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Keeping my phone number for a year...

Discussion in 'AT&T Wireless Forum' started by acidic, Aug 16, 2007.

  1. acidic

    acidic New Member

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    I'll be moving overseas to Singapore for exactly one year in January 2008. Unfortunately, my contract with AT&T Cingular doesn't end until November 2008.

    Rather than continue paying for my monthly service until then, I'm thinking about cancelling my service and paying the early termination fee. If I do so, is there any way for me to keep my current phone number?

    I'd rather pay the monthly service charge for a year than surrender my phone number, but if there's a cheaper workaround, I'd love to hear about it.

    Thanks in advance!
     
    #1 acidic, Aug 16, 2007
  2. Jay2TheRescue

    Jay2TheRescue Resident Spamslayer
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    I wonder if they can put you account in a "vacation" status that long. I know they do it for military members stationed overseas. I think its just $5 or $10 to maintain the account each month

    -Jay
     
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    #2 Jay2TheRescue, Aug 16, 2007
  3. acidic

    acidic New Member

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    Thanks for the response. "Vacation" status would be great. I guess I'll give 'em a call tomorrow to see if such a thing exists.

    I actually just came up with the idea of piggybacking my account with a friend in a family plan and just paying the difference.
     
    #3 acidic, Aug 17, 2007
  4. TehJoE234797

    TehJoE234797 Senior Member
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    First off, no "vacation" status available. The only thing you could psossible do would be to put it on the lowest plan available. [Just for clarification, for military status it's a $0 monthly charge] What I'd suggest doing would be to go with your second idea and and piggy back it on your friend's family plan and then just suspend it till you get back.
     
    #4 TehJoE234797, Aug 17, 2007
  5. hf1khal

    hf1khal Who am I to judge
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    I think there is a way to do suspension but that goes for up to 2 or 3 months. One would have to continue to call to keep it going. However, the contract will be extended according to the length of suspension. So a one year suspension will result in the contract being extended to 2009.
     
    #5 hf1khal, Aug 17, 2007
  6. acidic

    acidic New Member

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    Thanks for the replies. I think I'll keep my account going until I get back.

    If I have my numbers right, to keep my account active for a year would cost around $520. If I cancel my account and pay the early termination fee ($150), piggyback on someone else's family plan (12x$20), it'll cost around $390. So for an extra $130, I deal with far less hassles.

    If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd love to hear about them.

    Thanks again!
     
    #6 acidic, Aug 18, 2007
  7. fb

    fb Senior Member
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    How about porting it to a VOIP provider such as Vonage, etc. (some are cheaper and will give you a very cheap monthly plan)? You will not have to deal with a contract, etc. If you have broadband access in Singapore wherever you are staying, you can keep the number and have people from the US call you on it (local call to them, local calls back for you). When you get back, port it back to att and you are good to go. You would still have to pay the termination fee (unless they will excuse you since you are going abroad).

    And an additional line on someone's family plan should be only 9.99 a month, shouldn't it? So your calculation is off-- it would be 270 dollars (plus taxes) versus 520 dollars (not sure if you are including tax in that) for a difference of 250 dollars or so.

    Can you convert to a prepaid account?
     
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    #7 fb, Aug 18, 2007
  8. acidic

    acidic New Member

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    I didn't realize that I could transfer my mobile phone number to a voip account. Thanks for that suggestion... I'll definitely look into it.

    On AT&T, I'm currently on the $39.99/mo plan, and the cheapest family plan they offer is $59.99/mo, which already includes 2 lines. Each additional line after that is $9.99. Since the only people I would consider asking are on individual plans, the difference would be $20/month.

    Thanks again.
     
    #8 acidic, Aug 19, 2007
  9. TehJoE234797

    TehJoE234797 Senior Member
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    if you do a transfer of service and piggy back on to someone elses account then you dont pay an etf you just pay an $18 TOS fee and do an 11 month contract but you dont pay an etf. so total all you would pay is 18 tos fee and the 9.99 every month
     
    #9 TehJoE234797, Aug 19, 2007
  10. acidic

    acidic New Member

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    Thanks for this info. I didn't realize that. But may I ask, what's an "etf"? And "TOS"?

    Thx.
     
    #10 acidic, Aug 20, 2007
  11. TehJoE234797

    TehJoE234797 Senior Member
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    Sorry for the confusion, after working there do long I always abbreviate those terms in my notes so I rarely spell it out.

    ETF would be an Early Termination Fee and TOS would be a Transfer Of Service
     
    #11 TehJoE234797, Aug 20, 2007
  12. acidic

    acidic New Member

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    Great! I understand now. I'll definitely consider doing this.
     
    #12 acidic, Aug 21, 2007
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