Truphone was a London-based global mobile carrier founded in 2006, mainly serving businesses with SIM plans across many countries. After UK sanctions in 2022 over its Russian shareholders, it sold substantially all its assets to TP Global Operations, trading as 1GLOBAL, on January 24, 2023. Truphone products now carry the 1GLOBAL name.
Truphone was acquired
On January 24, 2023, Truphone Limited sold substantially all its assets and subsidiaries to TP Global Operations Limited, known as 1GLOBAL, through a pre-pack administration. The UK sanctions office approved the sale, so sanctions no longer apply to the Truphone business. Russia-related businesses were left out. Truphone World became 1GLOBAL World and Truphone Zone became 1GLOBAL zone.
If you had a Truphone line
Truphone accounts moved to 1GLOBAL. Truphone’s website now redirects to 1global.com. 1GLOBAL does not publish a US port-out process, so email business.help@1global.com for your account number and any transfer PIN. Act soon. Consumer prepaid top-ups have ended, and accounts with no usage for 180 days are terminated.
How Truphone ended
- 2006: Truphone is founded in London. Its first VoIP app enters beta in October 2006.
- August 2012: Truphone opens a US headquarters in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
- March 2022: Truphone’s board hires FRP Advisory to explore options, citing its majority Russian shareholder base.
- November 2022: Truphone Limited becomes subject to UK sanctions.
- January 24, 2023: Truphone sells substantially all assets and subsidiaries to TP Global Operations (1GLOBAL).
- December 22, 2023: Consumer prepaid top-ups are no longer supported. Accounts with 180 days of no usage are terminated.
Why Truphone was sold
Roman Abramovich and his children indirectly controlled a stake in Truphone. In March 2022 the board sought strategic options because of its majority Russian shareholder base and exposure to UK sanctions. In April 2022 the FCC voted to fine Truphone for exceeding US foreign ownership limits without approval. Truphone came under UK sanctions in November 2022. A pre-pack sale to 1GLOBAL, a new company owned by Hakan Koç and Pyrros Koussios, let the business continue free of sanctions.
How to find who holds an old number now
- Check an old bill or payment record. It names the company that billed you last.
- Run the number through a carrier lookup tool. It shows the carrier that holds the number today.
- Call that carrier and ask for the account number and transfer PIN.
- Start the port from the new carrier. Never cancel the old line first.
Your right to keep a number
Number portability is federal law, not a carrier policy. The rule is the FCC’s: Portability: Keeping Your Phone Number When Changing Service Providers.
How we verified Truphone
BestCellular.com tracks active carriers and defunct ones. We keep both, because people still search for brands that no longer exist. Every fact on this page comes from the sources listed below, and we leave a detail out when no source states it. Where sources disagree, this page says so. If you can document a correction, tell us and we will check it against the sources.
Tracked and active are different counts on this site. Truphone counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, so it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.
Questions about Truphone
Is Truphone still available?
Not under the Truphone name. Truphone sold substantially all its assets to 1GLOBAL on January 24, 2023, and its products were renamed 1GLOBAL. Consumer prepaid top-ups have ended, and inactive consumer accounts are terminated after 180 days.
Which network did Truphone use?
Truphone ran its own global mobile service and offered local US numbers through MVNO agreements with US operators. The sources BestCellular.com checked do not name which US network hosted those numbers.
What happened to Truphone customers?
Customers moved to 1GLOBAL with the sale on January 24, 2023. Truphone World became 1GLOBAL World and Truphone Zone became 1GLOBAL zone. For US porting help, email business.help@1global.com.
Was Truphone owned by Roman Abramovich?
Wikipedia states that Roman Abramovich and his children indirectly controlled a stake in Truphone. That link led to UK sanctions in November 2022 and the sale to 1GLOBAL in January 2023.
Sources
Checked October 13, 2026.
- Wikipedia: Truphone: Founded 2006; sanctions 2022; sale to TP Global Operations (1GLOBAL) January 24, 2023; renaming; consumer top-ups ended (update dated December 22, 2023).
- 1GLOBAL: How to migrate to 1GLOBAL: 1GLOBAL porting and migration support page; lists business.help@1global.com. Checked October 13, 2026, when truphone.com returned a 302 redirect to 1global.com.
Best Cellular. “Truphone: What Happened,” BestCellular.com. https://bestcellular.com/truphone/
Free to reuse with credit. Licence, sources and the full dataset. All defunct carriers are listed on carriers that shut down.