Phone Unlocking: Basics that You Need To Know
There are basically two types of systems that cell phones use, CDMA and GSM. GSM or Global System for Mobile Communication is the standard communication system used in most countries around the globe. Because of these two systems, cell phones are basically divided into two categories - CDMA cell phones and GSM cell phones.
What is a GSM phone?
GSM cell phones use a SIM card to reach a specific network. Network providers can lock cell phones to be able to respond to a single network only. A locked GSM cell phone cannot use a different SIM card other than the initial network provider it is subscribed to. For example, a GSM cell phone locked for Verizon can only work with a SIM card from Verizon. Other types of SIM cards not from Verizon will not work on it.
Why do network providers lock their phones? This is for the sole reason of exclusivity and for competitive purposes. A lot of people find this unfair. Come to think of it, you paid a good price for a phone but it does not have the flexibility to let you switch network providers when you need to. The need to switch network providers is important, for instance, if you were to travel abroad and you want to get the best services while roaming in a different country.
This is why there are a lot of people who opt to unlock cell phone so that they can switch SIM cards whenever they need to. Phone unlocking is done by a number of online companies or cell phone technicians in your local area.
How to unlock cell phone:
The first step in phone unlocking is to know the type of phone that you have. If you have a CDMA phone there is no way to unlock it because it does not use any SIM card at all. On the other hand, if you have a GSM phone, you can check if it's locked or not; if you can use multiple SIM cards on it. If it is locked, inserting a different SIM card will get you an error message.
You can search the Internet and find a good and reliable company that can provide you with an unlock code compatible with your cell phone. You will then be mailed the unlock code for a certain fee. You will also be given instructions on how you can unlock cell phone along with the code that you paid for. Once you unlock your phone, you can try if it works by trying different SIM cards from different providers with it.
Unlocking phone with simple codes does not work for all GSM cell phones. There are certain models that may need a special hardware to unlock it. If this is the case, you need to hand your phone to a cell phone technician to be able to unlock the phone.
The convenience of using different SIM cards on your cell phone is your right. Unlock your phones and get the flexibility that you need while enjoying the full features of your cell phone!
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