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Language Foundation

port in

To port in is to transfer a mobile phone number from one mobile carrier to a new carrier while keeping the same number.

In plain English

The action changes which mobile carrier provides service for an existing phone number. The number stays the same while that number moves to a different carrier.

In context

Here, "port in" names the request to bring an existing mobile number from another carrier to the new carrier for the new line.

Situation
Porting numbers, activating SIM or eSIM, replacing devices, and changing account details
What it communicates
names the requested number-transfer action in new-line activation

Meaning limits

The term itself identifies only the transfer of the number between carriers and does not indicate the status or outcome of that transfer.

Examples

“When she switched carriers, she ported in her old mobile number instead of taking a new one.”

Core meaning

“During signup, the customer asked to port in an existing number for the new line.”

In context

  • port out Contrast

    This names the same kind of number transfer from the side of the carrier the number leaves, not the carrier it enters.