On Tuesday, I reported on how Sprint and Verizon would handle “international unlocking" of the new iPhone 4S. The new phone is capable of working on those carriers in the U.S. and switching to the more common GSM radio standard for the rest of the world. My report said that Sprint’s iPhone 4S would come with its GSM card slot “unlocked,” meaning you could insert a pre-paid SIM card bought while traveling overseas if you wanted to save some cash on international phone surcharges.

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On Thursday, Sprint spokesperson Michelle Leff Mermelstein issued a new statement to me regarding the iPhone 4S and international unlocking for Sprint customers. Here’s the deal:

Indeed, the Sprint iPhone 4S will ship with its micro-SIM slot unlocked. However, Sprint now says that it will be locking that slot “shortly after launch” via an update pushed to those devices. After the slot has been locked, Sprint says that it will allow customers in good standing to unlock the SIM for international use in the future.