Can I keep my phone number when I switch provider in Portugal?
To keep your number, contact the operator you are moving to: it handles the whole porting, including the request to your current operator. Give it your 12-digit porting code (CVP). Porting is free and must happen on the agreed date, 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 Portugal
Compensation
If porting is late, the new operator owes you €3 per number for each full day of delay. If the service is down after one working day through its fault, €23 per number per day, up to €5,750. Paid automatically within 30 days.
The details
- Find your CVP on your monthly bill (post-paid), in an SMS within 24 hours of activation (prepaid) or in your online customer area. You can also ask for it in person, by phone or, for a mobile, by SMS from that number. (anacom-consumidor.pt)
- Porting ends only the phone service linked to that number. To end a whole bundle, cancel it with your old operator, or it keeps billing you. Lock-in charges or unpaid bills may still be due, but cannot block the porting. (anacom-consumidor.pt)
- You may be without service for up to 3 hours during the porting window, announced at least 12 hours ahead. If a technician visit fails through no fault of yours and must be rebooked, you get €10. (anacom-consumidor.pt)
- Prepaid? Ask your old operator to refund your remaining credit: the fee is at most €1 and the refund is due within 10 working days. After a contract ends you have 3 months to port or reactivate your old number. (anacom-consumidor.pt)
ANACOM – Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações
Telecom regulator: explains your rights, receives every complaints-book complaint and can sanction operators. It does not settle your individual dispute and refers you to the consumer arbitration centres.
🪜 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 Portugal 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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