Why People Unlock Cell Phones

Carriers make it difficult to unlock cell phones associated with their networks and that often makes it feel vaguely wrong to try to unlock the phone. It makes sense, then, that people are either scared away from doing it, or associate it with illegal activity. The truth is, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to want to unlock a cell phone.

When we say a cell phone is locked, we mean that the phone is set up to only work with a certain network. This makes the phone unusable with other networks. This is a reasonable concession while the contract is in force, but once it ends, you shouldn't lose the ability to use the phone you bought by agreeing to the contract. People often unlock their phones after their service contract is up to allow them to get a plan with another carrier, but continue to use the same phone. For more information about cell phone unlocking, visit here.

In some places, people regularly use more than one carrier. You might live in an area that isn't covered by the same network as the area where you work, for example. Getting coverage in all the places you regularly spend time in might require paying for two different plans with two different carriers. Network-locked phones mean having to carry around two phones, one for each area, and that can become complicated. People often choose to unlock their cell phones in this situation to allow them to use the same phone with both carriers.

People who travel a great deal, for business or pleasure, understand that cell phone service becomes particularly complicated when you're traveling from country to country. You can choose to rent a phone in your destination city to avoid the high roaming costs associated with using a phone in a foreign country, but this means not having access to your regular phone's other important features. Instead of doing this, you might choose to purchase temporary coverage in the country you are visiting. You can then use your unlocked phones on this network while you are in the country, without having to acquire a new phone for your trip. Follow the link to get more information on unlocking a phone with GSMliberty.

People are often understandably concerned about the legality of unlocking a cell phone. It's important to remember, though, that there is no settled case law affirming the illegality of unlocking a phone. That said, unlocking a phone is certainly a violation of the contract you signed with your carrier, if you have one. Before you unlock your phone, make sure to read the contract you have with your carrier to make sure you won't be in violation of that contract, or, if you are, that you understand the consequences of that. It's also possible that unlocking your phone can affect its warranty. Check the details of the warranty before you unlock your phone if you're concerned about losing warranty coverage.