01-29-2013, 02:35 PM | #46 |
Illiterate
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In some cases it's less expensive to buy a subsidized phone on contract then break the contract and pay the ETF than it is to buy an unlocked phone at full price.
AT&T will unlock a phone once the contract is fulfilled, or sometimes after six months if you tell them you’re moving to an area with no service or are traveling abroad. On the other hand, CDMA phones (Verizon and Sprint) do not have SIM cards, and they rely on databases of Electronic Serial Numbers (ESN) to determine if the phone is one of theirs. They will refuse to activate it if it’s not one of theirs or if it has been reported lost or stolen. |
01-29-2013, 02:43 PM | #47 |
Wizard
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01-29-2013, 04:13 PM | #48 | |
Wizard
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01-29-2013, 09:00 PM | #49 | |
Connoisseur
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01-29-2013, 09:01 PM | #50 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
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Yes, I said that about 20 posts or so back.
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01-29-2013, 10:41 PM | #51 |
Wizard
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Problem is, even in your statement you say "often", which doesn't mean always. T-mobile, and a few other carriers, allow you to buy the phone outright, no subsidy. Also, subsidies are designed to where you've paid off the difference in the phone (plus interest) by the time the contract is up. If you have a phone that is entirely paid for, either after contract expired or because you paid for out right, why should you not be allowed to unlock it? My last phone, I paid for out right. I ended up using it on another network, unlocked, because the network it was originally intended for was not available where I ended up living. Should the phone then be nothing but a paperweight, or should I be allowed to unlock it and use it elsewhere?
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01-30-2013, 02:08 AM | #52 |
A garbling groftpot
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In France, the phone company that sells you a phone with a contract is legally OBLIGED to unlock the phone for you after six months. Free. You just have to write to them and they unlock it over the air. Usually they try to get you into their shop for unlocking, so you have to say, no, can't or won't do that. Voilà, unlocked phone.
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01-30-2013, 04:55 AM | #53 |
Treachery of images ...
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My telco in Australia sounds the same sort of deal as France.
Buy a product and sign a lock in contract, and whilst you still need to buy out the contract should you change providers, you can get the phone unlocked at say the 6 month time frame. Could differ, but 6 months is pretty normal. Same deal with wifi/mifi devices. |
01-30-2013, 06:26 AM | #54 |
Literacy = Understanding
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Picasso was notorious for paying for things by check because he knew that many people would not cash the check with his signature on it. And he was right.
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01-30-2013, 06:35 AM | #55 |
Addict
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What is the legal punishment for stealing (instead of unlocking) a smartphone?
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01-30-2013, 06:38 AM | #56 |
Nameless Being
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I have had no contract phones that I paid for outright that were locked to a carrier. I have also been accused of having an illegally unlocked phone, even though I bought a phone that was never locked to a carrier. Me thinks that "sufficient competition" claim is a tad too optimistic in the current marketplace because the industry is still getting away with whatever it can.
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01-30-2013, 06:59 AM | #57 |
Wizard
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01-30-2013, 07:05 AM | #58 | |
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01-30-2013, 07:30 AM | #59 |
Autism Spectrum Disorder
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01-30-2013, 07:41 AM | #60 | |
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The magnitude of the punishment is simply astonishing - if you unlock your phone, I don't see how you can cause damages amounting to more than $1000. And then you face $1 million in fines and up to 5 years in jail (which is a foregone income of at least $50 000, even if you are a low-skilled, low-paid worker). Even if we assume that this should be made illegal and is resolved through criminal, instead of civil law, where is the principle that punishment should fit the crime? |
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