How to change mobile operator and keep your Polish number

Find the registration data of the number and the contract: on whom it is made, when the mandatory period ends, whether there is an installment of the device. For prepaid is also important the correct name of the owner. If the registration was on a friend, first resolve the issue of authorization and rearrangement by the rules of operators.

The retention of the number does not mean that debts, the balance of the telephone payment or the foreseen consequences of early termination disappear. Ask the previous operator to give an invoice on the selected date. Do not focus only on the advertising phrase "free transfer".

The application for transfer is submitted to the new supplier, who completes the related formalities, including the termination of the old contract by authorization. In the declaration, the regime and date are chosen: for example, with a notice period or at the end of the mandatory period. The transfer is free of charge.

Check that the data in the application match the registration with the previous operator. If the document number or owner is incorrect, the process may stop. Ask for a copy of the statement on a durable medium—paper or an accessible electronic document—and confirmation of the scheduled date.

• When the old contract ends and what will be paid after the transfer.
• Which SIM or eSIM should work after switching.
• How the operator will report the delay or refusal.
• Does it need your separate action to install the eSIM.
• Are there services that will not be transferred with the number: additional packages, device, message archive.

Make important payments and entries in advance, charge your phone, save the support contact and copies of the application. Do not throw away the old SIM until the process is complete. After switching, check incoming and outgoing calls, SMS and data transfer.

If the bank or service is not in your contact list, save the official number now. Loss of access to SMS in the middle of the transfer can prevent the login. This is not a reason to tell the codes to the consultant: perform the identity verification in the prescribed way, without sending one-time bank confirmations.

Send a request to the new operator with the date, number and copy of the application; ask for the exact reason. If the previous operator indicates a data mismatch, match the data before resubmitting. Do not file a second application with a different date without ascertaining the status of the first.

In the event of a dispute, use the supplier’s complaint channel, then the UKE. Save SMS about transfer, replies and period of non-communication. Do not terminate the old contract separately at random: the right to transfer after the termination of the contract is limited by rules and time, and the goal is a managed transition with the retention of the number.

• UKE: transfer modes and costs
• Declaration, powers of attorney and notifications
• Actions in the event of a transfer breach

• PESEL: why you need a Polish identification number
• First steps after moving to Poland: documents, address, work and medicine
• How a foreign national can register a Polish SIM without a PESEL
• Internet failure or an incorrect bill: complaining to your operator