What happens to the telephone numbers that were ported if a VOIP
> provider goes out of business?
> Do they have to notify customers and allow them to switch carriers?
I've already heard some horror stories about trying to move a number out of a VOIP that is in business.
Someone here probably knows the details better than I do, but it is seems to have to do with your number being assigned to a third-party when you ported it to the VOIP carrier. This is different than when you port to a wireline or wireless carrier.
I would never port a "treasured" number to a VOIP carrier.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Neither would I, if the number meant anything to me. The only number I care about is my (dial 9) for an outside line, which relates to something special for me, and it has traveled with me from Southwestern Bell through Prairie Stream and on to Sage, my present carrier. My VOID line on Vonage at present, (or dial 8 for long distance) is a number out of Winfield, KS (620-402-0134) and Chicago-area (773-353-5067) is the number used for incoming calls to this Digest, but I don't care that much about keeping that specific number if I give up Vonage, which I may, when Cable One comes through with phone service, as expected around the end of July. Cable One will be VOIP also, and the 'ATA part' will be a modem-based connection. PAT]