Keep your UK phone number active while abroad
Keep a UK number active abroad: Ofcom lets providers recycle unused PAYG numbers; the wait varies. EE's terms and help page do not share a last day.
Checked against official pages on September 28, 2026. Rules move; when this one does, it goes on the changelog.
| Carrier | Accounts | If you do nothing | Cheapest hold | Roaming for codes | Twelve months |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE | prepaid | Point 6.3 requires a Connection Action every 180 days or the SIM is disconnected and the number is lost. The help page adds hibernation at 180 days and closure at 270 days | A Connection Action. The terms list topping up, using data, a chargeable call or a chargeable text | Unverified | The Charge for a Connection Action. Not a published retention charge |
| giffgaff | prepaid | Help article. SIM inactive after 6 months without a qualifying act, then deactivated. SIM cannot be reactivated. PAC available for 30 days after deactivation | One qualifying act every 6 months. A call, SMS or MMS to a non-excluded number, a mobile-data internet connection, or an airtime credit or plan purchase | Unverified | The cost of one qualifying act each six months. Not a published retention charge |
| Three | prepaid | Support page. One chargeable activity every 180 days or the number is disconnected and lost. T&Cs also allow disconnect after a 6 month period without a voucher or chargeable events | One chargeable activity every 180 days. Buying a top-up, pack or add-on, or a call, text or data session on the mobile network | Unverified | The Charge for one chargeable activity each 180 days. Not a published retention charge |
To keep a UK number active abroad, start with Ofcom's range. A provider may recycle an unused pay-as-you-go number, and the wait varies from about 70 days to six months or longer. EE's December 2025 terms and EE's live help page do not share a last day.
Ofcom's range for keeping a UK number active abroad
Ofcom's consumer page, published 15 June 2023, states the permission: "If a PAYG phone number is not being used to make a call, send a text message or use data, the mobile provider can suspend the service and recycle the number." The same page then states the range: "The length of time before a provider deems a phone inactive varies: for some providers it can be as little as 70 days, while others wait six months or longer." Check the provider's terms, the page says, to find out how much time you have.
Seventy days to six months or longer is a span. It is the document Ofcom published for unused PAYG numbers. curl returned HTTP 403 for that Ofcom page on 28 September 2026. The two sentences quoted above are from a WebFetch of the same URL the same day. Canada's seven-day Code floor keeps unused prepaid balance after a commitment period ends. That statute's job is the balance. Ofcom's job here is recycling.
Mexico's unused-balance year is a credit right on a later recharge. Ofcom's sentence is about the number going back into the pool.
Carrier clocks that keep a UK number active abroad
What happens to the number is in the carrier's own PAYG terms, and the three we could read as cards start on different days.
EE's December 2025 terms, point 6.3, require a Connection Action at least once every 180 days, then disconnect the SIM, lose the number, and forfeit credit. EE's help page, fetched the same day, adds a 160-day text, hibernation at 180 days, 90 days to call back, and a close at 270 days. Those are two EE documents.
giffgaff's help article treats a SIM as inactive after 6 months without a qualifying act. Once deactivated, that article says the SIM cannot be reactivated. A PAC request is available for 30 days after deactivation. The live terms page at giffgaff.com/terms returned an Incapsula challenge to WebFetch and to curl on 28 September 2026, so the six-month wording on the card is the help article.
Three's PAYG support page keeps the number with 1 chargeable activity every 180 days, and it names calls, texts or data while connected to the mobile network, not while connected to Wi-Fi. Once disconnected, that page says the number cannot be reconnected. Three's PAYG terms effective 21 May 2026 also speak of a 6 month period without a voucher or chargeable events.
Holding, parking, porting or letting the number go is compared on the options page.
What we could read
O2's PAYG service terms, effective 3 April 2023, at clause 7.1 of the live service terms: "If you do not carry out any chargeable activity at least once in any 6 month period your Mobile Phone will be disconnected and you will lose any remaining credits balance on your Account. If you wish to be re-connected after this time you will be given a new Mobile Phone number." Reconnection on that clause is a new number.
Vodafone's help page, fetched 28 September 2026, states the keep-alive sentence: "To stop your Pay as you go number being disconnected, you need to use it once every 180 days." The same page says a disconnected Pay as you go number cannot be reactivated, and that a reminder text goes out at 90 days.
Lyca, Lebara, Smarty and Tesco Mobile were not opened as T&Cs this round. Ofcom's "as little as 70 days" is written as "some providers"; we did not open a 70-day terms file, so that figure stays Ofcom's range until a named carrier's terms file prints it.
When a rule on this site moves, it is logged on the changelog.
Questions people ask
Is 180 days how long I keep a UK PAYG number?
Ofcom published a range, from about 70 days to six months or longer. 180 days is EE's term, Three's support-page figure, and Vodafone's help-page figure. giffgaff's help article says 6 months. O2's terms say any 6 month period.
If the SIM is already disconnected, can I get the number back?
That answer is the carrier's document, and each of the five we read states its own recovery. EE's help page tells you to call during hibernation, inside the 90 days after day 180, before the 270-day close. giffgaff's help article lets you request a PAC within 30 days of deactivation, and says the SIM itself cannot be reactivated. Three's support page says a disconnected PAYG number cannot be reconnected, and a new SIM is a new line. Vodafone's help page says you cannot reactivate a disconnected Pay as you go number. O2's 7.1 gives a new number on reconnection. Those recovery windows sit on the carrier documents. giffgaff's 30-day PAC stays on giffgaff's help article.
Does using the phone on Wi-Fi keep a Three number?
The PAYG support page lists, as a chargeable activity: "Making a call, sending a text or using data while connected to our mobile network (not while connected to Wi-Fi)". Buying a top-up, Data Pack or Add-on is listed there as well. EE's help page, on a different network, says the listed uses can be done in the UK or abroad. That EE sentence stays on EE's help page. Three's Wi-Fi line stays on Three's support page. Keeping a UK number active abroad on Three follows that mobile-network bullet.