Keeping UK mobile number in Oz

[JonnyM]

I’m moving over next month for a project that will last 3 years. Possibly looking to stay after that but I’m wanting to keep my current Uk mobile number in case I do go back to the Uk. 
I’m with EE and will probably just change to pay as you go if they let you do that.  
I’m also wondering if an Australian mobile provider allows you to use an e-sim so I can keep the Uk sim in the slot or vice versa.
I’d prefer not to have 2 different phones. 
Has anyone any experience of doing something similar? 

[LandM]

Keen to know the answer too - watching with interest.

[EJMac]

2 hours ago, JonnyM said:

I’m moving over next month for a project that will last 3 years. Possibly looking to stay after that but I’m wanting to keep my current Uk mobile number in case I do go back to the Uk. 
I’m with EE and will probably just change to pay as you go if they let you do that.  
I’m also wondering if an Australian mobile provider allows you to use an e-sim so I can keep the Uk sim in the slot or vice versa.
I’d prefer not to have 2 different phones. 
Has anyone any experience of doing something similar? 

I can't comment on the e-sim but I have kept my UK phone and number here now for nearly 4 years, I am also with EE. 

I didn't go on Pay as you go but reduced it to their cheapest package as you got free calls to UK from Aus as part of the package so was quite useful at the start for calling family who weren't on whatsapp etc, barely use it now though.

[Quoll]

I've had my UK number for years and used to be PAYG but now on the cheapest Virgin package I can find that way I wont lose it if I forget to use it for a few months.  No idea about the e-sim, I've got 2 phones and put the Aussie sim in the older phone and  use the UK sim in the new one and vice versa when I am in Aus.  I find that I dont use the "foreign" one at all and it goes for days/weeks without being checked.

[llessur]

I bought an EE sim on my trip back to the UK in 2018, used it for a few weeks and then brought it back to Oz with me. I went back again in January 2020 (lucky timing there) and the sim no longer worked so they definitely do expire/get reallocated after a while.

I wonder if the best bet is to periodically (maybe just once every 6 months or so) put your EE sim into an Aussie mobile and generate some network activity with it - maybe sending a text. That's what I had planned to do with the new EE sim I bought in 2020 to see if I could keep it active, although I have all forgotten about it up until now. I'll sort that out this weekend if it still works...

Not sure about e-sims. You might want to google the main networks (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone) and see what they say?

[Marisawright]

48 minutes ago, llessur said:

I bought an EE sim on my trip back to the UK in 2018, used it for a few weeks and then brought it back to Oz with me. I went back again in January 2020 (lucky timing there) and the sim no longer worked so they definitely do expire/get reallocated after a while

Not necessarily.   I have one from Three that I used when I was in the UK in 2016.  It's still active, even though I've put no credit on it for 4 years.

[rammygirl]

Yes my Tesco payg still works and hasn’t expired even though no credit. I use occasionally to get texts from banks that don’t use overseas numbers. I top up when in uk to use as everyone still has that number. Although these days they use FaceTime or WhatsApp anyway. 
 

[JonnyM]

Thanks all

EE said if I went with PAYG I would have to top up every 6 weeks (not sure if she meant top up or use the phone). Will likely go with one of the other providers though once my contract finishes. Some include international calls/texts etc too. 

[Nemesis]

7 minutes ago, JonnyM said:

Thanks all

EE said if I went with PAYG I would have to top up every 6 weeks (not sure if she meant top up or use the phone). Will likely go with one of the other providers though once my contract finishes. Some include international calls/texts etc too. 

Yes with EE you do have to top up regularly. Also every few months you have to use the phone or they will suspend the service.

[DukeNinja]

Vodafone does eSim. I second Three UK.

Edited May 6, 2021 by DukeNinja

[billynomates]

On 05/05/2021 at 05:23, JonnyM said:

I’m moving over next month for a project that will last 3 years. Possibly looking to stay after that but I’m wanting to keep my current Uk mobile number in case I do go back to the Uk. 
I’m with EE and will probably just change to pay as you go if they let you do that.  
I’m also wondering if an Australian mobile provider allows you to use an e-sim so I can keep the Uk sim in the slot or vice versa.
I’d prefer not to have 2 different phones. 
Has anyone any experience of doing something similar? 

FWIW I'm with giffgaff - I put about GBP20 credit on before I left. Every 3 months (or maybe it's 4 - can't remember), I get an email saying I've not used it and need to use it to keep it active, so I send a text from it (put the giffgaff SIM in my phone) at a cost of GBP1. So it costs me GBP4 per year to keep it going. I've not tried adding a credit card with an Australian address to the account yet (my last UK credit card has expired), so I don't know if that will work, but for the moment it's ok. I planned on using it over when I visited over the last few years but some sort of global event has got in the way of my travel plans...