Can we please just get rid of carrier locking altogether? It is clearly anti-consumer and dangerous in the oligopoly ruled wireless market. So just outlaw the practice and be done with it.
Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
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Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#22All 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.
Same thing in Belgium. Simlocked phones are illegal, even subsidized phones are unlocked. Of course, the phone subsidy is much lower than in countries that allow simlocking.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#23Personally I don't think they should be locked to begin with. We've already signed an agreement in which i've agreed to terms which include making payments until the cost of the device is paid. Given that contract there should be no reason why I can't use the device as I please so long as I haven't violated those terms.
People who travel with a locked phone know how useless it is. No one is stupid enough to want pay the ridiculous roaming rates. Locked phone prevents you from using a local service during your stay! #thisNeedsToChange
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#24This seems pretty vague about what "unlocking" really means. For example, I had a Verizon HTC 8X which was "unlocked" (as are all Verizon LTE phones), but you couldn't edit the MMS gateway. Some older Verizon Android phones were "unlocked" but with no APN editor, so you couldn't get data service. Does anything about this code prevent carriers from playing the "it's unlocked but good luck configuring it" game?
That's a problem I notice when lawmakers don't have a the domain knowledge and this leads to all kinds of loopholes, the good thing is that it's a start.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#25Can we please just get rid of carrier locking altogether? It is clearly anti-consumer and dangerous in the oligopoly ruled wireless market. So just outlaw the practice and be done with it.
Exactly, its a horrible policy. I can't believe it even exists. Imagine if Gas companies lock you into using only certain brands of cars. OR If your computer comes locked with Comcast internet access only!
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#26Personally I don't think they should be locked to begin with. We've already signed an agreement in which i've agreed to terms which include making payments until the cost of the device is paid. Given that contract there should be no reason why I can't use the device as I please so long as I haven't violated those terms. People who travel with a locked phone know how useless it is. No one is stupid enough to want pay…
I know my point of view is really unpopular, but in my opinion if you value your freedom and privacy you should buy a phone. Just get one that is cheaper or a used one if you can't afford the latest greatest.
Would you take a subsidise laptop with a bunch of restrictions from your ISP?
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#27All 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.
Also true in Singapore.
Some contracts can be nastier (e.g. no early termination, just pay the rest), but that may just be an unrelated local difference (I've seen the same thing with residential ISP contracts, where there isn't a SIM-locking equivalent).
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#28Personally I don't think they should be locked to begin with. We've already signed an agreement in which i've agreed to terms which include making payments until the cost of the device is paid. Given that contract there should be no reason why I can't use the device as I please so long as I haven't violated those terms. People who travel with a locked phone know how useless it is. No one is stupid enough to want pay…
I know my point of view is really unpopular, but in my opinion if you value your freedom and privacy you should buy a phone. Just get one that is cheaper or a used one if you can't afford the latest greatest. Would you take a subsidise laptop with a bunch of restrictions from your ISP?
Of course it is unpopular. You're treating freedom and privacy as a commodity. If I cared and spent enough money, could I also restrict other people's freedom or privacy? Neither should be a function of ability to pay. That being said, that is more or less how it is now -- you pay in cash/time/effort.
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#29There are carriers that do much better than this, right? T-Mobile (my carrier) allows unlocking postpaid plans after much less than 2 years, and I had no trouble at all calling them and saying "Hey, I'll be in Europe, unlock code plz" despite not having paid off the device.
https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1588
Surely someone's made a nice table of carriers and policies?
Re: Starting today, wireless carriers have to unlock your phone
#30Personally I don't think they should be locked to begin with. We've already signed an agreement in which i've agreed to terms which include making payments until the cost of the device is paid. Given that contract there should be no reason why I can't use the device as I please so long as I haven't violated those terms. People who travel with a locked phone know how useless it is. No one is stupid enough to want pay…
No one is forcing you to buy a locked phone. It's easy enough to buy unlocked phones and sign up with any of the carriers without a contract. You get a lower monthly rate too and often pay less in the long run. People have been voting for the carrier locks with their dollars by mortgaging their phones through carrier subsidies. We can all agree that carrier locks are stupid, but I don't see why the government needs to get involved.