Unlocking Your iPhone From AT&T's Tight Grasp
Unlocking your iPhone will free you from the constraints
forced upon you by Apple and AT&T. When you purchase a
new iPhone, you're required to sign a 2-year contract with
AT&T in order to make full use of the device's
functionality. If AT&T is your current wireless
provider, then activating your iPhone is a simple matter of
purchasing an additional Data Plan for your wireless
package. However, if you're using T-Mobile, Verizon,
SprintPCS, or any other provider, switching to AT&T can
be an expensive nuisance. In this article, you'll learn why
others have unlocked iPhones and how to avoid AT&T's
activation and cancellation fees should you decide to
unlock your iPhone and use it on another network.
Reasons For Unlocking Your iPhone
There are several reasons why you may want to unlock
your iPhone. For most people, the biggest motivator is
being able to use their iPhone's email, audio, web and
phone functions with their current wireless provider. For
example, if you're currently a SprintPCS customer, it's a
hassle to terminate your SprintPCS account (possibly paying
a hefty cancellation fee) just to activate your iPhone on
AT&T's service. It's much more convenient to unlock
your iPhone and use it with SprintPCS.
Other iPhone owners may have a travel itinerary that
frequently takes them abroad. It's possible for them to use
their iPhone on AT&T's affiliate networks while
visiting other countries. But, it may be more convenient to
use a prepaid GSM SIM card. The only way this is possible
is to unlock the iPhone.
Still others may want to sell their iPhone in the
future. Because the PDA market updates and reinvents itself
rapidly, many iPhone owners will want to upgrade to new
models or to entirely different PDAs. Because the iPhone
costs $400 (and more), it can be a valuable source of cash
flow when upgrading. Unlocking the iPhone (and thereby,
allowing others to use their own wireless provider) makes
the device more marketable when the time comes to sell
it.
Avoiding Activation And Cancellation Fees
Most wireless carriers want customers to sign contracts
that lock them into the provider's service. There are
typically heavy cancellation fees for terminating the
contract early. In addition, there are usually activation
fees for starting a new plan. AT&T is no different.
However, their terms of service agreement includes
provisions (albeit, in small print) that allow you to
recoup and avoid these fees.
If you purchase your iPhone and activate it on
AT&T's network, you can terminate the 2-year contract
within 30 days and avoid the cancellation fee. When the
iPhone was originally launched this fee was $175. Since
then, AT&T has changed their policy and charges a
cancellation fee based upon how long the customer has used
the network. Also, if you cancel your contract within 3
days, you can get a refund for the activation fee that
AT&T charged.
Enjoying Your Unlocked iPhone
Unlocking your iPhone provides you with the freedom to
use it with any wireless provider you choose (as long as
that provider uses the same GSM frequency as AT&T).
Many people have complained about AT&T's lackluster
customer service, comparatively-high prices and spotty
coverage. For them (and perhaps yourself), using their
iPhone on a different carrier's network is preferable. Once
you've unlocked your iPhone (hopefully, in time to avoid
the activation and cancellation fees), you'll be able to
enjoy its functionality on a network that's better-suited
to your lifestyle and needs.
