Email Address Portability

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PeteS

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#249020 19-Apr-2019 23:13

A cursory glance searching various NZ forums seems that we embraced cellphone number portability but I couldn't find any recent debate on the issue of NZ email addresses. Can anyone point to any discussion or lobbying by any group on this matter ?
Is it actually important ?
I for one have a few very important email addresses (2x with xtra especially)that to lose or abandon will create considerable annoyance albeit stuff is only sent to them very occasionally. Small price to pay if I abandon Spark, but maybe someone here knows of some organisation or government agency worth approaching on the matter. For several years now I am asked by many old folk how to link their xtra email to gmail at little or no cost but very few proceed.

freitasm

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#2221332 19-Apr-2019 23:14

Email address portability does not exist simply because of the way the protocol, user management is designed.

kingjj

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#2221340 20-Apr-2019 00:10

The sheer thought of email portability hurts my head. Its not like number portability where there are low tens worth of providers, anyone can be any email provider with minimal investment. There are thousands of providers in NZ, millions world wide. As the BFDL said, it just wouldn't work. The protocol doesn't allow for it.

VFNZ have shown that even providing forwarding in a large capacity is fraught with difficulties. I don't see a time when even forwarding would be required, let alone portability.

jarledb

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#2221345 20-Apr-2019 01:51

There is one sure way to have full portability of your email:

Purchase your own domain and host the email with Google, Microsoft or some other good email service.

That way you can change from one provider to another, and keep your old email address.

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Aredwood

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#2221346 20-Apr-2019 01:57

Register your own domain name. Setup an email address using that domain. Then you can have email address portability, as you will own the domain that the email address is associated with.

Even phone numbers are 100% portable, in that you can't port your phone number to an overseas phone company. Yet there are companies all over the world that can provided hosted email on any domain that you own. And you have the option of running your own email server if you want.