4 ms·
I don't see this being a major problem. It's technically been illegal in the UK for years as you don't own the handset until your contract has paid up. However
by meaty 14y ago
I don't see this being a major problem. It's technically been illegal in the UK for years as you don't own the handset until your contract has paid up.
However, every handset I've ever had is either "SIM-free" or has been unlocked.
I now however only buy SIM-free unlocked handsets so I can give my telco the finger or throw another SIM in if they go down.
- illuminate 14y agoYou don't see it as a problem because you find it easy to buy pre-unlocked phones. This is not as easy in the US. Possible? Yes. Common? Hell no. And until very recently, it was near-impossible to find cheaper service for unsubsidized phones.
- illuminate 14y agoTo add on, you're also effed if you want to buy used phones. They're locked, and since you were never a customer, they won't unlock them for you. Even if you were to "become" a customer for a month with no contract, they still wouldn't unlock them for you, I think you have to be a "customer in good standing" for three months or so according to most providers' policy? That's also only for the carriers who have policies that allow their agents to unlock. Myself, yesterday I paid a person in India ~$2.00 to unlock an iPhone so I could use the gift on another service. People on Craigslist or local GSM repair shops are less lucky, I've seen demands of 40-100 bucks for the same privilege.
- jdietrich 14y agoUnlocking has never been illegal in the UK. Unlocking a phone may be a breach of your network contract, but that's never been enforced and is almost certainly unenforcable. It's illegal to unblock a handset, but that's a different matter - IMEI blocking is an anti-theft measure that stops a phone from being used on any network.