Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
arstechnica.com
Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
1–10 of 57 posts
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#2From the AT&T page:
> All the device’s service commitments and installment plans are completed, and all early termination fees are paid in full.
I assume that means that if you got a "free" phone with a two year contract, you have to wait two years to unlock it.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#3All providers in Europe will unlock your phone if you spend enough credit or for small fee.
Also US devices have locked some features (voice calls on tablets).
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#4All providers in Europe will unlock your phone if you spend enough credit or for small fee. Also US devices have locked some features (voice calls on tablets).
How it works in Canada: whether you pay off the phone entirely or not, pay 3 months in a row to the carrier you bought the locked phone from and then you can pay an additional $50+tax to have it unlocked. While it's nice the CRTC (our FCC basically) required this, it's terrible in that most carriers were either doing free/cheap unlocks after 3 months or $50 anytime after your device was paid for. Feels like we ended up with a mandated "worse" option to me.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#5From the AT&T page: > All the device’s service commitments and installment plans are completed, and all early termination fees are paid in full. I assume that means that if you got a "free" phone with a two year contract, you have to wait two years to unlock it. https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/
In my country (Mexico) there was a law for them to sell you unlocked phones/unlock them on request.
The biggest company had you fill a stupid request and you couldn't fill it if you had your phone for less than X months, something which was not allowed by the law, that ceased after a series of complains to some branch of government made to "protect consumers"
Anyway, I wonder if AT&T is kind of going with it and saying yes we'll unlock it BUT as a way to kind of cheat on the law, or if the law really allows them to do that.
edit: I guess I forgot most people here have prepaid phones, so really I ignore if that was the case for phones on plans, too.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#6All providers in Europe will unlock your phone if you spend enough credit or for small fee. Also US devices have locked some features (voice calls on tablets).
How it works in Canada: whether you pay off the phone entirely or not, pay 3 months in a row to the carrier you bought the locked phone from and then you can pay an additional $50+tax to have it unlocked. While it's nice the CRTC (our FCC basically) required this, it's terrible in that most carriers were either doing free/cheap unlocks after 3 months or $50 anytime after your device was paid for. Feels like we ended…
Yeah there was nothing more irritating than having to pay Rogers $50 after having an iPhone for three years.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#7I wonder how this will work with used phones purchased privately. I bought a phone on craigslist that was locked to T-Mobile. It wasn't blacklisted so I'm able to use it on T-Mobile, but I don't know if the contract was paid in full, the original account is in good standing, etc.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#8All providers in Europe will unlock your phone if you spend enough credit or for small fee. Also US devices have locked some features (voice calls on tablets).
How it works in Canada: whether you pay off the phone entirely or not, pay 3 months in a row to the carrier you bought the locked phone from and then you can pay an additional $50+tax to have it unlocked. While it's nice the CRTC (our FCC basically) required this, it's terrible in that most carriers were either doing free/cheap unlocks after 3 months or $50 anytime after your device was paid for. Feels like we ended…
TELUS Mobility charges $35 so it's competitive. What isn't competitive, are the plans up here in Canada.
We now pay more for less data than we did 3 years ago.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#9From the AT&T page: > All the device’s service commitments and installment plans are completed, and all early termination fees are paid in full. I assume that means that if you got a "free" phone with a two year contract, you have to wait two years to unlock it. https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/
In my country (Mexico) there was a law for them to sell you unlocked phones/unlock them on request. The biggest company had you fill a stupid request and you couldn't fill it if you had your phone for less than X months, something which was not allowed by the law, that ceased after a series of complains to some branch of government made to "protect consumers" Anyway, I wonder if AT&T is kind of going with it and sayi…
The article says the agreement is to unlock "...after the fulfillment of the applicable postpaid service contract, device financing plan, or payment of applicable early termination fee." So AT&T is just doing what they're allowed to do.
I'll note that this has been AT&T's policy for at least a couple of years now. I don't think anything has changed for them.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#10All providers in Europe will unlock your phone if you spend enough credit or for small fee. Also US devices have locked some features (voice calls on tablets).
In Poland all phones have to be sold without a simlock. Doesn't matter if you are on contract or not. The world still hasn't collapsed, people on contracts continue to pay for them, nothing has changed.