bocastephen

Thank heavens! And good thing I saw this article before I ported to Straight Talk this afternoon!

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/04/06/...unday-april-8/

No official confirmation from ATT, but if true, this will make life so much easier when I travel, especially given Straight Talk has no int'l support.

So...I will call Sunday or Monday, get my phone unlocked, then port to Straight Talk.

MR_MAMA

This is TRUE!
Beginning Sunday, April 8, we will offer qualifying customers the ability to unlock their AT&T iPhones," the statement reads. "The only requirements are that a customer's account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade policies or paid an early termination fee."


I will probably stay with ATT because I have like 9000 rollover minutes, but it means now when I travel overseas that I don't need to use Iphonetrip anymore and I can just buy a local SIM card.

Happy days are here, free at last, free at last!!

bocastephen

I'm wondering if this means I can upgrade to a Iphone 4S, pay the upgrade fee, unlock, then pay the early term fee...if so, I would have an unlocked 4S for $525 which is a good bargain - and I could sell it next fall for about $300 after the iPhone 5 comes out.

wiredboy10003

The next thing they need to do is lower your monthly charge when the phone is paid off.

bocastephen

They do that now - by porting your number to Straight Talk Wireless.

BryanIAH

Does this work with an iPhone?

CApreppie

Gigaom has good article on how it will benefit MVNOs reselling AT&T services like Red Pocket and H20.http://gigaom.com/apple/att-unlocks-...os-a-big-gift/

Red Pocket offers unlimited talk/text and 2GB data for $60/month. That beats AT&T hands down. H20 offers unlimited talk/text and 1GB data for $60/month.

goalie

This is HUGE news tho I'm thinking I might be hosed...

I've been with At&T for just over 12 years and after my initial contract ran out I never re-upped, was out of contract and never bought a phone from them until this past November when I was offered a free iPhone 3Gs as a free upgrade for a two year contract but I'm hoping that where this was "an upgrade offered by At&T", the unlocking gods will smile on me.

bocastephen

Yes, with some caveats. There is a ton of information at Howard Forums, but the following are known limitations:

1) no visual voicemail - not good, but to save $35-40 a month, I can make an old fashioned call to voicemail like the good 'ol days

2) no intl text and no intl roaming - although whatsapp takes care of the text and having the phone unlocked takes care of the roaming (or just use Google Voice and wifi)

3) iPhone 3G/GS/4 can't do MMS on Straight Talk without jailbreaking (iPhone 4S does not need jailbreaking, but some minor tweaking) - again, whatsapp can take care of this, or just use email to swap files

4) to get data working, you visit the famous website from New Zealand that manages the APN settings from your phone (while connected to wifi) and install the Straight Talk APN - which takes under 1 minute. Voice and regular text work out of the box

ST seems to use the entire ATT back-end - when my other half switched, their voicemails and voicemail greeting was retained as it's still using the ATT systems. Voice coverage should be at least as good as native ATT (they don't use the reduced GoPhone map) plus TMO. Data is supported up through 4G depending on the phone.

soarer

Will AT+T unlock an iPhone that I buy on craigslist used ,

lets say an older iPhone 3 that would for sure be out of contract ?

And do I need to be an AT+T customer ?

I would like to use it overseas and this would be better than a jailbreak I think.

SR

FLYMSY

Carefully read the link in Post #1 and/or the first paragraph in Post #2.

bocastephen

One caveat I forgot to add to my list, no int'l long distance calling on Straight Talk - but again, who makes long distance calls on their mobile phones even today? Another issue easily taken care of with Google Voice or LocalNumber.

MR_MAMA

Yes, it would qualify as an upgrade, but you agreed to a two year contract, so you would need to pay a termination fee to get out of your contract first.

I have to wait until June. All of us that got the IPhone 4 and bypassed the 4s, are up in June. I think this could make resale easier if unlocked.

HockeyCoachBen

Based on my experience today...it won't be that easy. Unlocking (at least obtaining the code) will take about 1 week or longer.

+1

I couldn't agree more. My family and friends are sick of the 8 million work-around options that I always give them when I travel abroad in order to contact me. Now, with iMessage and an unlocked iPhone it will be much easier!

It appears the answer is NO based on comments over at the AT&T Support Forums. Because, technically by doing an ETF, you are immediately dropped as a customer. And the requirements state that you must be a "customer in good standing" to receive an unlock. Sneeky little wording by AT&T.

See comment above. Based on experiences of others today, you WILL NOT receive an unlock for several reasons...you must be an AT&T "customer in good standing" and the phone must have been an AT&T iPhone used on their service for a minimum of 2-years. Will post link below...

As mentioned above, based on experiences today, paying the ETF means you are no longer an AT&T customer, thus you are not eligible for an unlock because you must be a "customer in good standing". Sneeky of AT&T!

---

Here is the link to the on-going discussion over at the AT&T Support Forums regarding all of the reasons people have been told NO today.

AT&T iPhone Support Forums

HockeyCoachBen

And for reference, here is my experience today with getting an iPhone 3Gs unlocked today.

See my link in the post above for the discussion over at the AT&T Support Forums...it seems like people are trying really hard to get their phones unlocked...causing a 2-3 hour wait time on the telephone. I contacted tech support via online chat at AT&T website and got someone immediately.

Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

General Info
Chat start time Apr 8, 2012 10:07:14 AM EST
Chat end time Apr 8, 2012 10:20:01 AM EST
Duration (actual chatting time) 00:12:46
Operator Amanda xxxx

Chat Transcript
info: Please wait for a chat representative to respond.
info: You are now chatting with 'Amanda xxxx'

Amanda xxxx: I will be more than happy to see if you meet the needed criteria for the iPhone unlock Mr. HockeyCoachBen.

HockeyCoachBen: Thank you.

Amanda xxxx: May I please get the IMEI for the device you wish to check? This can be found under Settings, General, and then About.

HockeyCoachBen: (IMEI removed)

Amanda xxxx: Thank you very much, I need a little time please.

HockeyCoachBen: Thank you. Take all the time you need.

Amanda xxxx: Looking over the IMEI and the account, you do meet all the criteria to have the request processed. I need a moment to get that filled out, and I will have a ticket number for you. Once the ticket is processed, the code will be requested to be released. I will need a valid email address so we can send you the code and completion steps once the request has been completed.

HockeyCoachBen: (Email removed)

Amanda xxxx: Thank you again, I appreciate it. I just need a moment please to get this filled out.

HockeyCoachBen: That's the best email for me. Good news that I am eligible!!!

HockeyCoachBen: Take your time.

info: Your chat transcript will be sent to (Email removed) at the end of your chat.

Amanda xxxx: Thank you so much for waiting, the ticket for your unlock request is (Ticket # removed). The completion date is listed as April 16, but this can take more or less time depending on how quickly the code is released. Is there anything else I may assist with at this time?

HockeyCoachBen: No that is all.

HockeyCoachBen: Thanks so much for your help with this!

Amanda xxxx: You are so welcome! Thank you for choosing AT&T as your wireless provider, we do appreciate your business with us. Thank you also for visiting the AT&T Live Support Chat; it has been my pleasure to assist you today. Please click the close button to end your session. Don’t forget that you can access help online for any of the AT&T phones at http://www.att.com/learningcenter. Have a great day!