Giantaxe

Presumably. The 4S is supposedly the same 'phone now regardless of provider.

frrussre

Certainly would make sense, looks like a real World phone.

Reg. Frank r.

S Folinsky

AT&T was going to unlock my Torch until they discovered that I had had it for only six months at the time. It made no difference that I had been an AT&T Wireless customer before that. I bought the code for $17.50 from a third party.

This was for a trip to Costa Rica and the PAYG from the local "ICE" people did not include data -- they just don't sell it to travelers -- so I ended up with a POTS dumb phone and music player.

frrussre

Our BB bold 9700, is 20 months old & we are long long term customers in good standing, we have Premium account. AT&T CS manager level, say verbally "They do not have the code/password "its because they made a deal with Blackberry, not to. Their other argument "Not true", the Bold 9700, is exclusive to AT&T.
Its all odd, they gave us the code for the 8700, no problem + all our previous phones.


Copy of email, I received:
"THIS IS AN AUTOMATED EMAIL PLEASE DO NOT REPLY BACK TO "OKCQSubsidyUnlock" AS ALL MESSAGES SENT TO THIS EMAIL ADDRESS ARE AUTOMATICALLY DELETED WITHOUT BEING READ. PLEASE CONTACT CUSTOMER SERVICE 1-800-331-0500 FOR ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE.


Dear AT&T Valued Customer:

We recently received your request for the unlock code on the following device:

After a review of your account, we have determined that your device is not eligible to be unlocked from the AT&T network because you have not met one or more of the following requirements:

Completed a minimum of ninety (90) days of active service with AT&T Mobility.
The account is in good standing and payments are current at the time of the request.
The device does not have a long-term exclusive sales arrangement or any period of exclusivity associated with the device has expired.
No more than five unlock codes per year are permitted.
Prepaid/GoPhone customers:
Completed a minimum of 6 months of service.
If less than 6 months of service, provided a copy of the sales receipt or other proof of purchase of the device."


Yes, I can buy the code, but find it really annoying.
Reg. Frank R.

Giantaxe

Vote with your feet and don't buy phones or use providers that won't unlock.

frrussre

Yes, you are right. Trouble is, AT&T is one of the few companies, or only company in USA, that USUALLY unlocks, the phones.

Still paying by the minute, should be by the second.

Still paying for incoming calls.

Still paying for incoming messages.

Still having our phones Subsidy locked.

Until recently, could not even Port our phone numbers.

Yet, we keep signing up & paying.

Reg. Frank R.

frrussre

Bit the bullet, tired of arguing with AT&T.

Paid $9.99, online. Bobs your uncle Fannies your aunt, phone unlocked, will make it our new Brit/Virgin phone.

Reg. Frank R.

Dan725

I use an Orange sim for (once annually) UK trips. Couple of good points about Orange - your minutes never expire....once we went a good 2 years without going back, no problem. Another good thing is their PAYG data plans - you can pay topup in advance at low cost - which gives you unlimited data during that time. If I recall, if you do some judicious timing of your topup (i.e. a month before you go) - it can pay dividends.

Here's some info:

http://www1.orange.co.uk/service_pla..._overview.html

I *think* I'm on the Dolphin plan....I'll have to check.

Its been a year or so since I've revisited all the deals to see if there is anything better out there, but I would say if you want to keep an active sim/phone number and only plan on visiting frequently, its a good option.

dunroving

Your minutes may not expire, but you may lose your number (and your minutes) if you don't top up regularly.

I have an Orange PAYG, use it very occasionally, mostly for texting the dog-walker (maybe once every couple of weeks) and to make calls during travel (maybe once every month or six). I can't remember the last time I made a call, but I have some "action (receive/send a text or call) at least once a month.

Earlier this year, I sent a text. A while later I got a call on my landline from the person I texted to say they had tried texting me but it had been kicked back. I tried sending another text and it wouldn't send. Essentially, I realised my account was no longer active.

Long story short, but despite using my phone, Orange took away my number/account (and in fact it was sold to/taken by another company, so I couldn't even get it back!) because I hadn't topped up in quite a while (I don't even know how long, but it was within a year).

I ended up getting it sorted out after about an hour in an Orange store. They assigned a new number to my SIM card, but I lost the £10 credit or so I had on the SIM, assigned to my previous number.

So while strictly speaking, minutes don't expire, they do if you don't top up, in fact you will lose your number.

Giantaxe

Maybe. I've had breaks of a lot longer than a year on my Orange SIM and only one time did they disable my account. And even then I was able to call from the US and get my old number and credit restored. I think their terms and conditions say they may take your number away after a year's inactivity.

Kar98

Not quite right. Verizon's "world phones" have had a GSM radio and SIM slot built in for years. Some blackberrys, some windows phones, some others, and now the iPhone 4s, too.

Kar98

T-mobile unlocks the phone for you after 90 days.

Dan725

Interesting. Had mine 8? years...wonder if its "grandfathered" in or something. I also have an online login which I check occasionally (even if I put nothing on it) - could be that which keeps it active.

dunroving

Or maybe they were BS-ing me. I wasn't happy about it, especially losing the £20 or so credit I had on it.

Guindalf

Bumping an old thread with an update.

My Bro-in-law has managed to get me an old HTC Kaiser to use. Still confused as to whether it's Windows or Android, but it's on Vodafone. A PAYG Sim is $10.50 for 100 voice, 3000 texts and 250Mb data, which should more than cover my needs while I'm there.