If phones can be unlocked in the US, why not in the UK?

Article 28(2) of this draft European directive (PDF) will make it unlawful for networks to charge a SIM-unlocking fee after the customer has repaid the network’s subsidy on the phone (which the customer will be able to do after 6 months if they choose).

I buy my iPhones from Apple directly. I pay for the goods and service separately. This works out cheaper overall and my iPhone isn’t SIM-locked, meaning I can use local SIM cards whenever I travel. It also makes it much easier to get redress if a fault develops outside the warranty, as the supplier and manufacturer are the same party, negating the ability for one party to pass the buck to the other. Why do people insist on acquiring their phones from the networks instead of buying them outright? I don’t expect Sky or TV Licensing to subsidise my television. I don’t expect my ISP to subsidise my laptop. I don’t expect oil companies to subsidise my car. Why do consumers expect mobile networks to subsidise their handsets?

For me the answer is simple. Buy a phone that is unlocked and you have the freedom to use it with whichever network you want. Like insisting on a car having a spare wheel rather than a repair kit, it is my top priority when buying.

I can understand why networks lock phones during contracts where the cost of the phone is subsidised by a monthly payment, but it should be part of the terms & conditions that the lock is removed at the end of the contract.

t-Mobile told me when I asked for a PAC number (to change to Tesco Mobile) that I would need to have my phone unlocked before I left t-M. Nothing in the contract to say this. I had to ask twice. The person who gave me the PAC number seemed unsure of how to get a phone unlocked so after 2 weeks I found a link on EE’s web site. It still took longer than claimed and needed a kick in the form of a strongly worded text on their facebook page.
So come on Which? Let’s have no more messing about. NO locked phones. Tell Ofcom it is anti-competitive and should be banned. Also let’s unbundle the phone from the line rental. TESCO does it. I pay £5 month for the phone for 24 months and after that £5 comes off the bill.

https://simcardguru.co.uk/product/sim-cards-for-the-united-states/t-mobile-usa-pay-as-you-go-mobile-phone-sim-card

Is an interesting site and seems quite detailed. There is at least one other site that does this sort of analysis.

I find it totally unacceptable that EE can lock my unlocked phone when I am using a pre-paid sim. I bought my iPhone in the UK unlocked, used the pre-paid EE sim for less than a month before returning to Lebanon only to discover that my phone is locked into EE. There was no information at all that EE would lock the phone so now I have to try to get it unlocked through the EE site and I have to pay for this!

I, for one, would really welcome this. I have been dealing with O2 to get my iPhone 5s unlocked. I filled out the form online, but after waiting three days, received an email saying I’d done it incorrectly. I rang, and someone on the phone submitted the request. I waited patiently again, only for the 72 hours to expire with no word from O2 either way. I rang them again, and was told that they couldn’t unlock the phone because I had bought it via Carphone Warehouse, and only they could unlock the phone.

Firstly, this is appalling customer service. They made no effort to inform me that my unlock request had been unsuccessful, like they had during my initial attempt. Second, it is total nonsense. Phones are locked by carriers; only they can unlock them. I rang again, and another customer service staff member confidently asserted it was up to CPW to unlock. I told him he was wrong, and got a condescending “who told you that”. I had to explain very carefully to him how ridiculous the statement was (I think he was just reading from the notes on the file, rather than using his own brain). After he spoke to the manager, he came back on the line to confirm that he could, indeed, unlock the phone.

I really worry that companies give misleading information to customers and offer rubbish customer service because it extends the amount of time that you are stuck as their customer, meaning they can bill customers more. At the very least, phone companies should be honest and upfront with customers about the process and how it works!