Unlocking your cell phone - ask your cellular provider

I am contemplating changing cell phone plans. My current cell phone, long since paid off, is locked to my current carrier. I wanted to unlock it so I could either use it on a pre-paid plan or sell/gift it to someone else. I googled unlocking, and the advice was generaly to pay for unlocking or to have the buyer contact the carrier to try to unlock the phone. The rationale was that the carrier won't want to unlock the phone for a current customer, making it easier for the customer to switch providers. Since calling my current carrier sounded like a long shot, I tried a paid unlocking service, but they couldn't find my unlock code (they did refund my money, though). In desperation, I called my carrier. They provided the unlock code with no hassles other than a few days' delay.

Since I didn't see this method discussed much, I thought I would share how it worked for me. I put my SIM card into another phone and called AT&T. I explained that I was using a new phone and wanted to gift my old phone to someone on another network, so I needed the unlock code. It took some time on the phone with them, and a few days while they waited for the code to come back from the manufacturer. They e-mailed me the unlock code, I typed it into the phone, and it was all done. I did have to have another carrier's SIM card in the phone to do the unlock. I had purchased a SIM card from T-mobile pre-paid to test whether I received an acceptable signal in the places where I use my phone, so having a SIM card was no problem for me, but I could have just as easily borrowed a card from a friend.

I wish this would catch on. I see so many locked phones on eBay, and an entire cottage industry has sprung up to unlock phones; used cell phones would be more useful if they were unlocked. Our monthly cellular bill pays the purchase price of the phone, and it is fully paid off in 2 years. There is no reason for the phone to remain locked to the carrier's network after the 2-year contract period. Before you sell, gift, or donate your old phone, consider calling your carrier and asking for the unlock code. It will make your phone more useful to the next user.