Porting a 340 number OUT of the USVI?

Posted by: @AandA2VI

Has anyone gotten this to work?

I have had a few friends who were able to port their 340 numbers to T-Mobile at Florida locations. But, I have had many others I know give up saying its not possible.

I personally went into the T-Mobile store in Peter's Rest (on STX) a few months ago and asked specifically if this was possible. The Rep said it was no problem. However, I'm not quite ready to switch from (horrible) Liberty just yet but will be soon.

Given that you're a skilled designer and marketer, I'm sure you can quickly develop a communication plan to notify your clients of your new phone number. If it were me, I'd go ahead and get my new phone and number from the stateside provider and start using that. In tandem, anyone who calls on the old phone can be advised of the new contact info. After 3 or 4 months, you will have transitioned most of the old clients and probably picked up some business along the way.

You've got this Adrian!

@vicanuck Yes that is a good plan to slowly let my clients know. The main problem was that I really needed a new phone badly and no one here at the ATT stores would let me get a new one saying I would have to fly to VI and do that with liberty. I did go to T-mobile and Verizon as well as Xfinity and all was a no go. They all mentioned they have customers from PR and unable to port those numbers and when we'd get to the porting process it wold just say not available, that the 340 area code wasn't a US area code. I was able to just call ATT from my cell @611 and didn't mention anything about liberty and they processed it no problem. Was laughing so hard because I spent half a day going to all of these stores lol! Originally the rep from the Liberty store told me I could port it out no problem and I saw a statement from Liberty CEO that said they don't prevent any numbers from being ported in or out of Liberty and that it was the accepting carriers who decide. It was like that meme of Spiderman where they're all three pointing at each other. I ultimately just kept my current service even though it doesn't work super great here and have a new phone coming so thats a win. I will start the process if letting my clients know over the next 6 mo and then swapping it out. One downside is that I have about half a doz friends from the VI that also now live in FL and they switched to a FL number and get a LOT of spammer calls while my 340 number doesn't HAHA. At least I was able to solve the problem and get a new phone. Hope you're well! 

Maybe try a port to Google Voice and then Google Voice to T-Mobile or Verizon?

Posted by: @AandA2VI

One downside is that I have about half a doz friends from the VI that also now live in FL and they switched to a FL number and get a LOT of spammer calls while my 340 number doesn't HAHA.

Yes, this is true about spam calls. With the 340 area code, over 20 years, I've only gotten maybe a half dozen spam calls. Some of my friends in FL get half a dozen a day!

Posted by: @AandA2VI

I’ve had my Virgin Islands area code number for like 10 years and it is my business number now. I relocated to Florida last year and for the last three days I’ve been trying to get off of liberty and into any of the carriers stateside. I am running into roadblocks when trying to port. ATT refuses, verizon and T-Mobile can’t seem to port it either and I am really dreading loosing my number that I’ve had for so long. Has anyone gotten this to work? I read the post below about liberty from 2 yr ago but didn’t really have anything that would work. If it wasn’t my business number and wasn’t on all my printed materials like expensive business cards I wouldn’t care and change my number. I need to get a new phone too and with no Liberty stores here I can’t seem to make it happen. Thoughts? 

You can only port wireless & landline numbers between carriers within the same metropolitan area. So in your case, that would be Viya, Liberty & T-Mobile. Port requests to Google Voice & Verizon will be denied as those companies are not doing business in the 340 area code. A Liberty to T-Mobile port request is your only option here, but your request may still be denied as Liberty can see your phone pinging Florida towers.

For more information about FCC rules governing Local Number Portability, please go here: https://www.fcc.gov/general/wireless-local-number-portability-wlnp#whati

@Brichards32 great information...many thanks for posting.

This explains why some of my friends have been successful while others haven't.

Although...I have had a few friends successfully port the 340 in Florida at T-Mobile stores but they are VI residents and continued to utilize their VI address.

That is likely the key to success.

@gpurcell I looked at that too but the porting into any carrier that I tried the 340 area code was the issue so even if I did to Google then to a provider it would probably not work. I am fine with keeping liberty for now and keeping my 340 number which I prefer. I guess I wont get too much spam which is probably more annoying than the 1 bar of service I get in my old 1952 house lol. I will bite the bullet and get a new number maybe in a year or so. 

FYI I did try Tmobile. I talked to the lead rep dude and he said he's had a lot of PR (but no VI) and he could never get them to port in so the location and address probably do matter. Good to know. I really just needed a new phone to be honest so at least I could accomplish that. 

Thanks for all the help everyone. 

Any update to this?  My kids are grown and moved to the states and need to switch providers as AT&T/Liberty does not work well in their areas.  Verizon claims they can move their numbers but I’ve heard others say this has been problematic.  Want to understand before they start the process.

I just switched my cell service to T-Mobile here on STX and was easily able to port my 340 number from Liberty/ATT. So, when we eventually move to the mainland, I can take my 340 number with me. (T-Mobile is much better than Liberty in the VI, IMO).

However, I just signed on with Ooma for VoIP service for my STX based business. Its nearly impossible to port a 340 number from VIYA so instead, I'll just forward my 340 number to my new Ooma 800 number.

Sure it will cost a bit more but I'm not really worried about that as long as I can keep the 340 business number I've had for 45+ years.

UPDATE: I was finally able to port my 340 business number from VIYA to Ooma Office (VoIP phones) and it took effect today. Ooma's website AND Customer Service initially said that they couldn't port a 340 number, but, I offered to intervene with VIYA and assist in making it happen. It required a lot of email communication between myself, the Ooma Porting Department and the VIYA Business Office but it definitely is possible and I was successful.

I love the service from Ooma and have *substantially* reduced my monthly business phone cost. They also provided me with an 800 number which is fantastic for my off-island customers. I use my T-Mobile cell phone for business too and make most of my outgoing long distance calls with T-Mobile because its free to call the US mainland.

The Ooma solution is much better than Liberty, VIYA or the other local companies offering VoIP that I compared against and the call quality is awesome. And, with my Starlink satellite internet, my phone service won't be interrupted after a natural disaster.