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carrier-locked GSM phonescarrier-locked GSM phonesPosted Aug 4, 2007 17:55 UTC (Sat) by giraffedata (subscriber, #1954)In reply to: A turning point for open gadgets? by mjr Parent article: A turning point for open gadgets?
Are you saying that a US carrier will allow a customer to use a phone not provided by the carrier? And can it be any GSM phone, or just one endorsed by the carrier? One reason I have to be skeptical of that is that there is a controversy going on now with respect to some additional frequencies the US government is making available for wireless telephone (former analog TV frequencies). The question is whether owners of those frequencies should be required to offer them to users of all phones on an equal basis. The major existing carriers have opposed it -- they want to buy these frequencies and make them available for use with only certain equipment, as they can today.
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carrier-locked GSM phones Posted Aug 5, 2007 18:01 UTC (Sun) by Los__D (guest, #15263) [Link] At least in Denmark, I'm pretty sure that it's illegal for providers to require that the phone is bought from them.
carrier-locked GSM phones Posted Aug 6, 2007 16:37 UTC (Mon) by sepreece (subscriber, #19270) [Link] "Are you saying that a US carrier will allow a customer to use a phone not provided by the carrier?"
Generally speaking, yes, for GSM carriers, so long as the phone is using a SIM card that either came from the carrier or has a roaming arrangement with the carrier. If they didn't, they wouldn't be able to support those roaming arrangements. I don't know whether there is a legal requirement, but I think there is a GSM requirement (I believe the carriers all have to agree to meet GSM requirements as part of licensing the technology).
I believe they also must provide emergency calling services to any GSM handset, even if it doesn't have a SIM in it at all (as CDMA carriers must for even unactivated CDMA handsets).
carrier-locked GSM phones Posted Aug 7, 2007 2:55 UTC (Tue) by omez (guest, #6904) [Link] Yes, you can purchase an unlocked GSM phone from a number of sources in the US and use it with any activated SIM card. The device's price is not subsidized by the carrier, so it will be more expensive. You won't have to extend your contract with the carrier to pay back the subsidy, though.
A GSM carrier will, after a period of time, unlock a locked phone at your request.
Not all phone features will work with all SIM cards/provider networks, and not all network features will work with all phones.
None of this applies to CDMA phones from Verizon and Sprint. I've no idea what their rules are. The Sprint EVDO is nice, though.
The current FCC controversy is not over which device works on which network. Just like you are free to use any landline telephone on the POTS network, you can use any GSM phone on any GSM network, given a good SIM card. With a landline you can also choose your provider. The POTS network owner, likely a baby bell or reincarnated ma bell, must give access to other providers at cost. The rationale is that the public helps foot the bill for the POTS network with universal and rural access fees (read: taxes). The FCC recently decided that this rationale does not apply to radio spectrum, so no such equal access requirement will apply. If you put up an antenna and get a license, it's yours alone. Another way to dodge the requirement is to build a landline network without dipping into access fees. Verizon does this with their FIOS network. There's a stink about that, too, because they rip out the copper that we subsidized when they run the fiber to your house.
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