Still Reachable

Rule card · United Kingdom

Keep your Three number active while abroad

Three PAYG stays active with one chargeable activity every 180 days on the mobile network, not Wi-Fi. A disconnected number cannot be reconnected.

Checked against official pages on September 28, 2026. Rules move; when this one does, it goes on the changelog.

Rule at a glance

prepaid accounts only
If you do nothing
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
Cheapest way to hold it
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
Roaming needed to receive codes abroad
Unverified (The support page excludes Wi-Fi from the call, text or data activity. Whether inbound SMS while abroad counts is unverified)
Twelve months away, roughly
The Charge for one chargeable activity each 180 days. Not a published retention charge
Deactivation clockdays since the last chargeable activity on the support page. The 180 is that FAQ. The PAYG terms effective 21 May 2026 also allow suspension or disconnection after a 6 month period without a voucher or chargeable events. The drawing is the support page's 180.
Day 0Day 180Support page. No chargeable activity. SIM will not work, number lost, cannot be reconnected

Three's support page counts chargeable activity on the mobile network. Wi-Fi is the exclusion printed next to the call, the text and the data.

180 days, on the mobile network

The PAYG support page states the keep-alive rule: "Your Pay As You Go number will stay active if you use it for at least 1 chargeable activity every 180 days." Chargeable activities on that page include buying a Top-up, Data Pack or Add-on, and: "Making a call, sending a text or using data while connected to our mobile network (not while connected to Wi-Fi)". Using top-up credit, Data Pack or Add-on allowances is listed there too.

The same page repeats the Wi-Fi line under "What is a chargeable activity?". A session on Wi-Fi is the case that page carves out. Buying the top-up is listed as its own bullet, separate from that call-text-data line.

Once it is gone

The expiry FAQ on the same support page is blunt: "Once disconnected, your Pay As You Go SIM won't work, and your number will be lost." Reactivation: "If your Pay As You Go number has been disconnected, it can't be reconnected." A new PAYG SIM is a new line, ordered online, through Live Chat, or in a store.

The PAYG terms effective 21 May 2026 say, in the Quick Summary: "If within a 6 month period you have not (i) activated a Pay As You Go Voucher on your account or (ii) made any chargeable events or activities (for example, made telephone calls, sent text or photo messages, accessed content or the internet or any other Three Services for which a charge is made), we may also suspend our Services or disconnect you." Section 11.1 then states the number: "you will lose your phone number unless you have made a request for your number to be ported prior to Disconnection." Porting, on that sentence, is before Disconnection. giffgaff's 30-day PAC is after deactivation. Two different documents, two different doors. The Ofcom range under both is on the UK page.

On the mobile network

  • Use one chargeable activity inside 180 days.
  • Treat a call, a text or data as counting when the page's mobile-network condition is met. Wi-Fi is the exclusion on that bullet.
  • Buying a Top-up, Data Pack or Add-on is listed as counting.
  • After disconnection, the support page's recovery is a new SIM. A port request in the May 2026 terms is prior to Disconnection.