Blog: Why is it so hard to get a mobile phone unlocked?

If you want to switch networks, you may have to unlock your mobile phone. But this can be surprisingly complicated and expensive, as Sue Hayward found.

Considering mobile phone companies are in the business of communication, you'd think they would be pretty good at it.

But when it comes answering a simple question such as "how do I unlock my phone?", it can be hard to get a straight answer.

When you buy a mobile phone, it's usually locked to a particular phone network.

So, if you want to take advantage of deals and promotions from other operators, you need to unlock it.

My daughter had a mobile phone on a Vodafone pay-as-you-go (PAYG) deal.

After a year wanted to switch networks to take advantage of a £1-a-month contract deal with another provider.

When I rang Vodafone it all sounded very easy and fee-free.

But further along the call centre chain I was told this would incur a £19.99 charge - a big fee considering you can get phones unlocked at high street outlets from around £5. 

I rang Vodafone's disconnections department to check this charge was correct.

They insisted it was, although they did offer to waive it as a gesture of goodwill. 

I agreed and was passed - yet again - to another person who then told me there was actually no charge at all to unlock a pay-as-you-go mobile phone once it's over a year old.

So, had I not questioned the charge, Vodafone would have been £20 richer at my expense.

However, despite being promised the fee-free unlock code within three to five days, I was still waiting three weeks later.

Call me cynical, but what's to stop mobile companies deliberately playing silly games when it comes to providing unlock codes as, naturally, they don't want you to switch?

Well, communications industry regulator Ofcom says there are no rules to prevent mobile phone operators locking phones to their networks.

And any unlocking charge imposed is pretty much down to individual operators, providing it's written into their terms and conditions.

As you might expect, charges vary depending on which network you're with. 

O2 charges PAYG customers £15 a time, but this option is only available after a year. 

Orange charges £20.42 for both PAYG and contract customers and with T-Mobile the charge for unlocking a handset is £15.32.

With both these mobile phone networks you can ask to unlock your phone after three months, although if you're on a contact you will need to cover the cost of any remaining term.   

Vodafone confirmed the £20 charge for PAYG phones but say this is paid regardless of how long you've had the phone.

This conflicts with the "free after a year" information given to me by Vodafone's call centre staff.

Along with the make and model of your handset, the key bit of information you need is your phone's International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.

This is a unique serial number which you can find on the original box or by dialling *#06# on your handset.  

The time taken to hand over the unlock code depends on the network operator. 

O2 says it's up to 10 days while both Orange and T-Mobile say it should take up to 30 days.

In some cases can take up to three months, depending on your handset.  

And Vodafone says it can usually provide the unlock code within 72 hours, although if it has to request one from the manufacturer it can be up to ten days.

Have you had problems trying to get your network provider to unlock your mobile phone?

Have you given up and gone to one of the many high street outlets that provide this service instead?

We want to hear from you! You can share your views on the message board below.

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In Europe, a Push for Higher Phone Fees

AppId is over the quota AppId is over the quota BERLIN — When the authorities have tinkered with European telecommunications rules, it has usually been to lower prices for consumers, whether through retail price controls on mobile roaming fees or mandatory cuts in regulated interconnection charges.

But this year, to encourage more investment in high-speed broadband networks, regulators are considering helping the biggest operators increase a main source of income: the rent they receive from rivals that lease their landline grids.
The architect of the plan, Neelie Kroes, the European Union’s digital agenda commissioner, has pitched the increases as part of a broader package to stimulate spending while preserving competition and consumer choice.
The plan, however, has alarmed operators that would have to pay the higher charges, like the British mobile operator Vodafone. Vittorio Colao, chief executive of Vodafone, said that the plan to increase the fees collected by former monopolies, including BT, Deutsche Telekom, France Télécom, KPN, Telecom Italia and Telef?nica, could lead to a “re-monopolization” of the business.
Mr. Colao said he was worried that landline operators would use the additional revenue to lower their own prices and try to squeeze competitors like Vodafone.
“Increasing the incentive to invest is a good thing,” Mr. Colao said. But now Ms. Kroes must “demonstrate that these new criteria won’t contaminate the competitive arena in Europe,” he said.
Under the plan, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, would begin regulating the fees that mobile operators routinely pay to lease the grids of landline operators.
In much of the world, running telecommunications lines to homes and businesses has traditionally been the domain of a local monopoly, or sometimes a duopoly in the case of telephones and cable television in the United States. Until 1998, countries in the European Union were allowed to maintain national monopolies for this “local loop” to the consumer.
With deregulation, however, the former monopolies were required to unbundle the cost of the local loop and offer it to competitors, thus allowing companies like Vodafone to enter the market.
Despite 14 years of deregulation, and the addition of more than 100 mobile operators in Europe, the former monopolies still supply the majority of fixed-line services in their home countries. In Spain, Telef?nica has more than 70 percent of this business.
Until now, these unbundling rates have been set by national regulators, and the average monthly cost per customer in the European Union stands at €8.62, or $11.35. The fee typically makes up a third or more of monthly landline phone bills in Europe and also influences wireless prices because it affects mobile operator costs. The fee ranges from €4.20 in Slovakia to €12.41 in Ireland.
Mrs. Kroes proposed to lower, not raise, unbundling fees in September 2011, to make the old landline networks less profitable for big operators and to encourage them to invest in new networks. But the former monopolies protested, and after personal appeals from executives at big operators, in some cases accompanied by their investors, she reversed course.
Ms. Kroes is proposing that each country within the European Union be required to set its fee within the range of €8 to €10 per month, according to a copy of her proposal obtained by the International Herald Tribune. The new range would most likely require 10 E.U. countries where the fee is currently below this range to raise it, in some cases only slightly, and in others, sharply.
The increases would in all likelihood be passed on to consumers. The rise in fees could be greatest in Eastern Europe, where regulators have been most aggressive in setting low leasing rates to encourage competition. The level of leasing charges could double in Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia.
Mr. Colao, the Vodafone chief executive, said Ms. Kroes needed to tighten the legal safeguards in her plan to prevent big operators from exploiting access to landline networks. 

VTech’s Multitasking Phone System – the LS6475-3

As a busy multitasking, work at home mom, I try to schedule all of my phone calls for the five hours that my kids are in school.  But occasionally, I do have to take a call after school, which means that I’m usually juggling five things at one time.  I’m almost always asked to open a package, turn on a TV station, provide a snack, or do something else that my little kiddies need.  That’s why the VTech LS6475-3 Multitasking phone system works well for me, because I can be completely hands free as I take my calls.

The VTech LS6475-3 phone system includes a base station and a phone base.  The base station includes an answering machine (which I don’t need, so I turn it off), and the whole system can be expanded to accommodate 12 handsets.  A hands-free headset is also included, which you can just clip over your ear to take your calls.  One additional hands-free headset can also be added to the system.

My favorite feature is the voice announce caller ID – when the phone tells me that the call is from “Not Available”, I don’t even have to get up from the couch to answer it!  The system also offers push to talk functionality, DECT 6.0 digital technology, a 500 foot range, and a sleek, stylish appearance.  It’s a great phone system for any mom that needs to be hands free at times (and let’s face it – that’s all moms!), and since it’s expandable, it can be used throughout the entire home.

Visit the VTech LS6475-3 Multitasking Phone system product page, the VTech Facebook page, and the VTech Twitter page for more information on the VTech LS6475-3.

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of VTech and received a product sample to facilitate my review.

Tagged as: home office, phone systems

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