Can I keep my phone number when I switch provider in Albania?
You can keep your fixed or mobile number when you change provider, free of charge (Law 54/2024, art. 145). Once you have signed with the new provider for the port, the number must be activated within one working day.
You can usually take your mobile or landline number with you to a new provider. You ask the new provider to transfer it, and the number moves on an agreed day.
📜 The rules in Albania
Compensation
Your old or new provider must, on request, compensate or refund you for porting delays or abuse it caused, such as porting without your request or missing deadlines. The amount and method follow the procedure each provider must publish.
The details
- Apply at the new provider with a valid ID card or passport. It must enter your request in the central porting system no later than one working day after you file it. (akep.al)
- You can port a number once you have been with your provider for at least one month, and up to one month after your contract ends, unless you expressly gave up that right. (akep.al)
- On a postpaid contract, the old provider can make the port conditional on first paying outstanding bills and any early-exit charges. If they are not paid within 35 days, the request lapses. (akep.al)
- Service may be cut during the port for no more than one working day. If the port fails, the old provider must reactivate your number within one working day. Fixed numbers move only within the same numbering zone, not to mobile. (akep.al)
Autoriteti i Komunikimeve Elektronike dhe Postare (AKEP)
Albania's regulator for phone, internet and postal services. It supervises providers, reviews their standard contracts and resolves disputes between subscribers and providers; you can file online through e-Ankesa.
🪜 Step by step
- Do not cancel the old contract firstIf you end the old contract before the transfer, the number can be lost. Let the new provider request the transfer.
- Get your details readyYou usually need the number, the name on the old contract and sometimes a customer number or transfer code from the old provider.
- Agree the transfer dateThe new provider tells you when the number moves. Keep the old SIM or line in use until then.
- Check that everything worksTest calls and messages on the new SIM or line, and check that the old provider sends a final bill and stops charging.
📇 Who to contact
Sponsor this page → One labelled block, €100 a month. Founding price €75 until 31 January 2027.
❓ Questions
How long does a number transfer take?
It is usually quick. If the rules in Albania set a maximum time or compensation for delays, you find them on this page.
Can I keep my number if I still owe the old provider money?
You still have to pay what you owe under the old contract. Ask the new provider before you switch whether anything could hold up the transfer.
Can I move a mobile number to a landline, or the other way round?
Usually not: mobile numbers move between mobile providers, landline numbers between landline providers.
📎 Sources
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