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Not sure that's a great example either- a new SIM gives you a new (local) phone number. If I'm only overseas for a week (or other short period), and especially
by awongh 14y ago
Not sure that's a great example either- a new SIM gives you a new (local) phone number.
If I'm only overseas for a week (or other short period), and especially if it's for business, it's a whole lot more convenient for me to pay exorbitant roaming fees and still get phone service to my normal number.
Yes, it's cheaper to buy a new sim, and locals can call you a little easier, but in some cases it's not worth it.
The problem that the OP states is that nowadays there doesn't seem to be a lot of real-world practical examples where one would want or need to unlock their phone....
- justincormack 14y agoWhen you want to change carrier, or sell your phone. If you use VoIP you can keep your number even if you switch to a temporary SIM while travelling. Or just tell people to use Skype etc.
- andybak 14y agoI'm in Thailand for the next couple of weeks and roaming data costs about $8/megabyte. It's too hard to predict and control data usage when you're used to free data. If I forget one background app or get one setting wrong I could end up with hundreds of dollars in charges. So no - it's not easier to pay roaming charges. It means I can't trust any app unless I fully understand how it uses data. Swapping out the SIM is the only reasonable option. Of course - the real solution would be sane roaming data charges. To get normal usage out of my smartphone