Unlocked cell phones
Locked cell phones have a small microchip put inside which is called a SIM card, abbreviated as Subscriber Identification Module. When mobile phone manufacturers produce a cell phone they do not put this microchip in the phone, so by default all cell phones are unlocked cell phones when manufactured. It is the subscribers or the carriers who put this software called lock which make the phone recognize the SIM from the concerned carrier. Now why do they do it? Although there is increasing demand for the mobile phones and continual up-gradation of mobile devices by the manufacturers the cut-throat competition in the subscribers market is palpable. To keep the client loyal to them subscribers all over the world invent different cheap cell phone plans and deals. But keeping a client tied up to a particular network is difficult and the subscribers try it the other way they rather keep the cell phone loyal to the carrier by locking it with information typical for that network.
It is very much possible to buy unlocked cell phones from third party vendors and then get the connection, but price for the unlocked cell phones are higher, almost the full retail price. If you buy a locked phone from a subscriber along with their cell phone plan you get the device at much lower price. But unlocked cell phones can recognize SIM card from any carrier. It is particularly useful if you are travelling all over the globe and some countries do not have the network you are subscribed to. Unlocked cell phones allow you buy a local SIM card of the country you are visiting and just put it into your cell phone. That way you can keep in touch with your people at a much lower rate.
There is one point to understand that the third party unlocked cell phones will work with only carriers which uses a SIM card. Let us discuss it in more details. Two competitive networks work in the cellular world at present, which are:
The GSM network, abbreviated as Global System for Mobile communication
The CDMA network, abbreviated as Code Division Multiple Access
The subscribers who operate on the GSM networks only use SIM cards. At present there are two operators in US working on GSM network namely the AT&T Wireless, and the T-Mobile. The carriers who operate on the CDMA network do not use such card-enabled phones. So unlocked cell phones are not available on CDMA network, US as yet, if you need to upgrade your cell phone your subscriber has to deactivate the old one and activate the new phone rendering the old phone useless. There is a CDMA equivalent of SIM card called R-UIM card used in some other countries and expected to come to US soon. The operators working on CDMA network are Sprint PCS, Verizon and Virgin Mobile.
Unlocked cell phones are in great demand because it allows you to more easily switch cellular operators and to get more features and services than specific operators offer without changing the cell phone. There are many third party services which will unlock your cell phone for a fee and unlocking your phone or buying an unlocked phone is very much legal in USA. But unlocked cell phones do not always work correctly as some of the previous settings might remain. There are many hacking instructions for the unlocked cell phones in the dedicated online forums which provide code to unlock a specific cell phone. But improperly unlocking your phone may destroy its working. Buying unlocked cell phones is better option than buying a cell phone with plan and unlock it later; particularly when you have the reason to change the carrier more frequently.
