Quote:
Originally Posted by Rerun
I've never done anything to the phone since I bought it from Telus... so I assume its unlocked? Whats unlocked mean? Is this legal?
How do I unlock the phone? Once its unlocked and I take your suggestion and by a sim card in the Caribbean can I now use my phone to surf the web relatively inexpensively and make and receive phone calls from Canada relatively inexpensively?
By unlocking the phone, will this screw anything up? Will I still be able to use it with Telus once I get back to Canada?
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Phones in Canada are locked to providers. That means if you have a Rogers phone, you can only use it on the Rogers network with a Rogers plan and you can't just take the phone and swap the card for another service and have it work instantly. They want to keep you trapped on their contract with their business.
If you bought the Galaxy from Telus, I'm sure it's probably locked as Bell's are locked to them. Unlocking phones is not illegal. You will probably have to root it or find someone else to do it. It's actually very simple. Check out the popular Android thread on CP. Many people in there know what to do.
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=89510
Phones are unlocked to providers in most of the rest of the world. It's their natural state. We're just backwards in Canada and allow providers to use monopolistic practices that are unfriendly for consumers. All my phones are unlocked and when I travel, I Just buy sim cards at convenience stores, etc. in different countries because phones are unlocked by default there.
You won't be able to surf the web on your typical prepaid SIMs. They are just for making calls.
If that is too complicated, just buy a normal calling card for normal phones. Use the internet on the cruise ship, etc. to talk to people. Keep your phone on you with roaming for emergencies but only pick up calls from close friends/family.