Hi Sieghard, Whether or not to buy a phone on contract or unlocked is slightly less clear cut here. I had always bought my phones unlocked until now, but I wanted to get the 5S and there were no off-contract ones available. I paid £79 (between $100-$120) for a 5S 64GB on a 2-year contract, and what with the monthly fees, I wasn't worse off. It cost me $30 to unlock it through the network.
As an example of how much cheeper contracts are here, my Canadian wife can't believe she gets a $20 a month contract with unlimited data, unlimited texts and 600 minutes. Obviously I'm paying quite a lot more than that for the phone, but it's still a good deal. Cheers, Ed On 11 Oct 2013, at 22:02, Sieghard Weitzel <siegh...@live.ca> wrote: > Here in Canada providers are now legally forced to unlock a phone 90 days > after the start of the contract provided your account is in good standing, > i.e. you are paying your monthly amount on time. > I am pretty sure in the States they have to unlock if the contract has > ended, probably worth checking what the law says although I am also not sure > if this could be different from State to State or if this falls under > federal jurisdiction which I would assume it does. > > Regards, > Sieghard > > -----Original Message----- > From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf > Of Edward Green > Sent: Friday, October 11, 2013 1:47 PM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: using the IPhone as a local phone in the UK > > Hi Craig, > > Whether or not your warranty is voided by unlocking your iPone will probably > depend on the method you choose to do it. I unlocked my 5S with my provider > 24 hours after buying it, for half the price that the dodgy unlocking kiosks > were going to charge me thanks to a tip I got off list. Such an unlock I > doubt voids the warranty, but obviously if you choose a different method it > might. > > Worth ringing your carrier to see what they say. > > Cheers, > > Ed > On 11 Oct 2013, at 21:24, Craig Werner <coffeeb...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hello, Sieghard. >> >> You make a most compelling case for an unlocked iPhone. I'll check >> into this possibility the next time I travel. However, my iPhone 5 is >> under warranty, and I don't know if an unlock will be possible without >> voiding the agreement. >> >> I am finding the burgeoning discussion of UK providers and their rates >> to be very helpful. It's not the kind of thread usually found on this >> list, and I hope it will be allowed to continue. >> >> Craig >> >> On 10/11/13, Sieghard Weitzel <siegh...@live.ca> wrote: >>> Hi Craig, >>> This is definitely a solution for phone calls, but if you were able to > get >>> your phone unlocked, then instead of having to use a second phone all you >>> would need is a SIM from an irish provider and your iPhone would allow > you >>> to make cheap local calls, be called, send and receive text and you could >>> also buy some prepaid data. I did this in Thailand since I have an > unlocked >>> iPhone 4S and for the just over 2 weeks I was there I paid $25 for a >>> prepaid >>> SIM which included the price of the SIM ($2 or $3), 1 Gig of data, text >>> messages and a bunch of minutes. I walked up a provider's counter at the >>> airport and was out of there 5 minutes later and the lady even swapped > the >>> SIM for me. Almost everywhere I went I had good 3G coverage and only in >>> some >>> places away from the cities and out on the ocean during a boat trip I had >>> Edge. >>> >>> >>> Regards, >>> Sieghard >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On > Behalf >>> Of Craig Werner >>> Sent: Friday, October 11, 2013 5:24 AM >>> To: viphone@googlegroups.com >>> Subject: Re: using the IPhone as a local phone in the UK >>> >>> Ray and all, I travel rather often to the Republic of Ireland and >>> Northern Ireland, and I go the route of buying a cell phone in Ireland >>> that works on the "pay as you go" plan. True, I lose iPhone >>> accessibility, but I can still use the phone whenever there is a >>> wireless network for downloading files and listening to radio >>> stations, etc. When I get home, I turn off the Ireland phone until my >>> next trip. Calls are very inexpensive, and I don't have to worry >>> about charges from my U.S. carrier. >>> >>> Craig >>> >>> On 10/11/13, Edward Green <edw...@edwardgreen.plus.com> wrote: >>>> Hi Ray, >>>> >>>> If you intend to use your phone with a UK SIM, then you may not need to >>> turn >>>> data roaming off as data is really cheap with some carriers here and >>>> often >>>> significant amounts of it come bundled with pay as you talk SIMs and >>>> their >>>> top-ups. >>>> >>>> Up to you though obviously. >>>> >>>> Cheers, >>>> >>>> Ed >>>> On 11 Oct 2013, at 11:14, Cait and Maggie <caitlyn.furn...@gmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> There might be a charge for unlocking from your carrier, though, even > if >>>>> your contract is up. rogers tried to charge us fifty bucks for this. >>>>> >>>>> Just wanted people to be aware, just in case. >>>>> Cait >>>>> >>>>> On 2013-10-11, at 5:07 AM, Sieghard Weitzel <siegh...@live.ca> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hi Ray, >>>>>> >>>>>> With the iPhone you have to ask your carrier to unlock it for you. If >>>>>> you >>>>>> are with AT&T you can call them and ask, but I am not sure if they do >>>>>> it >>>>>> while you are under contract. If you are past your 2 years I believe >>>>>> they >>>>>> are obligated to unlock the phone for you. From what I heard they send >>>>>> instructions after they do whatever it is they have to do on their > end. >>>>>> You >>>>>> then have to hook your phone up to iTunes and do a restore and once >>>>>> this >>>>>> is >>>>>> done you should get a message that your phone is now unlocked. >>>>>> >>>>>> When are you going to England and for how long? You can reply direct, >>>>>> siegh...@live.ca. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Regards, >>>>>> Sieghard >>>>>> >>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>> From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On >>>>>> Behalf >>>>>> Of Ray T. Mahorney >>>>>> Sent: Friday, October 11, 2013 1:22 AM >>>>>> To: viphone@googlegroups.com >>>>>> Subject: using the IPhone as a local phone in the UK >>>>>> >>>>>> Guessing that in order to do that I am going to have to get an unlock >>>>>> code >>>>>> with other phones I have had that unlock was based on the IMEI code. >>>>>> Does >>>>>> the same hold with the IPhone? >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Ray T. Mahorney >>>>>> WA4WGA >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" >>>>>> Google >>>>>> Group. >>>>>> >>>>>> Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing viphone@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> >>>>>> Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting >>>>>> http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. >>>>>> >>>>>> Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing >>>>>> viphone+ow...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> >>>>>> Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing >>>>>> viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> >>>>>> More VIPhone group options can be found by visiting >>>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. >>>>>> --- >>>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>>> Groups >>>>>> "VIPhone" group. >>>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>>> an >>>>>> email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>>> For more options, visit 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