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Mobile Phones


urotsukidoji_badassdemon
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Hey all those with mobiles, what rights do we, the consumer have to open network phones? As in phones that are open in order to be able to put any sim card in i.e. Voda, Orange, O2, T-Mob, and be able to use it, instead of the phone being locked to a certain network.

I read somewhere that we have the right to be able to do this. I got a Nokia 3200 recently from Curry's, it is currently locked to Virgin network, but I want to stick a Voda sim in it. Can I just take it to a Nokia repair centre, and have them open it free of charge? Cos the phone is only 2 weeks old. Or would I stillhave to pay to have it opened? I tried putting a Voda sim in it, and it requests an authorisation code, it doesn't say cannot use or whatever it used to do before.

AND, also, what about other languages. Can I have extra languages installed without having to pay for it too? If the phone is brand new, or less than 1 year old, don't we have to right to have things installed like more up to date software without being charged for it?

Anyone in the know, can you shed some light on the subject?

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I think if you buy a phone on contract its locked to network but they can be unlocked as ive done it with my Motorola V600 and it cost me a fiver at a shop in P/boro

Reason i got mine unlocked was im on contract with orange as they had the best deal at the time and but i also have a pay as you go sim on vodafone so if i breakdown and i have no coverage on orange i can slip in the vodafone sim and hopefully get some cover

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Thats not really helping mate. I want to know if we can have it done FREE.

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yes you can have it done free. Not sure on how legal it is but have a search on google!

There is a little program you download, then it works a code out for you which you type into your phone and voila!

Try trhis site!

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Yeh generally you can buy the phone cheaper from say Orange but it will be locked to them (cause they got you the phone discounted basically) you can buy unlocked phones but they are £300-£800 for the phone whereas if you bought it from a company and its locked it will be free or maybe £100 tops.

Most phones can be unlocked using key combinations and so forth.

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You buy a phone from a network they CAN lock it to them. If you want an unlocked phone - buy one.

You have no right to buy an unlocked phone from a provider.

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Virgin will unlock it for free.

Give Customer Services a ring from your phone (789?) Virgin I have found are great, cheap calls and texts (on PAYG, or Direct Debit)

If memory serves me right you may have had to have spent about £20 ish on calls before they do it for free, either way they told me it was OK to do, but I have a SIM free phone so it didn't matter at the time...

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Virgin will unlock it for free.

Give Customer Services a ring from your phone (789?) Virgin I have found are great, cheap calls and texts (on PAYG, or Direct Debit)

If memory serves me right you may have had to have spent about £20 ish on calls before they do it for free, either way they told me it was OK to do, but I have a SIM free phone so it didn't matter at the time...

spot on mate apart from its £30 but u beat me to it

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Vodafone will unlock it for free AFTER you have finishished your contract.

in theory intill you have payed your 12th monthly phone bill, the hardware is still theirs!

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spot on mate apart from its £30 but u beat me to it

Yeah, thought it was something like £20/£30....

Still, can't fault them, cheap as chips!

:thumbsup:

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O2 is best when ur on contract, their phones are  unlockled

I got my O2 phone through Carphone warehouse and it was unlocked. I wasn't sure if it was an O2 thing or a CPW thing.

Occasionally I use my spare Orange sim in it and it works fine.

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From a legal standpoint - you have no right to have the phone unlocked for free...

Yes you do there is no legal standing to say that a phone can not be unlocked.

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From a legal standpoint - you have no right to have the phone unlocked for free...

Yes you do there is no legal standing to say that a phone can not be unlocked.

Sorry... :rolleyes: let me re-phrase for clarity.

To answer the original question - legally a phone can be locked, and there is no legal standing which states you have the right to have this unlocked for free.

IF you can have this done (assuming the phone is your property) whether for a fee or free of charge, then that is of course is fine.

better :)

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Just go on contract, get a free phone and after 12months its yours, and you get another free upgrade and can sell your last phone off. When you upgrade its not a trade in. Well not with orange anyway.

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O2 is best when ur on contract, their phones are  unlockled

Yeah - thats why I love O2 - always buy phones from them! :yes:

The mobile companies tie you down to a 12 month contract to their network - why on earth would they let you unlock your phone and take your business elsewhere?

After the 12 months is up the phone belongs to you and you can do what you like with it but in those 12 months the phone is the property of the service provider (someone correct me if thats wrong - that is what I was led to believe)

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I got a Nokia 3200 it is currently locked to Virgin network, but I want to stick a Voda sim in it.  would I stillhave to pay to have it opened?

To answer the original question -

To answer the original original question...

Spend £30 on calls, give Virgin a ring and they will give you the code to unlock it :thumbsup:

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From a legal standpoint - you have no right to have the phone unlocked for free...

Yes you do there is no legal standing to say that a phone can not be unlocked.

Sorry... :rolleyes: let me re-phrase for clarity.

To answer the original question - legally a phone can be locked, and there is no legal standing which states you have the right to have this unlocked for free.

IF you can have this done (assuming the phone is your property) whether for a fee or free of charge, then that is of course is fine.

better :)

Yep 100% correct sorry mate thought you meant unlocking a phone was illegal :)

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O2 is best when ur on contract, their phones are  unlockled

Yeah - thats why I love O2 - always buy phones from them! :yes:

The mobile companies tie you down to a 12 month contract to their network - why on earth would they let you unlock your phone and take your business elsewhere?

After the 12 months is up the phone belongs to you and you can do what you like with it but in those 12 months the phone is the property of the service provider (someone correct me if thats wrong - that is what I was led to believe)

I can correct you but I dont want to seem like I'm taking the p1ss - but the phone is your property as soon as you leave the shop - but you have to honour the 12 month contract - as thats what pays the phones subsidised costs :)

They don't care if you unlock the phone its just not in their best interest - however they still get the 12 months line rental at a high price to cover the phone regardless.

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It's the Sim Card thats the important factor.. not the handset. The sim is ALWAYS the property ofthe provider,even when the contract expires, the handset is the costomers.. the costomer signs a legally binding contract and has to stick to it. The costomer can , at anytime unlock the handset, but if a contract is in place, it still has to be paid.

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Fanx to those who answered my original question. But, I don't know anyone else on Virgin, so I don't want to chuck 30 quid on to the sim just to get it unlocked. Anyway, fanx for clarifying the problem, I was just sure I read somewhere it was a right of the consumer to have their mobile phone open to all networks FREE. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to go rub my head on my girlfriend's naked soft bum now then. Mmmm. lovely.

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I guess I'll just have to go rub my head on my girlfriend's naked soft bum now then. Mmmm. lovely.

Why? Is that where you left your phone then? :lol:

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Personally I think it's absurd that phone companies are allowed to ***** consumers around like this for their own convenience.

People would NOT tolerate this from any other service/company. What if you bought your television and it would only work with a certain cable provider? Or your Toyota would only operate on a certain brand of fuel?

It's unacceptable in my opinion.

Especially since it limits you to only the phones the company decides to provide. If you live in the U.S. the provider with the best coverage network by far, is Verizon, but their selection of phones is CRAP. They have no bluetooth phones. While Cingular and all the others offer cool high tech gadgetry, Verizon offers only a slew of crap ordinary LG flip phones and an overpriced Blackberry. What worse is Verizon found a way around SIM's they don't even use normal SIM's so you CANNOT unlock a phone and use it with Verizon service.

Here in Arizona though, you use Verizon or risk being out of your coverage area constantly if you leave the city at all, unless you pick one of the local providers like Cricket and THEN your damn phone won't work anywhere outside Arizona.

Sorry for the rant, but this is one of my pet peeves. When industry has it's way with the consumer because the consumers have no choice.

This is one case where I think the governments should be involved. No mandatory contracts, no phone locking bullsh*t. Interoperability with all the phones and services. Let ME choose my phone, let THEM do their job, which is to provide service PERIOD!

Who's with me???

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