Forum Discussion
Extended International Travel - Parking T-Mo Number
My daughter will be in Japan for 11 months (study abroad) starting in August. The last time she did this three years ago, we kept on her T-Mo service until after she had arrived in Japan and obtained local phone service, number and SIM. After that, we ported out her number to a VOIP service and then about a week before she returned, we ported it back to T-Mobile and reactivated her line. This saved a lot of money compared to leaving her line "active" with T-Mobile. The VOIP service we used cost less than a dollar a month.
Is there now a parking service with T-Mo?
Our goals are simply (1) to save her number for eventual re-use, and (2) to save money. If T-Mo had something that cost five bucks a month (or less) just to turn off her line, but keep her number safe, I'd do that versus the hassle of porting-in and porting-out.
We’ll be grateful for any and all suggestions.
Check out Number Barn and Google Voice. Number Barn parks your number for a few bucks a month. Google Voice charges like $20 to port your number to Google then you keep it for free. You can make calls via the Google Voice app or webpage. I'm sure you're aware that her phone needs to be unlocked for use of a Japanese SIM. You've done this before.
I imagine Japanese cellular has changed a lot since I was last there about 14 years ago. Back then, little Japan-specific cell phones were still common. They were full of cute tricks but very short on real power tools. They had just begun to embrace international standards.
