Sprint Agrees to Unlock Phones!?

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jPBoupMPJ6Tl4jgQ5aG0f8-R9KEgD8SH61A80' target='_blank'>http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5...-R9KEgD8SH61A80</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Wireless subscribers of Sprint Nextel Corp. may no longer have to buy a new phone if they jump to a new carrier. As part of a proposed class-action settlement, the Reston, Va.-based provider, with operational headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., has agreed to provide departing Sprint PCS customers with the code necessary to unlock their phones' software...The company also will...instruct its customer service representatives on how to connect a non-Sprint phone to the Sprint network."</i><br /><br />8O I never thought I'd see this day. It's a baby step, but baby steps are better than nothing.

[DaleReeck]

It looks good on the surface, but isn't this sort of meaningless for CDMA technology? If Sprint unlocks their phone for you to use on another CDMA network, like Verizon for instance, doesn't Verizon have to "allow" your EIN onto their network (you can't just join it like on a GSM/SIM setup)? Would anyone be shocked if VZW didn't allow a non-VZW phone onto their network?

For this to work, it seems to me that all the CDMA carriers have to be on board, not just one of them.

[Sven Johannsen]

My thoughts exactly. Bet Verizon will follow suite and unlock phones too, but neither will accept the others phones ;)

[freitasm]

Exactly... This is such PR spin:

"We are unlocking our phones (never mind other operators won't accept them on their networks because the ESN is not loaded in their databases)".

Seriously it's just plain stupid... Those phones come with specific firmware and features that are absolutely useless on other networks. The music store is different from one operator to another, because of DRM, certificates, etc. The WAP services are different, the MMS servers are different - and on CDMA phone there's no user interface to configure this on most phones.

It's just, well, stupid. Sprint is simply collecting good PR by playing "we are nice people"...

[possmann]

yeah my fear as well - great in prinicple but flawed in execution.

FREE MY PHONE!!!!!

sigh

[Rob Alexander]

As always with class action lawsuits, the actual consumers who were cheated get some meaningless bit of nothing, but you can bet this deal wasn't put to bed until the law firm that 'solved' this problem for us went home with upwards of $2 million in fees. I sure am glad someone was looking out for me here! :roll:

[kash]

i know it doesnt mean much like the others said that verizon wont accept them.. but it does mean you can bring international cdma phones to work on sprints network :)
still better then nothing..

[nootrak4]

i know it doesnt mean much like the others said that verizon wont accept them.. but it does mean you can bring international cdma phones to work on sprints network :)
still better then nothing..

Never thought of this but he is right

[Sven Johannsen]

i know it doesnt mean much like the others said that verizon wont accept them.. but it does mean you can bring international cdma phones to work on sprints network :)
still better then nothing..

Never thought of this but he is right

Yea, but the features thing still stands. How many international CDMA phones do you think are out there that support V-Cast, etc? So you can buy a CDMA phone somewhere, and they'll connect you to Sprint and you can make calls...but what else.

It's not entirely a Sprint issue either...it's the way CDMA phones are built. My GSM phones rely on a SIM card that sets it's parameters, and user parameter settings that can be changed to conform to new carrier options. CDMA phones aren't. Not that they couldn't be...they just aren't. Maybe this is something that will drive the hardware to be more flexible, which would be good, but for now, the only ones really benefiting here are the lawyers.