Gail5

Hi,

I bought an IPhone in August (on contract with O2, paying £35 a month) and want to bring it to NZ when I move there in May/June. I've just called O2, they said I could get it 'unlatched', get a new sim card in NZ, but I will have to carry on paying the £35 a month till the end of my contract (another year). What has anyone else done in the same situation, any suggestions?

Thanks!

Gay

AKT

There will be an early termination fee to get out your contract, but there is no easy way, unless o2 have significantly changed you contract which by law, gives you a free out. In the bigger picture, £35/month is a small price to pay for leaving the UK early!


You need to find out if your phone is locked to their network too - if you don't know, the easy way to see is to try another providers sim card - if it works, you're unlocked. I have a feeling that all iPhones sold at that time were unlocked in the UK but I can't be 100% sure - best to check.

HTH

A

nik

I'm in the same position - I had an iPhone 3 with O2, moved to Sweden and they said I could terminate the contract by paying the monthly charges in one go, so I kept the phone. Moved back to the UK from Sweden and updated my iPhone and am now stuck in another contract- I plan on getting my phone unlocked and using it in NZ.
The one thing I did when I went to Sweden was to change my contract to the cheapest tariff so I will try and do the same now. I don't know if its possible to transfer to a friend, but I think its one of those situations that we're stuck with!

Gail5

Thanks guys,

I was told I could sell the phone as long as the £35 was paid each month till the end of the contract. I could sell it to a friend/family I guess, but I still want an IPhone! Oh, what to do! Gotta sort it out either way.

AndyR

O2 will unlock the phone for free, at least they should do now. I had a PAYG O2 iPhone 3G which I hacked to be unlocked before I went to Oz. But 9 months later I saw an article to say O2 were unlocking phones for free if you requested it, so I rang there customer service and they unlocked it. Worth a try.

You'll still have to pay a cancellation fee / remaining part of your contract though.

Best bet would be to get the iPhone direct from Apple, that way its already unlocked and your not tied into a contract.

Am Loolah

I argues the toss with orange when I left the UK and was on a fixed term contract that they wanted me to pay the remainder on. My argument was that they were equally in breach of contract by not providing a service in NZ! It worked!!!

Dustybin

I bought 2 cans and a piece of string...

AndyR

Cutting edge that is for some companies in NZ

UKStu

Hi Gay

I had the same problem before I moved out here but managed to get my mohter to take over the contract from vodafone. Once this was sorted, I jailbroke the Iphone and then hacked the phone to accept other networks simcards! I am now using vodafone new zealand with no problems at all. Easy!!

Gail5

Thanks for your replies

Hi,

Don't want to sound daft but have I got this right? Your mum still pays the monthly contract but you use the phone in NZ with a sim from NZ? Jailbroke - ? Hacked - ? I presume you mean unlocked. As I said, don't want to sound daft!!! Too late!

Him and Me

Hi
I had a 02 Iphone too, and brought it over to NZ and Paid $80 (£40) to have it "jailbreaked" by Vodaphone Nz, they did this but i was left with a phone that i could no longer update as this would cause it to "lock up" in the end i returned my iphone to the uk for my brother to use and brought a new 1 over here....if you can advoid doing this then do...iphones in NZ are very expensive...Argue the toss with 02 and make sure they unlock it for you before moving away...the good thing in this was i had come to the end of my contract with them bar a month so wasn't a biggy to get out of!

UKStu

Hi Gay

Yes my mother took over the contract in the UK and I brought the phone over to NZ with me! I jailbroke the Iphone using Jailbreakme and then unlocked the phone using purplerain! It took a while to research how to do this over the internet, but now my iphone is unlocked and I can use it with any network.

Gail5

Can anyone update this thread? Anyone taken an iPhone 4? My son reckons you don't need to get the iPhone 4 unlocked because it's already unlocked . . . . . any comments?

Gay x

AndyR

Yep, if you brought it from the Apple Store in the UK its unlocked already. I did this, brought it online and shipped it to my folks in the UK, who then posted it to me in NZ. Cheaper than buying locally

Gail5

Thanks Andy,

So you're not on contract - which sim card do you use/buy?

Gay