It happened: you took advantage of holiday season sales to buy yourself a new smartphone. Now it’s time to sell your old one or hand it down to a relative, but they use a different carrier. How do you make that happen? In some cases, you don’t have to do anything at all. [More]
phone unlocking
FCC, TracFone Reach Settlement: Provider Will Now Unlock Customers Phones’ Like They Said They Would
By 7.2.15
Unlocking your phone is legal, and the wireless industry agreed months ago to a set of conditions that went into effect earlier this year that allow consumers to do just that. Those companies all promised the FCC that they had a plan. And when you tell a federal agency that you have a plan, you probably actually should, and ought to follow it, too. One company didn’t, and that has landed them in some hot water with the commission. [More]
Everyone Except Sprint Customers, Rejoice: You Can Start Unlocking Your Mobile Phone This Week
By 2.9.15
It’s been in years of back-and-forth legal limbo, but late last year cell phone unlocking in the U.S. became well and truly legal. Likewise, the wireless industry’s voluntary plan for phone locking, adopted last February, finally goes into full effect this week. [More]
Sprint: We’ll Totally Unlock Any Phone You Buy After February 11, 2015
By 4.23.14
In a perfect world, once a customer has completed a mobile phone contract or paid the full unsubsidized cost of their device, they should be able to take that device to any carrier of their choice. While carriers will adopt voluntary standards next year, that’s next year. Sprint wants consumers to know that you won’t be able to unlock any devices you get from them for use on any domestic networks until the standards go into effect on February 11, 2015. [More]
