But wait a minute! You cant use your phone with any SIM you like
? Is your cell phone locked? Why is it so? Network providers offer their customers cell phones at a lower price than the regular price of that cell phone. In return, they give you the cell phone on a contract which says you need to be with that particular network for a specified time period. This is called locking of the phone.
You can check if your phone is locked or not by borrowing a SIM card from any friend or relative and put it in your phone. If your phone rejects that SIM card and does not proceed then your phone is definitely locked. However, if your phone accepts it then it is not locked and can be used with any SIM card.
However, there is a difference between your phone being locked and blocked. A blocked phone is that which is reported stolen or lost somewhere, and a locked cell phone is basically SIM locked which is done by the network provider. Blocked cell phone can not be used in any way, but a locked cell phone can be!
Now the question which arises in a persons mind is how can the cell phone be unlocked and how can the cell phone unlock codes be obtained and from where? Many ways can be adopted to achieve this task.
You can send your phone away through courier to a company that offers their cell phone unlocking services. Make sure the company you are sending your phone away to be reputable and are not a spam. They unlock your phone through their experienced technicians. The other possible way is to contact your service provider. Because of their contract saying you can not leave their network before a specific time period does not allow you to unlock your cell phone, however you can try asking your network provider for the unlock code provided you have a genuine reason like you have to travel abroad.
People might have heard about the online companies providing them with the unlock codes for their cell phones. This definitely is a safe, easy and convenient process. How to get the cell phone unlock codes? There is an IMEI number in the battery compartment of your cell phone. That number along with the model number of your cell phone is asked by the company. They provide you with the unlock code for your phone through e-mail along with the instructions to enter it. Once you put an unidentified SIM in your phone it asks for the code, enter the code and your phone becomes instantly unlocked.
Unlocked phones give their owners the freedom of choosing between network providers. You also get freedom from roaming charges globally. Unlocking your phone is also legal.