Unlocking Smartphones

What is a locked phone?

Service providers often sell phones that are locked to their network. This marketing tactic attempts to ensure that consumer stay on their network and tries to make anyone who buys a second-hand phone join their network too. This practice is known as soft-locking a phone to a network. If you try and insert a SIM card into the phone that does not belong to the network to which the phone is soft-locked, the smartphone will not read the SIM card. You will be unable to make or receive phonecalls, SMS’s or access the internet on data. In addition the smartphone might often be filled with network specific bloatware that takes up valuable storage space and cannot be deleted.

If you have finished paying off your smartphone, or you have bought it second-hand you have no obligation to remain locked to the network that initially sold the phone and have the right as a consumer to choose any cell phone network to be a part of. In order to do this however you smartphone needs to be unlocked.

Unlocking a smartphone

Depending on the network and soft-lock, unlocking a smartphone may require a software or hardware fix. Regardless of what method is used however, the unlock will reset the smartphone to its original factory settings. Any network implemented bloatware of restrictions will be gone, and you are free to put in any SIM car and have access to the full range of services that the network of your choice offers you.