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Locked vs Unlocked Cell Phones
Many people ask the question: "What is an unlocked cell phone?" In order to answer that, we must first look at how the cell phone industry works. The preceding question will most likely apply to T-Mobile and Cingular/AT&T customers.
Your service provider (T-Mobile or Cingular/AT&T) provides phone service. That is their main business. They do not make cell phones & accessories (headsets, covers, etc.). However, they do sell it. Manufacturers (like Motorola, LG, Samsung, Sony) manufacture cell phones. These manufacturers sell their cell phones to the service providers. We are going to use Motorola's RAZR V3 as an example.
EXAMPLE:
Motorola makes the RAZR V3 (the world most popular cell phone) and sells it to T-Mobile. Since T-Mobile wants to keep their customers, they only buy locked phones. Only T-Mobile SIM cards will work in these T-Mobile locked cell phones. If you try to insert a Cingular/AT&T SIM card into a T-Mobile locked phone, it will not work.
So what happens if you break or lose your cell phone? The Unlocked Phone video describes what to do when you are in need of an unlocked phone. Most people who break or lose their cell phone do NOT want to be tied on another GSM year contract. All they need is the hardware. If you go to T-Mobile, they will try to 'upgrade' your contract. This means your contract will be extended for another two years. They will sell you a T-Mobile 'locked' cell phone at a small discount (big wow).
Since they are salesman who have to hit quota, they won't tell you to slip your SIM card into an unlocked cell phone. Unlocked Cell phones are not sold in Cell Phone Stores. So for our example once you order an unlocked RAZR V3 , upon arrival slip in your SIM card and you will have phone service within seconds.
An Unlocked Cell Phone will work for both T-Mobile and Cingular/AT&T. This is because both carriers use GSM technology (SIM cards). If you lost your SIM card, walk into your cell phone store and say, "The only thing I need to do is replace my SIM card." Your replacement SIM card is FREE so if they try to charge you, go somewhere else.
Here is an excerpt of the Senate vote on unlocked cell phones:
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND COMMERCE Lloyd E. Levine, Chair SB 158 (Florez) - As Amended: June 11, 2007
SENATE VOTE : 21-12.
1) What is cell phone locking : Cell phone providers in the United States primarily use one of two types of network technologies to provide service, either GSM or CDMA. Because the providers use different technologies to provide service, a cell phone purchased from one cellular provide may not work on another provider's network. This is a very different situation from Europe and many Asian countries where all the mobile telephone companies use the same technologies. Customers can easily keep their phones when they switch from one provider to another.
Some U.S. cell phone providers use the same technologies. For example AT&T (formerly Cingular) and T-Mobile both utilities the GSM network, and Sprint and Verizon utilize the CDMA network. Even in the cases when providers use the same network platforms, there are potential barrier to customers using their phone on competing networks. The providers place locking software on the mobile phones that prevent the phones from being used on any other provider's network. The mobile phones generally can be unlocked either by connecting the phone to a computer that has unlocking software or by entering a preset unlocking code on the key pad.
A review of the contract terms of all the major cellular providers showed that some of the providers had provisions preventing customers from unlocking mobile devices during the term of the contract, and other providers did not address the issue at all. However, once the contract term has expired there is no contractual or statutory prohibition against a customer unlocking a mobile device to use another provider's network. In fact, AT&T and T-Mobile have stated that they will unlock a customer's phone if the customer requests. The companies will unlock the phone at the end of the customer contract or after a set period of time after the customer has paid for the cost of the mobile device. One of the largest cellular providers, Verizon Wireless, will not unlock a customer's phone.
Further information on Government Cellular Phones articles.
Pros and Cons of buying an unlocked cell phone:
