Quck questions: Unlocked phones work on any network?

[Joelacrane]

Quick and stupid question, but i must know for sure. Do unlocked phones work on any network?

And where do unlocked phones come from?

[Mark Kenepp]

An "Unlocked" GSM phone will work on any GSM network, as long as the phone supports the frequency band that network uses.

I am not familiar with the CDMA side of things so I don't understand what it means to be "unlocked" on a CDMA network. I believe, that there is no such thing as "unlocked" on CDMA networks, but I am probably wrong.

There are companies out there that will unlock phones for you. The carrier that supplied the phone should have the capability of unlocking the phone as well, but whether or not they do is up to them. Though I have never done it myself, there are websites that will give out "unlock" codes, sometimes for a fee and, you may find some user forums where users share unlock codes, though I am not sure of the legality of such information.

If you purchase a GSM phone through a third party like Mobile Planet (http://www.mobileplanet.com/) it is likely to be unlocked. If you purchase a GSM phone direct form the manufacturer, it is likely to be unlocked.

Most of the phones I have had were purchased, unlocked, either direct from the manufacturer or through a third party reseller.

I personally prefer unlocked phones not so much so I can easily switch providers, but when I travel to Europe, I can just put in a local pay-as-you-go SIM card.

[ADBrown]

I am not familiar with the CDMA side of things so I don't understand what it means to be "unlocked" on a CDMA network. I believe, that there is no such thing as "unlocked" on CDMA networks, but I am probably wrong.

Actually, you're right. CDMA phones are activated by the carrier, and most carriers won't activate any phones not branded for their network. So there is no "unlocked."

There are companies out there that will unlock phones for you. The carrier that supplied the phone should have the capability of unlocking the phone as well, but whether or not they do is up to them. Though I have never done it myself, there are websites that will give out "unlock" codes, sometimes for a fee and, you may find some user forums where users share unlock codes, though I am not sure of the legality of such information.

Perfectly legal, despite the attempts of the carriers to squash it on copyright grounds.

[Mark Kenepp]

...and, you may find some user forums where users share unlock codes, though I am not sure of the legality of such information.

Perfectly legal, despite the attempts of the carriers to squash it on copyright grounds.

Now that you mention it, wasn't there a recent court case that determined this? Something like determining that mobile providers did not have the right to prevent consumers from unlocking their phones?

By recent I mean around the same time that the courts determined that consumers had the right to keep their phone numbers when changing services, which was what, two years ago?

[PetiteFlower]

Number portability is more then 2 years old. I switched from Sprint to Verizon about 3 years ago which was fairly soon after it started.

[raika]

No, I don't think so. Actually, unlocked phones will work only if they are triband or quadband in other countries. Depends on each phone.

In all the phones I've had that were locked I've been able to use them all over the world. So hope this helps!