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Tackling the cell phone unlock game

@ 2007/09/20

I've heard complaints from the savviest of techies that even though their U.S. cell phones now work with networks in the U.K., the rest of Europe and Asia, they're getting burned with some serious roaming and usage charges.

Many have heard that they can switch out their phone's SIM card--the Subscriber Identity Module, or tiny smart card that identifies a phone and its subscriber--for a local one, but they weren't sure what this entailed. A phone that would work on foreign mobile networks and an impending trip to the U.K. made it an ideal time for me to give it a try.

Comment from Sidney @ 2007/09/20

AT&T salesman will tell you they would unlock your phone anytime, many people believe that until the time they need to have their unlocked a couple days prior to the trip. I went through that B/S.
Unlocked GSM phone is excellent for frequent or infrequent travelers. For $10, I could just buy a sim card at the airport after I arrive and start calling my friends. So, do yourself a favor, call AT&T and request to have your phone unlocked even you have no travel plan. You can test if the phone is unlocked by putting in a sim card from your friend's phone. Unlocked, the phone will work under your friend's number along with all his/her stored phone numbers.

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