a phones number and associated PIN to be able to report it lost or stolen ?

[advcomp2019]

The real question since you last added minutes in May is how it got reported lost or stolen. Was your May renew PayGo or a monthly plan ?
As long as you had an active account it doesn't matter how much you use it in the plan cycle. If you're PayGo with 120 days and have minutes it remains active even with zero use for the full 120 day cycle. It should never have been deactivated unless you were on a monthly plan and didn't renew since May.

But to the forum, wouldn't someone need a phones number and associated PIN to be able to report it lost or stolen ?

As far as I know, you need those or the IMEI of the phone. The only thing that I am thinking of is the old phone was an old Verizon Prepaid phone, and the phone was never on Verizon for the "paid off" to happened. So Verizon marked it as lost and stolen. I would not know what Verizon's policy for this from way back in 2010 was, or if they had one back then. So hard to know.