Those who work with cell phones will get a laugh here...

[sportsmom]

BG: I work as a tech for one of the big three cell companies. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about here...I guess the customer didn't think so because she called three times.

DG: ditzy girl on the phone (think valley girl voice and inflections)
M: me, silly


Call 1:
DG - My friend gave me an iPhone from Verizon, can I put it on my Sprint account?
M - (completely ignoring the fact that she thinks she has an iPhone from Verizon) No, you may not put a Verizon phone on a Sprint account (yes, I know it can technically be done, but it's a pain in the ass to do so - at least in the store)
DG - really? Are you sure?
M - Yes, I am definitely sure


Call 2 (10 minutes later):
DG - Yeah, can you put a Verizon phone on a Sprint account?
M - No, you cannot do that
DG - Well, my friend just gave me an iPhone that she had on Sprint, then she had it on Verizon, and she said I'll have to put it back on Sprint.
M - Um, Verizon doesn't have an iPhone.
DG - Are you sure? (snotty)
M - Yes, very. AT&T is the only company to carry the iPhone.
DG - Really? You're sure? (still snotty)
M - Yes, Verizon may have something similar, but they do not have an iPhone.
DG - Oh...


Call 3 (yet another 10 minutes later):
DG - Do you have an HTC Touch something?
M - (Oh hell no, she is not going to try to activate some old raggedy ass Touch from Verizon on this account) Actually, we've had several HTC phones with the word "touch' in the name. There was the original Touch, the Touch Diamond, the Touch Pro, and the Touch Pro 2.
DG - Oh.....I don't know which one it is.(and she hung up on me...again)



So, I am really glad I'm off today because I know she's going to be in and have no idea what she's doing.

Maybe I was just annoyed because my least favorite customer was in for the 5th time that day - yep, the 5th time - and he's never there for less than 30 minutes at a time, but she was just getting under my skin.

[tropicsgoddess]

I know Sprint has the Palm Pre and the ones that you mentioned. But an iPhone? What planet was she on?

[casey13]

If you want to get technical, T-mobile also has the Iphone. You just have to import it from Europe.

[tigress666]

I'm pretty sure there are ways to jailbreak it to make it work on other phone systems (I could be talking out of my a** here though) but it's not something I'd expect any phone carrier to offer or to even let their associates do it (least not knowingly let their associates do it). I'm pretty sure that's something you'd have to do yourself or get a friend to do.

[Keiara]

If you want to get technical, T-mobile also has the Iphone. You just have to import it from Europe.

Actually you don't. As long as it's unlocked it SHOULD work on Tmobile's network. I get iPhone calls all day


And that girl is an idiot. iPhone=AT&T=GSM network Sprint/Verizion=CDMA...not going to work

[otakuneko]

I'm pretty sure there are ways to jailbreak it to make it work on other phone systems (I could be talking out of my a** here though) but it's not something I'd expect any phone carrier to offer or to even let their associates do it (least not knowingly let their associates do it). I'm pretty sure that's something you'd have to do yourself or get a friend to do.

"Unlocked" is the term you're looking for. "Jailbroken" iphones (and ipod Touches) are those that are not restricted to the app store and able to run whatever they want.

Jailbreaking may be illegal in the US per the DMCA I think. Unlocking not so much.

And of course you're right: no cell phone company is going to sell unlocked phones in their stores or provide unlocking services. Third-party resellers are another matter. (For instance I can go to Fry's and pick up an unlocked phone)

[BlaqueKatt]

And of course you're right: no cell phone company is going to sell unlocked phones in their stores or provide unlocking services.

incorrect

In response to similar lawsuits, Verizon and Sprint, both CDMA carriers, have agreed to provide the software code to unlock cellphones after customers nationwide have completed their original contract, attorneys said. "That was the compromise we ended up with to get the cases settled," said California attorney Robert Bramson, one of the lawyers suing carriers T-Mobile and AT&T.

[jackfaire]

My cell phone company when they first came into this area offered to unlock phones so that people would try them.

[rerant]

Ok someone is going to have to help me out here. What exactly does it mean to "unlock" a phone?
I've only ever bought my phone from the respective carrier so I have no concept of this.

[Shalom]

A locked phone is one that's restricted to a specific carrier. If you put in the SIM from another network (assuming GSM or TDMA, if they still use that anywhere) it will give you an error message and not call anything except 911, which they have to let through by law. Unlocking the phone will allow use on another network. The point of this is so that you won't grab some company's free phone, bail on your contract and switch to another network with it. Thing is, once your contract runs out, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to switch (as mentioned above) so they should unlock it for you.

I wasn't aware that you could lock a CDMA phone (such as used on Verizon), though, given that unless you have the ability to reprogram the phone you can't change networks anyway. It's not like you can move from one network to another (or even one account to another on the same network) by just changing a SIM. I have in fact done this myself (cough)Diego(cough) but I didn't see any option to restrict it to one network.

Incidentally: This thread is chock full of sucky Verizon customers; it's remarkably like this place, in fact.

[Bliss]

Actually most CDMA phones can be reprogrammed to change networks, although is not something an end use would do. I reprogrammed my dad's old Nokia 6120's NAM profiles quite a few times (one provider change, and once moved his priority value up).