• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

The end of carrier locking in the USA?

I both agree and disagree with this happening, but I can't discuss that without going into PCA...

That being said, it'd be nice to not have locked devices on CDMA networks, since I don't have a GSM phone and probably won't have one until this tough little Galaxy Victory kicks it.

EDIT: Or, at the least, the concepts of ownership and contracts, and that's a discussion better left to PCA.
 
I have a feeling though that this would only apply to devices bought at full retail or have had the subsidy paid off. If the device is still under contract, that might still be permitted to be locked.
 
I would like to see it happen. :)

I do believe that if you have paid the full price for your device when you purchased it or have paid off the device through your contract, the carrier should be required to unlock it.
 
jhawkkw said:
I have a feeling though that this would only apply to devices bought at full retail or have had the subsidy paid off. If the device is still under contract, that might still be permitted to be locked.
Click to expand...

honestly, i'd be OK with that.

as long as they remove the 90-day restrictions and all that too.

i'd also love for them to have to reduce my bill once my subsidy is paid off, too. if i don't want to update my phone after 24 months, too bad for you, stop charging me for it. might make bills in general lower, since you can pay off your phone in about 6 months with most plans. the other 18 are all profit for them.
 
Ssith said:
honestly, i'd be OK with that.

as long as they remove the 90-day restrictions and all that too.

i'd also love for them to have to reduce my bill once my subsidy is paid off, too. if i don't want to update my phone after 24 months, too bad for you, stop charging me for it. might make bills in general lower, since you can pay off your phone in about 6 months with most plans. the other 18 are all profit for them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the coporate policy for T-Mobile is that even if you buy the device at full retail, they will not unlock it until you've had 3 months of service with them and keep your account in good standing. I think AT&T's policy is similar, though you hear about exceptions to these rules all the time. Of course the way around it is just to buy unlocked devices from the get go. ;)
 
Every time I hear these days. "We The People", I always get a strange theme stuck in my head.

I have an odd feeling this will not go well with the major phone providers, who will do everything they can, to ensure their profits stay as large as the country.

Then there is a list that I will not go into, for that is better suited for PCA.

It would work well for manufactures and consumers, especially where locking the phone, can cause issues that are not related to 'tampering', rooting, et centra. If you have suffered through a two year contract and paid it off, why not unlock it? It is like a car loan, where the bank will send you, besides issuing you a title from the state, a letter of certification thanking your for your business and wishing you well, as well as declaring their end of interest in your property. This should also reflect on contract users, where at the end of the term, they unlock it for them, and send them on their way. More likely than not, the phone will either have been discontinued by that time, or have newer technology, that will allow the consumer to change features, to the point that might actually strike up more business for the carrier, simply by showing a friendly gesture.

I still do not understand why the law was enacted, are the profits that strong that they don't want them to shrink, or is it they are afraid of losing customers, due to their terrible competition?
 
jhawkkw said:
...they will not unlock it until you've had 3 months of service with them and keep your account in good standing. I think AT&T's policy is similar
Click to expand...

I've heard the same about AT&T.

It's probably a cost analysis thing so they can make a certain amount of money before unlocking it.


Ssith said:
i'd also love for them to have to reduce my bill once my subsidy is paid off, too. if i don't want to update my phone after 24 months, too bad for you, stop charging me for it.
Click to expand...

That's why I use a prepaid carrier - low rates :)
 
A shameless bump to this thread, but it appears as though congress is acting. H.R.1123 has been passed to repeal the DCMA decision, though it's not as strong as I would have liked.
 
The phone might be unlocked, but carriers do have their specific apps tailored to the phone. Will you be able to delete those without rooting if you change carriers?
For example:
TMobile had T-Zones for years for basic internet access (now being phased out.)
If you switched to AT&T, T-zones was built in and would have to be left on the phone. There is still a lot of bloatware. Last phones have all been purchased unlocked so I haven't seen much carrier nonsense. Will price and service be enough to keep people loyal or will it be contracts for service again?
 
Unlocking and rooting are two separate issues, so I would guess that users will still not be able to uninstall carrier apps without rooting. And rooting will still void warranties. AT&T has always (at least with me) been very accommodating with unlocking as long as the account is in good standing.

I'd like to see this passed in the name of consumer protection, but I really don't see it making much of an impact with the way carriers and phone manufacturers do business. Consumers still want $100 ~ $200 phones and will sign the contracts to get them.
 
i sure hope this comes true...

my phone is my phone...contract or no contract.
it should not be illegal to do what I want to it. warranty should still be good on the hardware.

I understand 1 reason to keep the user from making system changes to the OS. less chance of issue and support calls. totally there with them on that. I would do that too.

it is up to the user to root it. to unlock it. that is NOT a large part of the user base.
those users understand and should know that they are taking cutting support calls from the carrier and will handle it themselves. but the hardware should be fine!

carriers can easily put an official ROM on their support site. so that a user can flash that if they become stuck.
 
dan330 said:
carriers can easily put an official ROM on their support site. so that a user can flash that if they become stuck.
Click to expand...

Don't know how things are in the US, but sometimes there's hardware differences though, like specific radios and bands for certain carriers. There's different Samsung S4s for each of three carriers here in China, and each one has their own carrier's customisations and bloat, although they're not locked. There is no standard official non-carrier Samsung ROM for these, well not from Samsung anyway. On the other hand it's not like this in the UK, because all UK carriers use the same bands and wireless technology.
 
mikedt said:
Don't know how things are in the US, but sometimes there's hardware differences though, like specific radios and bands for certain carriers. There's different Samsung S4s for each of three carriers here in China, and each one has their own carrier's customisations and bloat, although they're not locked. There is no standard official non-carrier Samsung ROM for these, well not from Samsung anyway. On the other hand it's not like this in the UK, because all UK carriers use the same bands and wireless technology.
Click to expand...


you quoted me.. and that statement..

I said "carrier" can put on their support site for their phones.
their own official ROM for their own versions of the phone.
 
zuben el genub said:
The phone might be unlocked, but carriers do have their specific apps tailored to the phone. Will you be able to delete those without rooting if you change carriers?
Click to expand...

For many phones, as long as the carrier has the model of phone, generally it is possible to flash their flavor stock ROM onto the device without rooting it.

The biggest carrier Hopping would be with GSM devices (changing a sim card is easy), CDMA takes a little work.

I would like to see the end of locking all together, but then I would like to see contract plans go away all together too...
 
zuben el genub said:
The phone might be unlocked, but carriers do have their specific apps tailored to the phone. Will you be able to delete those without rooting if you change carriers?
Click to expand...
No.

Pre-installed apps are in the /system partition and that's read-only until rooted.

And - let's review.

The word locking can refer to two UNRELATED things.

1. The bootloader, unlock it to lead to root.

2. Carrier locking to their service only, and that has nothing to do with the bootloader.

As was detailed already, earlier in the thread.

This thread is about carrier locking.

Yes, GSM frequencies vary in the US.

BUT - many phones can use all or most of those in the US, as well as those in Europe and Asia.

CDMA frequencies vary between the Verizon group and the Spirit group.

BUT - most phones can roam on either so that difference isn't absolute either.

The outcry here was because people could not engage in foreign travel and just swap out to a local SIM card for local service at a reasonable price while away.

Nothing about carrier unlocking involves bloatware, bootloaders, rooting or roms.

Clandestine methods have sometimes involved rooting.

The point is to avoid any of that. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom