Buy iPhone 3G Unlocked

Saturday, March 7, 2009

By Antonio B.

There's a place where you can buy an unlocked iPhone 3G wherein doing so would be completely legal. Surprised? You shouldn't be if it's in a region where buying unlocked cell phones is more of a rule than an exception. The region we're talking about here is Hong Kong, probably the only place on earth where you can freely pick both your phone and your carrier.

Unlocked cellphone

To understand the basic principles of an unlocked iPhone 3G, it would be best to start with knowing what a locked cell phone is. When a phone is said to be locked, what is meant is that the phone can only be used when you insert a SIM card that is connected to the same carrier as the phone.

A typical example is an iPhone 3G. When you buy it, presumably from AT&T, then you can only use the iPhone 3G within the AT&T network. Even if you replace the AT&T SIM with one belonging to a different network, your iPhone 3G will not be usable.

The rule, not the exception

In Hong Kong, where you can find a vast collection of cell phones, the phones that you buy are unlocked by default. Say that again? No really, if you buy an iPhone 3G in Hong Kong, you'd be able to use it on any network. Now, we're not talking about bootleg versions. On the contrary, Apple itself has released unlocked iPhone 3G phones there.

What's the catch?

There's one caveat though, the price of an unlocked 3G iPhone is relatively higher there than if you bought one in the US. The reason is because, in the US, carriers like AT&T subsidize the cost of the phone in exchange for locking the subscriber into their network.

Buy an unlocked iPhone 3G

When you buy an unlocked 3G iPhone at a relatively higher price, you're actually paying for the cost of freedom; the freedom to choose your own phone and the freedom to select your preferred network. - 20764

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