quote:
Originally posted by CookieRevised
concearning the type of unlocking were you can put another sim card in your phone from another company (simcard lock), that is illegal.
You bought your phone with some company. Often companies charge less money for phones which are simlocked to their own company. This is their part of the "promotion"; you pay less for the same phone, but you also restrict yourself to use that company as operator. By buying the phone you agree (read: sign) a contract with that company. Breaking the lock means breaking the contract (and stealing money in a sense, like ES said) which is illegal.
Now, on the other hand you can ask your company to unlock your phone for this, they can't refuse it but they can and will ask for money. And this is very logic also, because this is for the (minor) service costs, but mostly for the money they "lost" when you bought your locked phone with that company (aka: compensation).
If you buy your phone on Pay as you go* then you are signing no contract.
* Pay as You Go is a scheme in some countries where you dont pay a fixed monthly fee, but "top-up" the balance on your phone, when you want to, the cost of subsequent calls are deducted from your balance
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