Swapping the numbers of two SIM cards (is this possible?)

[Confuzzled]

Hi,

Here's the deal:

I have a phone with two SIM cards in it.
One is my shiny new SMARTY SIM, the other is with a different provider.
I want to swap the phone numbers associated with each SIM so that I can have my main phone number on my SMARTY account, and the number currently connected to my SMARTY account switched to the other provider.

Is this possible? If it is, what hoops do I need to jump through?

Thanks in advance for your input.

[MSF]

@Confuzzled  You can certainly move the number from your other sim to your Smarty sim by requesting a PAC code from the other provider.

The problem I see is that you would then lose the current number on your Smarty sim - that's not exactly what you are trying to achieve.

I don't believe that a full solution will be possible without losing one of the numbers. Not sure if anyone else will have any bright ideas though - I stand to be corrected m'lud.

[JJP2]

I think that @Confuzzled needs to do what you have outlined, but twice :

Port number from Smarty to Other Network

Port number from Other Network to Smarty

This will of course involve two new physical plastic SIM cards, and new accounts with each provider using new email addresses. 

[Confuzzled]

Thanks for your thoughts, @MSF & @JJP2. From what you say, as the most important thing I'm trying to achieve is to switch my main phone number to SMARTY, I think I have to  sort that, and then think about getting another number with another provider (which can wait, it's not urgent).

Perhaps I should clarify why I'm asking this: I want to avoid replacing an otherwise perfectly good SIM – to me, that seems like a waste of resources.

Yes, yes: I know that SIMs are only teeny tiny things, and 'free' (if you exclude the externalities), but it all adds up. Call me a doomer nutcase, but I firmly believe that if we don't rapidly rethink how we do almost everything, it's going to get pretty bad before long here on Spaceship Earth.

[JJP2]

Your current Smarty SIM card has a number attached to it. This cannot be changed. 

Further complicating matters is that the number you wish to become your Smarty number is currently in use by another network. 

The only way to transfer numbers between networks is to port them from one network to another *on a fresh unused SIM card* 

Ultimately, you will have to choose to maintain the status quo on environmental concerns, or. If it is more important to you to bring what you wish to be your main number to Smarty, then you will have to accept that you will need new tiny piece(s) of plastic, for your main and secondary numbers. 

[Confuzzled]

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@JJP2 wrote:

Your current Smarty SIM card has a number attached to it. This cannot be changed.

Further complicating matters is that the number you wish to become your Smarty number is currently in use by another network. 

The only way to transfer numbers between networks is to port them from one network to another *on a fresh unused SIM card* 

---

Thanks, but that statement is contradicted by Smarty's own help: https://help.smarty.co.uk/en/articles/7019273-keeping-your-number which clearly shows that the number can be imported from another provider, and it doesn't mention the need to get another SIM.

I'm even more confuzzled than before!

[MSF]

@Confuzzled  In an attempt to clarify:

The number that is to be ported must be currently active with another network. Once the port process starts, it is cut off from the old network. Once you activate a new sim with Smarty, it has a random phone number allocated upon activation. The ported- in number is then transferred and the random number deactivated.

Clear?....Like mud???? (Seriously, I hope it is a bit clearer)

[Confuzzled]

Yes, that is clear, and it makes sense. Thanks, @MSF .

The implication is that the number associated with the destination SIM for the incoming number is no longer available to port back to the original provider.

It does, however, make me wonder whether it's simply a matter of timing. If the transfers for both are effected simultaneously, might it then be possible for them to 'cross in the post', as it were?

[MSF]

@Confuzzled "Ay, there's the rub" to quote Mr Shakespeare.

If they try to transfer a number onto a sim that is not fully activated, could that be a problem  - would the computer explode in a cloud of smoke due to confusion😱?

I freely admit to not being an expert in the way the mobile industry does stuff, so I guess you can only ask the Support Team to explain.

[MSF]

@Confuzzled  MY APOLOGIES!!! I have now become 'confuzzled' as I was also trying to answer another OP with a problem on a sim. My comment about a sim that is not activated is, of course, rubbish as you do have an active sim.

Off to lie down in a darkened room for a while!!

[Confuzzled]

@MSFI did try using Smarty's webchat, but the bot was (as usual) less than useless, and the support team member the bot passed me onto had a grasp of the English language that was about the same as the bot's. Complete waste of time.

If there's space in the darkened room you refer to in your 'APOLOGIES!!!' message for another confused soul, I think I'll join you there.

[MSF]

@Confuzzled I think the main problem is that companies outsource 'customer services' to places where they speak English while not acknowledging that a grasp of vernacular and conversational English is also required to deal with the issues raised.

When people describe themselves as 'speaking English', this depends upon what context they apply it to. for instance, they may well be able to understand a document in the language, but may not be able to cope with regional accents, local vocabulary etc.

I note that some companies are bringing those services back to UK centres. I assume that they have found it beneficial and perhaps not as costly as they thought as problems can be dealt with quicker.

[Confuzzled]

@MSFindeed. Outsourcing customer services to those whose mother tongue differs from that of the customer base will never be the optimal solution. It is, of course, the cheaper option, and allows firms' overpaid marketing execs to claim they have a fully staffed customer services department. Typical b*ll*cks.

https://pendantry.wordpress.com/2023/08/01/your-call-is-so-important-to-us/

[JJP2]

To port numbers from one network to another, you need to obtain a PAC code and then give that to the network you wish to join. 

When you port a number, it’s to a fresh un-used SIM card, it’s always been the case. 

Go ahead and raise a webchat with Smarty. If they can perform something that no other network does, come back and let us know. 

Your confusion probably comes from the fact that you have massively over complicated what is a very simple process. 

[MSF]

@JJP2  Can you clarify the bit about a fresh, unused sim please? Once you activate your smarty sim and buy a plan, you are allocated a number.

You then start the port process and the number you transfer in eventually replaces the allocated number on the sim.

That's what I recall from when I did it - admittedly a goodly time ago.

[JJP2]

Yes, that’s what I call a fresh un-used SIM card. The OP wants to port a number onto a long standing used SIM card. If it is possible to port a number to a SIM card that has been used for a long time already, then I stand corrected. If this is possible, then of course all @Confuzzled needs to do is request a PAC code from the other network, and then use his account dashboard to port the number from the other network to Smarty.

[MSF]

@JJP2  I only said that because I have used my current sim for a very long time now and I can see the option on my account dashboard to port in a number to it regardless.

[JJP2]

Oh really ? I stand corrected then, so all @Confuzzled needs to do is request a PAC code from the other network and port his number to Smarty, plastic saved ! 😁👍

[MSF]

@JJP2  Realistically, allowing you to activate a sim and use it for a while before deciding to port in your 'personal' number does make sense I suppose.

[Confuzzled]

I think perhaps you may have misunderstood my OP, @JJP2 . I know I can port the number from my other provider to Smarty (as detailed at https://help.smarty.co.uk/en/articles/7019273-keeping-your-number); what I'm trying to determine is whether it's possible to switch the number currently allocated to the Smarty SIM to the other provider, at the same time. That is to say, SWAP them, as per the topic title.

[JJP2]

No, I don’t believe so, as when you use a PAC code, that cancels your account with the network you are leaving, that networks SIM will lose signal and the SIM will effectively be dead…So, you can save / reuse your Smarty SIM card, but not the other networks. 

With the other, now dead, SIM card, you could use it as a guitar plectrum, or, what I have done in the past, albeit for just a short time, use it as a “fingernail saver” by using it in the kitchen, to open up ring pulls on cabs, at least until I bought a “Keysie” on Amazon, which are designed specifically for that purpose.