How To Unlock a Phone
GSM phones are typically designed to work with any network. When you buy your phone discounted or as part of a special offer or promotion however, some service providers lock the handset so that it may not be used with another SIM carrier. Carriers claim that this locking the phone helps subsidize the cost of the handset. Locked phones plays to your disadvantage in instances wherein you need to take your phone out of the country. By taking it out of its prescribed network, you may be charged with very high roaming fees.
Fortunately, phones you may now learn how to unlock a phone from their previous ties to a service provider. The copyright office has given the green light to make the procedure legal and you may now learn how to unlock a phone. You may also unlock your own phone if you wish to. (Click here for more on unlocked phones in the prepaid market) There are several ways to do this:
How to unlock a phone using an unlocking service:
First, you must obtain the following information about your phone:
- Your mobile number
- The manufacturer and the model number
- Your phone’s IMEI or serial number which you can get by inputting *#06# on your phone’s keypad.
- The network and country on which your phone is locked
There are plenty of websites that offer to unlock your phone for a fee. You will need to email them your phone’s IMEI code. They will email you the unlocking code for your phone which you must then input into your mobile device. Make sure that you investigate the company thoroughly before engaging in any kind of transaction with them.
How to unlock a phone with an operator.
Call your service provider’s hotline and tell the operator that you want to unlock your phone. You may be charged an unlocking fee if you obtained the phone via a postpaid plan or if you were under a contract with the service provider. When these have been cleared out, the operator will give you your phone’s unlocking code. Type into your phone and it will be unlocked immediately.
How to unlock a phone without an operator.
Sometimes, an operator may not tell you how to unlock a phone or provide you with the unlocking code because of company policy. What you can do is search through how to unlock phone online forums to find your model’s unlock code.
There is also some software that may be used to obtain your phone’s unlock code. All you need to do is attach your phone to a data cable and run the software to find out how to unlock a phone. You may check eBay for these items.
How to unlock a phone by sending it to a company.
Some companies specialize in their unlock services by asking you to send in your unit. For a certain fee, they will perform the unlocking service and then deliver your phone back or make it available for pick up. Look for companies that provide a money back guarantee in case they are not able to unlock your phone.
How to unlock a phone using other special equipment
You will also find some companies offering special equipment designed specifically to unlock your phone. While very useful, this equipment is also expensive and requires you to perform a careful procedure on your mobile.
However, the easiest thing to do is to just buy an unlocked phone from us!