Unlocking Cell Phones
 

Can anyone tell me what the point of unlocking a cell phone is?
I have heard it mentioned a few times, but havent been able to figure out what it actually does.
Thanks

From what I know, unlocking the cell phone allows you to use a phone with different carrier. Don't quote me on this but this is what I was told.

Can anyone verify???

unlocking enables you to use a GSM phone on different networks.
for example, if you buy a phone from fido, that phone cannot be used with rogers even they both are gsm. if you travel, you may buy those 'pay per use' gsm cards and enable your cell phone to be used in a foreign system. the point is all about money, if you have to roam with fido say in hong kong, then fido makes $$$$, but if you put in a local HK GSM card and use the local network there, fido makes $0 and you save $$$$.
more info @:
www.howardforums.com

an unlocked cell phone holds higher value especially in the used market or buying new from ebay etc.
there are a few places in toronto whom specialises in this. locking refers the limitation imposed by the cell company to restrict a gsm cell phone only be used under their network.
gsm is the global standard to mobile communications, in canada it is fido and rogers. in the US it is att, t-mobile and cingular. changing phones is as easy as changing batteries, slip in the gsm sim card and you are up and running. no programming necessary on your part, system instantly recognises your phone number. thats why people use may different phones and can change them as many times as they wish.
on another note, it is only in north america that there exist these 'locked' phones, everywhere in the world GSM phones are never locked.

bongo wireless they are located in markham they will unlock anything you want the only problem is a bit pricey.

So if I unlocked my Rogers GSM phone, could I then use it to signup to the new fido unlimited plan?

Yep

Yup, thats the point of it. All u do is put in the fido sim card when its unlocked.

lots of ppl are switching to fido, i think i will soon

ooo... sounds interesting... has caught my attention... never heard of this before...

*uzi*

Sorry for all the questions, I just have one more. Could I just go into a fido store and say I wanted to sign up to the unlimited plan, and they wouldnt ask any questions about the phone?

fido will either sell you one of their 'locked' phones or give you a cheapo/shitty one for free if you commit to a term plan.
most of us do not like this idea at all.
another thing what model of phone do you have from rogers? if it is one of those cheaper /low end models it is not worth your while to get it unlocked. i like bongo wireless they are very good but i agree a bit pricey, but if you are dealing with a $400 odd phone then it is worth the while. rollee

I have the Motorola t720i on rogers. If I cannot get Fido to use that phone, then I will just wait until my plan is up with rogers, and go buy a new phone.

The don't care if you bring your own phone... Also Since Rogers owns Fido, you might be able to use it on the Fido network without having to unlock it. Just food for thought.

If you like the phone you have, it's generally $10-20 to unlock it with a service online... worth it if the phone is decent and you don't want to get stuck in a 3 year commitment. Of course if you're looking for a better phone signing a 3 year will be the only way to get the phone cheap.

8-year thread revival. Nice move spambot.

Hi,
Unlocking cell phone means that if we buy a mobile from AT&T for the contract of two years then we cannot any other carrier other than AT&T. We have to pay more for Data and roaming charges. So if we unlocked that mobile from AT&T we can use any carrier as our wish. If we want to unlock the mobile. There are many unlocking methods are there, but the cheapest and safest method is using unlocking codes. We can get these unlocking codes from the service provider; But AT&T will not give unlocking code until your contract period. If you want to unlock your mobile before contract period then you must get the unlocking codes from the online sites. There are many online sites providing unlocking codes. I unlocked my blackberry mobile using unlocking codes from the site http://www.unlocking4u.com/ .They are cheap and reliable. Here we can get the unlocking code by just giving IMEI number. They will provide unlocking code with instructions with in 2 days. They also provide good customer support. If you wish you can visit this site. It will be very useful to you.....