Hold a number for 4 months before port

[renegadeoffvnk]

Hi there,

I have an iPhone 5s on Verizon with my company's plan.  I am about to leave my company at the end of March, at which point I will keep my phone and my phone number (they allow me to port it to a personal plan).

However, I will be traveling abroad for 4 months.  I'd like to use my phone over wifi but not have to pay for a wireless plan during those months.  When I return to the States in August, I'd like to then sign up for a Verizon plan with my existing phone and with my ported phone number.

Is it possible to "hold" a phone number for 4 months before porting it, as I describe above?

(Second priority question: can anyone confirm that I can use an iPhone 5s over wifi when abroad if I have no plan anywhere?)

Thanks very much,

Chris

[Weth · Accepted solution]

Your best bet will be to get active cell phone service and then put the account on suspension while you are travelling.   You will need to be in an account to keep the number, and the cheapest way to do that is temporary suspension, after paying a month likely.  Just make sure you do not create any contract agreement.  

If you want to get more creative, you could port to Google voice, and then port back out of that when you return. There is no cost with this option. 

You can use the 5S on wifi only for data services, iMessages, Skype, google voice, facetime, email, etc.   you will not have regular text messaging, or regular cell phone calls As that requires active cell plan. 

[renegadeoffvnk]

Weth - thanks!  This is very helpful.

I've also found services such as Park My Phone (Park Phone Number | Keep Phone Number | Port Phone Number) that seem to let you stash a phone number for a period of time at very affordable rates.  Still trying to figure out if this is a shady or trustworthy service (Do you have any experience with this company?)

But in the meantime I will definitely look into the Google Voice port, as well.  Kind regards,

Chris

[rcschnoor]

I'm not sure if Google Voice would work out for you as it stipulates your Google Voice number would have to be associated with an active cellular line of service. Possibly a friend would allow you to associate it with their number.

From Google Voice:

"Google Voice is only supported in the United States and a mobile phone with a U.S. number is required in order to use it. Users outside of the U.S. can use Call Phone in Gmail to make international calls at our affordable rates."