"You need a new SIM card"

the voice at the other end of the phone tells Middle Cat. 

"No, I don't," she tells the voice, "I have a new SIM card."

"No, you need to get another SIM card and then we can transfer the number."

Middle Cat explains again. The voice repeats the message. Middle Cat explains again from the very beginning.

That was yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon Middle Cat went to the phone shop in the shopping centre to see if she could get some help there. 

"No, you don't need a new SIM card," the man who runs the shop and, presumably, knows about such things, "That's nonsense. They have to...." He explains. Middle Cat does understand that. It makes sense. 

She calls Telstra again from this house. We wait...they finally call back. We go through all the "verification" process again and then the new voice at the other end says, "You need a new SIM card." Middle Cat takes a deep breath, does not lose her temper, and explains again. It makes sense even to me but apparently not to the voice at the other end...or perhaps it does.

Telstra may not want to lose a customer but they have lost me. The man who runs the shop seems to have a lot of information at his fingertips. He found two Telstra "plans" cheaper than the plan we were told was "the only one available". He found many more plans not offered by Telstra which are far less. They provide an identical service to that offered by Telstra but they are half and, in one case, even a third of the price.

I also need a "new phone" because the old one will only work on the 3G network - which will shortly cease operation.  That one will be the newer version the Senior Cat was using in the nursing home but I am determined to keep the old number and go to a new provider. It can be done. Telstra may not like it but it can be done. 

I do not like mobile phones. I do not like being "always available". I know they are now considered to be an essential part of daily life for this reason but I do not like them. I like the whole "provider" and SIM card business even less.  Middle Cat is battling on. I had to teach her how to do some basic computing this morning. We are not technologically minded cats - and yet my job depends on computer access. 

Could someone please invent something simpler that allows long distance communication without a phone or SIM card?