hi,
can anyone tell me how to create a gitlab account without providing a cellphone number? i’ve provided an email address, and been provided with a ‘verification code’ to enter, but the site will not allow me to proceed beyond that point. my reason for joining it to participate in an existing project, i don’t want to create any of my own.
cheers,
rob 
If you’re trying to sign up to a different instance (from www.gitlab.com), please ask somebody with knowledge about that instance.
I just tried signing up on www.gitlab.com with another email and weren’t asked for a cellphone number. (And I chose to join a project - not that it matters much.)
I also wasn’t asked for a cellphone number when I setup 2FA (but I used an app on my cellphone as the 2nd factor).
I believe both instances and projects can require that you use 2FA on them, but as written above that doesn’t explain what you report.