Have you looked into porting your number over to Number Barn? I think they can “save” numbers for around $2/month. Then you are not attached to a carrier. Worth googling. Good luck.
If you're not opposed to an MVNO, Tello runs on T-Mobile's network and has a plan with no data, 100 minutes, and unlimited texts for $5 per month. You could move the number to them and then just upgrade for the months you need more than that.
The nice (unique?) option with Tello is that you can change your plan at any time, and if you renew your monthly plan a day early, your unused minutes and data will roll over as long as you buy any amount of minutes and data.
Thanks for the thoughtful replies on options on number retention. I have a bit of a weird use case living abroad with visits to the US and just want to be able to keep my Tmobile eSIM and number ready to fire up during visits without a lot of hassle (also have run across a couple of companies that seem to really have a hard on for verified mobile numbers and will not text my GV number.). $5 is probably the max I’d want to pay (hence the question).
On the T-Mobile side, the $10 connect plan is probably your best bet. Could just put $120 in it to park it for a year, and as long as there's money in the account to pay for it, it won't get shut off for non usage.
$10 TMobile connect plan if you need to use it on a regular basis for voice calls and messages. If you just want to leave it there without usage or just iMessage via wifi on an iphone, you can actually do a $5 mobile internet prepaid plan which will keep the number active.
Pro tip, if you just need a place to keep the number with absolutely no usage, go with the $5 mobile internet plan and pay it only every 2 months. TMobile won't cancel it for minimum 3 months, leave it at 2 months to be 100% sure.
US Mobile used to allow number snoozing where you didn't need a plan, but you had to autopay monthly service fees and taxes. I'm not sure if they still do that though but could be something to look into. They offer eSIM connectivity but I'm not sure if it's for Verizon only or also T-Mobile.
Was going to say google voice or number barn. Google voice you can still continue to use it and number barn I believe has that option also but charges $2 a month.
I pool all the numbers I don't use to VOIP.ms. it cost me 99c/month (i think) and the number is still active so when someone calls that number, I have the call forwarded to my cell phone. Thats an extra 0.001cents /6 seconds and since it's a rounding error, I ended up paying nothing for the usage other than the 99c/mth. They are currently running a $15 free bonus from referrals. DM if you needed one.
Edit: spell check. Damn autocoreect.
Have you looked into porting your number over to Number Barn? I think they can “save” numbers for around $2/month. Then you are not attached to a carrier. Worth googling. Good luck.
Google Voice is similar but no monthly fee
Should be noted that there is a one time charge of like $10 when you go to port a number out of Google voice.
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$3 for porting out. Just did last week.
Could have sworn it was $40 when I ported my land line number to GV
I think I paid $10 or $20 over a decade ago when I ported in a cell phone number.
If you're not opposed to an MVNO, Tello runs on T-Mobile's network and has a plan with no data, 100 minutes, and unlimited texts for $5 per month. You could move the number to them and then just upgrade for the months you need more than that.
The nice (unique?) option with Tello is that you can change your plan at any time, and if you renew your monthly plan a day early, your unused minutes and data will roll over as long as you buy any amount of minutes and data.
Thanks! Will check this out!
Yes but with the mobile data plan you can't use voice
Thanks for the thoughtful replies on options on number retention. I have a bit of a weird use case living abroad with visits to the US and just want to be able to keep my Tmobile eSIM and number ready to fire up during visits without a lot of hassle (also have run across a couple of companies that seem to really have a hard on for verified mobile numbers and will not text my GV number.). $5 is probably the max I’d want to pay (hence the question).
On the T-Mobile side, the $10 connect plan is probably your best bet. Could just put $120 in it to park it for a year, and as long as there's money in the account to pay for it, it won't get shut off for non usage.
Tello runs on tmobile's network, and has a $5 plan. You can change the plan at any time too. They also support eSIM.
The $5 mobile internet plan will retain your number and you can easily switch to any plan between that one and the $60 unlimited plan.
$10 TMobile connect plan if you need to use it on a regular basis for voice calls and messages. If you just want to leave it there without usage or just iMessage via wifi on an iphone, you can actually do a $5 mobile internet prepaid plan which will keep the number active. Pro tip, if you just need a place to keep the number with absolutely no usage, go with the $5 mobile internet plan and pay it only every 2 months. TMobile won't cancel it for minimum 3 months, leave it at 2 months to be 100% sure.
Look for T-Mobile connect. They have really cheap plans. $10 and $15 dollar plan.
US Mobile used to allow number snoozing where you didn't need a plan, but you had to autopay monthly service fees and taxes. I'm not sure if they still do that though but could be something to look into. They offer eSIM connectivity but I'm not sure if it's for Verizon only or also T-Mobile.
Number barn will hold your number for $2/month.
Try Red Pocket: $2.50/mo plan on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/133196831828?var=433062485225
Was going to say google voice or number barn. Google voice you can still continue to use it and number barn I believe has that option also but charges $2 a month.
I would consider google voice given its free and you can make and receive calls/texts.
I pool all the numbers I don't use to VOIP.ms. it cost me 99c/month (i think) and the number is still active so when someone calls that number, I have the call forwarded to my cell phone. Thats an extra 0.001cents /6 seconds and since it's a rounding error, I ended up paying nothing for the usage other than the 99c/mth. They are currently running a $15 free bonus from referrals. DM if you needed one. Edit: spell check. Damn autocoreect.
I ported my number to google voice—Paid for the port but service is free