[access-uk] Re: Unlocking nokia phones

I don't know about anyone else, but wonder if this may be getting a little far 
off the remit of this list.  Also people should be aware of a couple of things 
here.

Firstly, the easiest way to get a phone unlocked is for the original owner to 
request this from their operator.  The operator will be able to do this for 
them provided the phone is paid up on whatever contract it was used by (usually 
when it is 12 or 18 months old) after wich it effectively becomes your property 
not the operator's.  In general if it is only part way through (eg. six months 
after purchase) then the operator is entitled to some fee levied against phone 
as it is not completely paid for.

As a response to this limitation the Internet is awash with all sorts of forums 
and websites claiming to unlock this or that phone.  For many older phones this 
is unproblematic as codes have made it out into the wild.  However eBay and 
places like these are full of people trying to offload phones that are locked 
to certain networks when contract period has not yet expired or are certain 
models for which unlock codes are not available anywhere apart from the 
operator.

If you search the Internet fairly exhaustively you will discover that Nokia 
6680s are a particular topic, especially those on the Three network.  There are 
also equally large numbers of people claiming to unlock it for you.  With 
reference to these later models such as 6680, N70 or possibly even 6630 you 
should be very wary of giving out IMEI numbers (and definitely not emailing to 
some unknown person for unlocking) because there is a market in cloning phone 
identities in the criminal underworld the IMEI numbers is that identity.

Finally, attempting to unlock a phone by means other than the provider before 
it's contract has expired is somethig of a legal grey area and you may end up 
with an expensive or useless paperweight.  Be careful fellow listers.

Regards.

Tristram Llewellyn
Sight and Sound Technology
Technical Support
www.sightandsound.co.uk

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