Comment by jessriedel | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jessriedel | Hacker News Reader

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> Google Fi won’t restore service or allow your number to be ported out until the bill is paid, so around and around we go.

I'm surprised this is legal. Number portability isn't something phone companies offer out of the kindness of their heart; it's required by law. Does the law really allow them to hold the number hostage as part of a payment dispute?

EDIT: Nope, this is illegal:

> Once you request service from a new company, your old company cannot refuse to port your number, even if you owe money for an outstanding balance or termination fee

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/porting-keeping-your-ph...

I looks like the OP should file a complaint (and if necessary sue?) over this point.

Indeed, this is so clear cut it makes me doubt the OP's story. Does Google Fi say they do this anywhere?

We wrote an article describing how this can be done, we file complaints with the FCC for our customers against their former carriers all the time: https://www.communityphone.org/2018-08-07-how-to-file-a-comp...

This Reddit thread concluded that because a T-mobile account was suspended for non-payment and the number is unportable while suspended that the customer was out of luck.

https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/4wotw8/tmobile_won...

I don't see how that matters legally. The FCC requirement doesn't make portability conditional on some account status defined by the carrier. But IANAL.

Since T-Mobile holds the primary numbers for Google Fi accounts, going from T-Mobile to Fi legally isn't a port, just a change in T-Mobiles billing system.

Yes. You’ll want to force a port from Google to AT&T or Verizon, and then back to T-Mobile if that’s who you want to end up with.

If your port is delayed or denied, file a complaint with the FCC, as this starts the regulatory review clock ticking.

Does that clock still tick with the government shutdown?

IANAL but I assume so. It’s just the enforcement that would wait.

I don’t know. I’d assume no.

I was just using T-Mobile as another example. OP wants to move from Google Fi to something else, and the reddit poster wanted to move from T-Mobile to something else. I wasn't suggesting a port from T-Mobile to Fi.

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