roamer1
sticking it out at you
join:2001-03-24
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
| reply to LilYoda
Re: The phone is already paid for
said by LilYoda  :I see the use of locking the phone for the ones that are not tied to a 2 year contract, like the "to-go" phones... The original point of the "subsidy lock" was to prevent people from buying discounted phones from one carrier and using them on another. The problem is that the idea breaks down when carriers refuse to release unlock codes even after the contract that covers the discount has been fulfilled (either via time or via paying an early termination fee), as was the case with AT&T Wireless, who until acquired by Cingular would not provide unlock codes for GSM phones under ANY circumstances (and Cingular STILL won't provide codes for "blue"/AT&T-branded equipment.)
Then there are the CDMA carriers, who for the most part (the only major exception these days is Alltel) refuse to activate phones not sold for use on their network, AND who tend to lock phones down much more than GSM carriers do and take away features in the interest of increasing revenue from content and messaging (e.g., Verizon/V710/Bluetooth).
-SC
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"it seems like all you ever buy is Abercrombie and cell phones" --a friend |
