Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11))

My guess is that as another poster has stated, Apple has made it far more difficult to unlock the iPHONE 3G.

In the U.S. the subsidy lock for the iPHONE does not really matter as the 3G (aka UMTS) frequencies (850/1900MHz) are only supported by at&t Mobility.

However, one would want the iPHONE 3G unlocked if they wanted to use a pre-paid SIM overseas.

Dan

Aghh. Looks like I'll have to give in and buy the new iPhone this coming Friday. I don't know if I'm happy or sad about that ;)

Since ATT has no immediate plans for 3G data where I live, I will be happy if the jailbreak folks are able to find a way to get the new 2.0 OS on the old iPhone -- and still use the many apps that I've installed.

Can't be too hard to unlock..

I am getting one from my provider in Hong Kong on Thursday night that comes unlocked. They just rang me an hr ago asking when I would be free to have it delivered (guess they didn't want to leave it with the door staff).

So.. Apple is providing Hong Kong with unlocked phones, I am sure there is not much to "fixing" the locked version..

Unlocking is one thing and I agree that it probably won't be hard. Jailbreaking (or opening up the OS) is another thing entirely.

However I have full confidence in the hacking community. Anything that Man can make, Man can break.

3G iPhonesgo on sale in Australia, Asia and pretty much everywhere else Thursday night, so NZ/Aussie buyers might get first dibs on finding unlocked versions.

Four telcos will be selling it here - possibly five telcos. :)
Local goss here - where Apple evangelists meet Christian evangelists during WYD08!

Yeah but data on prepaid SIMs is not cheap. I loaded one web page on an Italian SIM and it cost more than 1 Euro of my credit. I don't even know if it was using 3G data either.

Looking at most of these international plans for the iPhone 3G, there are few that offer unlimited data. So while 3G may be in all these other countries, looks like it's too costly for heavy use, unless you subscribe to special plans.

And from what I recall, the Hong Kong plans for the iPhone 3G were some of the most competitive around.

But the non-contract price is a bit too much. You can probably do some light international roaming (but not of data) before you spend as much as you would for these non-contract iPhones.

I guess we know much more on Monday but right now, Belgium looks very good for unlocked iPhone 3G. By the law they are not allowed to sell subsidized contracts, all phones must be unlocked and the phone cannot be sold at loss. So there's nothing stopping you from buy a phone from Mobistar in Belgium and using it however you like.

http://iphone3g.mobistar.be/en/iphone3g.cfm
Selling for Euro 525 - a long way from US$199 :p

You wonder if this contract-free price reflects what Apple is charging the carriers or if the carriers are padding it to discourage people from buying contract-free.

Or padding it to make some money off the deal.

Any chance these unlocked units will make it to the gray market like other phones? Phones from Nokia and other brands start out around $1000 and eventually end up around $400 at gray marketers.

Or does Apple have a restrictive enough distribution to prevent this from happening?

The only problem I have is the roaming charges as it is too high (8GBP for each MB!)

The local rate plans here in the UK are quite reasonable.

Looks like I might have to carry another phone while I am overseas

Also can you turn off the data on the iphone but still receive calls?

There ARE other ways to unlock a phone ;)

I've got one of these here:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12167

Works perfectly in the current iPhone, and chances are it'll work in the new one as well. Only thing I've noticed is that I occassionaly have to power cycle the phone. Other than that it seems to work in most phones including Blackberry smartphones.

You actually got an iPhone now?

Well the non-contract pricing almost removes the incentive to not sign a contract.

At least in the US, you pay what, $600-700 to be free from signing a contract with AT&T but no other US carrier offers a 3G network you can use.

And then you can take it overseas and buy local SIMs but data prices for those SIMs aren't cheap at all.

well what is the normal cost to break the contract? if u buy it for 199 and pay say 175 to break contract, ull still be ahead ??

Had one for ages and will probably upgrade to the new one too.