If you’re travelling to the UK or Europe, you’ll want to make sure that you can use your cell phone as soon as you land.
If you want to use your cell phone with a different network SIM card, you’ll need to get it network unlocked. For example, if you want to use a UK SIM card (rather than paying expensive international roaming costs) your cell phone needs to be network unlocked.
In this post we’ll explain how to go about getting your cell phone network unlocked, how to check if it’s already unlocked and what you can then do once your phone is unlocked.
What does “network unlocked” even mean?
Very often when you buy a new cell phone, it gets “locked” to the network provider you bought it from. For example, a cell phone bought from AT&T might be “locked” to AT&T. This means it will only work on the AT&T network – or to be exact, only an AT&T SIM card will work in your phone.
So why would a cell phone be locked to only one network? Well, very often, the network provider will supply a heavily discounted new cell phone to you. For example, if you buy the iPhone 8 outright/SIM free from Apple, you’ll pay $699. But you can buy it from, say, AT&T for $0 up-front, and then $23.34/month for 30 months.
Effectively you can walk out the door of the AT&T store with a “free” iPhone 8 (nothing to pay upfront), but you’re committed to making monthly payments to pay the phone off.
This way everyone wins. You win because you get a new phone for a no upfront cost (together with a cellular plan), and AT&T gets your money for the next 30 months.
And to ensure you don’t sneak off to T-Mobile or Verizon with your new iPhone 8, AT&T then “locks” your phone to its network. This means that no other SIM card will work in your phone.
OK, so can I get my cell phone unlocked?
The good news is YES! You can get your cell phone unlocked. It’s also important to remember that even after your cellular plan contract has expired, it’s likely that your cell phone remains locked.
AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and the other network providers have different rules about how and when you can get your cell phone unlocked. The best way to find out what to do is head over to your network provider’s website – here’s some handy links with information if your phone is locked to AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon.
In summary, if your phone is not an iPhone, your network provider will tell you a special code to enter into you phone which will unlock it from the network.
Or if you have an iPhone, you just need ask your network provider to unlock it, and then back it up in iTunes to complete the unlock process. The official Apple website instructions about unlocking your iPhone tell you exactly what you need to do.
I think my cell phone is already unlocked. How can I check?
It’s really easy to check if your phone is already unlocked.
All you need to do is insert into it a SIM card from a different network provider. For example, if you’re on AT&T and want to check if your phone is unlocked, just insert a T-Mobile SIM card into your phone. If it connects to the T-Mobile network, then your phone is unlocked! If it doesn’t connect, or your phone shows an error message, it means your phone is locked.
Great! My cell phone is unlocked! What can I do with it now?
If you’re upgrading your phone and want to sell it, getting it unlocked will increase its re-sale value because potential buyers will know they can use it on any network they choose.
Poor network coverage in your area? Once your phone is unlocked you can try some different SIM cards to see which network is the best for you.
Travelling overseas? You’ll be able to get a local SIM card and put it into your unlocked cell phone. For example, if you’re travelling to the UK or Europe, you can get a SIM card from My UK SIM Card before you leave on your vacation. It comes with high speed 4G LTE data, minutes and texts.
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