subject: Cellular Accessories: Not Just Belt Clips Anymore [print this page] Unfortunately, many service providers program their GSM phones in such a way that they won't work with SIM cards from another. Unlocking your GSM phone means overwriting that programming. But wouldn't your carrier mind? Not likely. Short of some stipulation in your contract that obliges you to never alter your phone in any way whatsoever, it's your phone, you own it. Even with such a clause you can still actually unlock your phone; your carrier makes money whether the phone is locked phone or unlocked.
Besides, you probably wouldn't unlock your phone anyway unless you were switching to another carrier - in which case it doesn't matter what the old one thinks! Just be sure to keep any unlocking codes for future reference, because there has been a report of a carrier relocking a phone - even though it wasn't issued by that carrier in the first place!
Carrying cases and belt clips are among the most popular of cellular accessories, though some are from the Didn't Know You Need It Department. But the most amazing accessory of all is likely to have been overlooked, as it's from the Didn't Even Know It Was An Accessory Department! That's because it isn't an object that goes with a phone but a service that's performed on one. But this is more than a game of semantics. Think about what it means to accessorize something. Doesn't it involve somehow helping you to use something better, enhancing your overall experience?
Well, unlocking your phone, more an act than an accessory, will enhance your cellular experience better than any accessory! More than carrying cases or belt clips, unlocking your GSM cell phone is the ultimate in cellular accessories, in this sense, the one true must-have.
You can determine if your phone is already unlocked by simply by inserting another SIM card into it. Nokia phones are generally unlocked through codes that can be purchased very cheaply, but entering secret codes yourself is only one way to unlock a GSM phone. In such cases, the phone must be sent to by a company that has the necessary special hardware to reprogram it. Not all companies can service all makes and models of cell phones, so first check to ensure that your particular phone can be reflashed by a particular company.
