diff --git a/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0054/stanza.py b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0054/stanza.py
index 72da0b51..2d017d6e 100644
--- a/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0054/stanza.py
+++ b/sleekxmpp/plugins/xep_0054/stanza.py
@@ -128,7 +128,8 @@ class Telephone(ElementBase):
 
     def setup(self, xml=None):
         super(Telephone, self).setup(xml=xml)
-        self._set_sub_text('NUMBER', '', keep=True)
+        ## this blanks out numbers received from server
+        ##self._set_sub_text('NUMBER', '', keep=True)
 
     def set_number(self, value):
         self._set_sub_text('NUMBER', value, keep=True)