AT&T to Unlock Two-Year-Old iPhones |Other Options for World Travelers
AT&T announced today that they will unlock iPhones that are no longer bound to a cellular contract starting on April 8th. Previous to today’s announcement, the iPhone was an exception to AT&T’s unlocking policies.
Other smartphones tied to contracts with AT&T could be unlocked and switched to another carrier's network after 90 days as long as the customer's account is in good standing and the device isn't sold exclusively by Apple. But the iPhone couldn't not be unlocked at all, not even after a user's two-year contract expired (see the screen grab below for proof). That little rule left many two-year old iPhones useless to their owners.
Now, AT&T has announced that it will offer qualifying customers the option to unlock their iPhone, but not without jumping through one inconvenient hoop first.
The biggest qualifying factor is that the customer would have to finish their two-year contract with AT&T before they can get their iPhone unlocked. It’s exciting that AT&T is agreeing to unlock an iPhone, but with the average relevance of the iPhone being about 2-3 years, it doesn’t leave the customer much time to enjoy this unlocked freedom.
Verizon and Sprint are able to unlock their phones earlier because they do not have much competition on the CDMA network here in there states, whereas an unlocked GSM AT&T phone can be used on carriers like T-Mobile.
If you plan to travel to Europe or any GSM-enabled country during the two-years in which you are bound to your cellular contract, here are some options for you:
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7ra3PraappZGce6S7zGiYq6yZmLmmv46aq61lp565rXnNqK5mrZ6hvKS3jK2uqGWpmq6zec6lm2ahoJ28r7HS