Carrier specific phones usually come locked. However, they usually provide the unlock code upon request. As long as one meets their requirements.

No, none of Apple's phones are dual sim. Actually, I am not aware of any of the US GSM carriers selling dual sim phones.

I believe Verizon was required as part of its win of the 700 MHz auction to open its phones using this frequency.

In the case of T-Mobile, they have published rules about unlocking devices. In fact, there's an app on my wife's new S8 phone that enables it be unlocked, so there's no longer a need to call to get the unlock code. Any active phone can be unlocked after 40 days as long as there is no Equipment Installment Plan on the line.

However, with T-Mobile's included international data, I don't find myself searching for a local SIM when I travel.

The FCC has a nice little FAQ about unlocking cell phones.

Yes and no. There are 2 competing 'guidelines' which cause some issue...one being vague wording in US law and the other being individual carriers' definition of a current customer (or 'customer in good standing')...

Back on August 1, 2014, President Obama signed the "Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act" into law. That became effective on February 11, 2015. Essentially the bill says that carriers are required to unlock devices which are fully owned by the user and when the postpaid user is a 'customer in good standing' with the carrier.

So, basically, the phone must be completely paid off (purchased for full price or installment financing payment plan completed). Also, the user must be a postpaid 'customer in good standing' with the carrier, which means no outstanding debt (unpaid bills), contract completed or Early Termination Fee paid (or for non-contract carriers/plans, the customer must be 'established' with the carrier).

That last bit is the sticking point. As more and more the carriers move away from contracts for postpaid customers, it is basically left up to the carrier to decide what an established customer is and how they define it.

All of this is assuming you buy the phone directly from the carrier or with carrier incentive via 3rd party seller.

However, the bill signed by President Obama left a little gray area...what if you buy the phone for full price from the manufacturer directly at full price, with no carrier involved? Theoretically, you would meet the guidelines for the phone to be unlocked at the time of purchase (or sold as unlocked). But since the bill specifically speaks about carrier unlocking of devices, there is a question about manufacturer unlocking.

Thankfully, Apple and Google eliminated the gray area by ensuring their direct-sale devices are factory unlocked before you buy them for full price at stores or online. I think buying a Windows phone for full price directly from the Microsoft store is the same way, but not 100% sure.

As for prepaid customers...the carriers are only required to unlock the device by the deadline stated as '1 year from the date of initial activation date' or immediately (which is about 48-hours for most carriers) if the customer has been with the carrier for more than a year. I believe T-Mobile only requires a total of $100 in reloads before unlocking the phone in lieu of a minimum time commitment.

I believe Sprint and Verizon only use/need SIM cards for the GSM/LTE radios in their devices. The CDMA potion doesn't use a SIM.

However, back in 2012 (according to this article), through a spectrum swap & purchase, Verizon was required to unlock the GSM/LTE side of all of their phones. To this day, all phones purchased directly from Verizon are GSM unlocked right out of the box. (Here is a link to the text of the 700 MHz Block C access requirements - see section (e) for guidelines on not locking phones.)

However, some Verizon versions of phones have "software bugs" which make it difficult to use the phone on a US GSM carrier (T-Mobile, AT&T, etc). Its widely speculated that Verizon has done this on purpose via bloatware on most Android devices (see this link).

There are dual sims available in the USA. This article April 2017. Just dont buy a phone from a carrier. BYOD. The one plus 3t looks pretty good and I am considering it.

http://www.androidauthority.com/best...phones-529470/

The problem is you can't pre-order online and have your phone delivered on launch day this way. I'm a T-Mobile customer as well and bought my iPhone 7 Plus through Apple when the pre-orders went live. You can't place an online order for a Sprint/Verizon/AT&T phone without being a customer of that carrier.

You'd basically have to wait in the crazy line on launch day and buy a phone at full retail, and that's assuming they'd have the color/capacity of your preference.

Thanks for the clear definition. Wish it was that clear from T-Mobile themselves!

For both the iPhone SE & 7, I walked into the store Saturday morning (the day after launch for both devices) and bought both with no problems getting the color/capacity/model that I wanted.

But, I see what you're saying about ordering online. That's especially important for people who don't live close to a store.

Dumb question, but how does the Apple website verify that you're a customer of the carrier that you are buying the phone version for? Does the Apple website require your Sprint log-in to buy the Sprint model phone?

You're most welcome.

Yes, unfortunately you have to enter your carrier login credentials on the Apple website when ordering an iPhone, for all but T-Mobile; for the latter, the only option IIRC is to pay full price, so they don't ask for account information.

It's great you were able to get the one you wanted the day after launch, that's pretty unusual I think! I know the 7 Plus 128Gb was in pretty limited supply for weeks after lunch, and I'm glad I pre-ordered mine. I paid full price so it's fully unlocked.

As you mention, in the past I've walked in (well after launch) and bought contract-free full price phones, you can pick any provider and it will be unlocked. I typically bought the Verizon ones for family overseas, but there are only minor frequency differences in the models over the years.

I have a datapoint to add to the wiki: I am in Luxembourg (city) and have fairly zippy LTE service from Tango.

Zippy as in full LTE speed or it's throttled but seems faster than the usual T-Mobile roaming throttle?

T Mo going after Sprint, Google Voice, and Project Fi?
 

The link is to an article about DIGITS coming out of beta into general release. How do you get from that to "T Mo going after Sprint, Google Voice, and Project Fi?"

I'm using DIGITS now for doing VoIP in my browser - great as you can hand calls off to your phone MID-CALL

I keep waiting and hoping but it certainly is beginning to look like there will be no summer long unlimited 4g data in Europe this summer. Too bad.

In a nutshell, Digits is a nifty service that combines the best features of services like Google Voice and AT&T NumberSync into a single product. It allows one phone number to work on multiple devices, and it also allows one device to support multiple phone numbers.

See my other post about new Sprint Global, which is going after T MO international 2g. And I have both Project Fi and Google Voice, so in my experience, thats the target. Its all good.