When a number is disconnected, it * should * be put in an 'aging' state where it cant be reused for 90 days if its residential, or a year if it's a business.
The LEC entity that the number was assigned to * should * have 'snapped' the number back to the original LEC when it disconnected if it wasnt the original block holder. Those are FCC rules, so I would think you have time to get it back.

Jamie M



From: voiceops-request@voiceops.org <voiceops-request@voiceops.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 9, 2026 5:00 PM
To: voiceops@voiceops.org <voiceops@voiceops.org>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] VoiceOps Digest, Vol 11, Issue 1
 
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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Recovering a number? (Carlos Alvarez)
   2. Re: Recovering a number? (Aaron C. de Bruyn)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2026 10:48:23 -0700
From: Carlos Alvarez <caalvarez@gmail.com>
Subject: [VoiceOps] Re: Recovering a number?
To: VoiceOps <voiceops@voiceops.org>
Message-ID:
        <CAEu0Vi09+aPiTFX+pudt5MgZVb46aUtwmVFUtGxgiFymdW68kA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
        boundary="0000000000001e81e30656313bcb"

 I think I’d try porting it anyway and see what happens.  I’ve had one
success with this where the number was dropped by the customer-facing
company, but it was still with Twilio, and they let it go.

On Jul 9, 2026 at 10:15:25 AM, Aaron C. de Bruyn via VoiceOps <
voiceops@voiceops.org> wrote:

> Hey everyone,
>
> I've run into a situation I've never dealt with before, and it's
> personal...
>
> My dear old mother has had a phone number in the 509-427 prefix for about
> 50 years now.
>
> It's survived all the US West, Qwest, Embarq, Century Link, Lumen,
> whatever changes over the decades...and finalle ended up taking a deal from
> her ISP (a CLEC) to bundle her phone/internet .
>
> This all worked out pretty well until a few year or so when the ISP was
> sold to new management and service tanked.  They've had several multi-day
> and even a multi-week outage.
>
> Fast forward to a month ago, and my mom decided to sign up for Starlink
> and cancel her old DSL bundle.  Being 80 years old, she had no idea her
> "home phone" was linked to her DSL service....and as luck would have it,
> the day after she cancelled she ended up having a minor stroke.
>
> When I realized her home phone was disconnected, I asked her to call her
> former ISP and see if they could recover and just port out the number...my
> intent being to attach it to my existing infrastructure and simply forward
> calls to her cell phone.
>
> Her ISP said "we released the number 2 weeks ago, there's no way to get it
> back".
>
> I know I've seen numbers get recovered before...but since I'm not a CLEC
> or anything other than just a guy who helps support a handful of VoIP
> installs, it's beyond me if it's possible or how I could get the number
> back.
>
> I also seem to recall ~8 years ago that the local switch didn't support
> number portability and it doesn't show up as having any numbers available
> if I try to acquire a number out of the "STEVENSON WA" area.
>
> Am I out of luck?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -A
> _______________________________________________
> VoiceOps mailing list -- VoiceOps@voiceops.org
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> To unsubscribe send an email to voiceops-leave@voiceops.org
>
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 9 Jul 2026 11:05:28 -0700
From: "Aaron C. de Bruyn" <aaron@heyaaron.com>
Subject: [VoiceOps] Re: Recovering a number?
To: voiceops@voiceops.org
Message-ID:
        <CAEE+rGpOJp0wv0PndAM-Tmd5F8RBji04hr7bBuy+tO3dT95QFQ@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
        boundary="0000000000001339a20656317982"

Thanks everyone!

Great advice.

I received several off-list replies from people and domains that I know and
trust.

Nothing's fast in number porting, but I think I'm in pretty good hands
working towards a solution.

-A


On Thu, Jul 9, 2026 at 10:15 AM Aaron C. de Bruyn <aaron@heyaaron.com>
wrote:

> Hey everyone,
>
> I've run into a situation I've never dealt with before, and it's
> personal...
>
> My dear old mother has had a phone number in the 509-427 prefix for about
> 50 years now.
>
> It's survived all the US West, Qwest, Embarq, Century Link, Lumen,
> whatever changes over the decades...and finalle ended up taking a deal from
> her ISP (a CLEC) to bundle her phone/internet .
>
> This all worked out pretty well until a few year or so when the ISP was
> sold to new management and service tanked.  They've had several multi-day
> and even a multi-week outage.
>
> Fast forward to a month ago, and my mom decided to sign up for Starlink
> and cancel her old DSL bundle.  Being 80 years old, she had no idea her
> "home phone" was linked to her DSL service....and as luck would have it,
> the day after she cancelled she ended up having a minor stroke.
>
> When I realized her home phone was disconnected, I asked her to call her
> former ISP and see if they could recover and just port out the number...my
> intent being to attach it to my existing infrastructure and simply forward
> calls to her cell phone.
>
> Her ISP said "we released the number 2 weeks ago, there's no way to get it
> back".
>
> I know I've seen numbers get recovered before...but since I'm not a CLEC
> or anything other than just a guy who helps support a handful of VoIP
> installs, it's beyond me if it's possible or how I could get the number
> back.
>
> I also seem to recall ~8 years ago that the local switch didn't support
> number portability and it doesn't show up as having any numbers available
> if I try to acquire a number out of the "STEVENSON WA" area.
>
> Am I out of luck?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -A
>
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