Mobile Phone Buzz

When you buy a pay monthly or pay as you go mobile phone in the UK, it is usually locked to the network that you bought it on. If you want to change your network and keep your phone you’ll find it impossible - when you put the new network SIM card in, it will not work.

Thankfully there are many solutions out there - for a start, you could buy a cheap unlocked pay as you go mobile legitimately from companies like Carphone Warehouse or Phones4u. You can also get your locked mobile phone unlocked - usually in dodgy little shops in all major cities.

But isn’t this illegal? Many people believe it is, but the answer is actually no - its perfectly legal. Here’s a quote from the Metropolitan Police:

In some instances, when a person purchases a mobile phone, the airtime provider (ie. Vodafone, Orange, etc.) will sometimes ‘lock’ that handset to its own particular network.

If that handset is then required to work on another air time provider’s network, in the case of a legitimate resale for example, it will therefore be necessary to ‘unlock’ the mobile phone from its original airtime provider.

Consequently, ‘unlocking’ is a legal activity and involves the use of software on a computer or a machine called a flasher (electronic device used to remove information held in electronic circuits) to unlock the phone from a particular air time provider’s network.

It is commonly done in mobile phone shops, markets, and car boot stalls.

You’ll also find a full breakdown of the legal arguments on a BBC article entitled Unlocking the Locked Phone Debate. The case is not so clear cut in the USA as it is here in the UK.

So go forth and unlock. Be aware that unlocking your phone will almost definitely void any warranty you have though, so do it only when you really need to.

Whenever you buy a pay monthly or pay as you go phone directly from a UK network, it is locked to that network. If you put in a SIM card from another network, it will not work.

However if you have been looking for the freedom that comes with a SIM free phone, you’ll know that they can be incredibly expensive to buy - usually the price is in the hundreds of pounds. You can always buy a pay as you go phone directly from the network and pay to have it unlocked - its not illegal - but that’s a messy process and will almost definitely invalidate your phone’s warranty.

There is a simple answer though. Did you know that not all pay as you go (PAYG) phones are locked? While all pay as you go deals bought directly from the network are locked, some PAYG phones bought from retailers like Carphone Warehouse and Phones4u are sim free, and can be used on any network. So even if you buy a discounted phone with an Orange Pay As You Go deal, you will not be locked to just Orange. You’ll just need to dish out £10 on Orange Pay As You Go credit when you purchase it.

It is important to note that this does not apply to all Carphone Warehouse or Phones4u pay as you go deals - you will need to ask the sales assistant when you buy your phone to make sure.