Outside US without access to my AT&T account but need to pay bills and retain number

In case anyone else is also facing the same problem- for a prepaid cell you need to pay your bill once every four months to ensure the number is reserved and can be re-activated by paying the bill again. Thank you for your help! was finally able to get through to the customer service and resolve this issue.

It's not necessarily every 4 months. It all depends on when your balance expires. You have 60 days after your balance expires before your account is closed.