What hapens to (landline) phone numbers after they are canceled?
My family who I live apart from has had home phone # since a few years before I was born in the the early 90's. We all have cell phones now and most of the calls we got on that # were spam so we have been thinking about cancelling it for a few years. I suggested that before they cancel it they talk to me so that I can pay for it to be put on numberbarn or google voice or another similar service (I'm nostalgic and may want to use the # in the future). However a week or two ago they *cancelled it and while it was still getting calls as of two weeks ago when I visited it shortly after they cancelled it, I called it today and my cell said the number was incorrect. Is there any chance I could still get it transferred if I act soon (the last provider was Comcast) or is it lost to me indefinately?
*IDK if they didn't understand what I wanted to do with it or they didn't want to see me spend my money on something they thought was unnecessary.
What kind of timeframe are looking at? It's probably best if I'm in the room with my family while I talk to their provider, but I usually only visit once a week and I don't want them to think I'm obsessed (which I probably am). Can I afford to wait a week or should I contact Comcast ASAP?