Cellphone Unlocking Law: You Might Now Be Able To Have Your Phone Unlocked For Use On Different Telecom Carriers If The “Unlocking Consumer And Wireless Competition Act” Is Signed Into Law

Cellphone Unlocking Law: You Might Now Be Able To Have Your Phone Unlocked For Use On Different Telecom Carriers If The "Unlocking Consumer And Wireless Competition Act" Is Signed Into Law

What does the cell phone unlocking law mean for you? Will it impact on how you use your phone? These are some of the questions we seek to answer. The bill which will make it legal to unlock your cell phone is on President Barack Obama's desk awaiting approval.

Currently under the US law, it is illegal to unlock a cell phone without the carrier's permission. Several advocacy groups have come out in favor of making phone unlocking legal. The "Unlocking Consumer and Wireless Competition Act," was unanimously approved in the House and the Senate which means that consumers will now be able to legally unlock their cell phones without necessarily running afoul the copyright laws. The law will only restore the exemption till the Librarian of Congress makes it a next ruling.

The reality of legalizing cellphone unlocking is quite complicated. In the US, there runs two types of technology: GSM or CDMA. AT&T and T-Mobile uses GSM while Verizon and Sprint uses CDMA. The two technologies are incompatible such that many CDMA phones will not work on a GSM network. Let us assume that you have a phone which can work under both networks. This does not mean that it is a must that your Verizon device can work on AT&T as it depends. An AT&T or T-Mobile phone will not work on Sprint.

Whether locked or not, an AT&T or T-Mobile phone will not work on Sprint. Some T-Mobile and AT&T unlocked phones will be able to work on Verizon's LTE network for data only, excluding voice services.

You should also take note of the fact that LTE has very many different brands; this means that you cannot guarantee that an LTE device made for one network will work on LTE on another network. Phone makers are now building phones which will support more bands in their devices. You may start to wonder whether you can unlock your phone overseas. If your phone can support both technologies, then yes, you can unlock it from overseas. However, note that if you put in a sim card and it receives voice or SMS service it does not mean that you can also access the data services.

 

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