Can bell-locked iPhone be used for public mobile

[harsheng]

I'm asking this question for my friend.

He got his iPhone 4 years ago from Bell, and he is with a provider which uses Bell network right now. His phone is still locked in Bell.

He wants to know if the locked phone can be used with PM, or it has to be unlocked.

[Spunky]

Bell Mobility just sent me confirmation that my Virgin Mobile 5s, then being used for a year on my Bell account, was unlocked. Works great since today on PM though it took a while on PMs busy site to be able to get my phone number accepted so I could give my Bell account # to authorize the porting. Took a fair amount of telephone time to get someone at Bell to do the unlock(s) as an iPhone 6 is next. One agent told me he sent in the requests and I would recive an email within 2 hours. He didn't have an email address for me and that, I found out, cancelled the requests. Called the accounting dept and added my email to the account. Tried again the next morning and had to endure 30 minutes of sales pitches and discount offers before gently steering the agent to do the unlock requests. This one asked for my email address and filed the request. Said it would take up to 4 hours but had the email confirmations in less than an hour.

For those who haven't done this yet, porting a Bell phone number automatically cancels the Bell account and associated recorded phone messages, so be sure to check messages before porting.

Good luck and use patience.

[srlawren]

@CalgaryBen admittedly, @johnny5's posting is a bit ambigously worded.  I think he is saying he had Telus unlock his Telus phone before leaving.  The ambiguity arose from him saying you could contact any provider in Canada to unlock--I believe he meant to say you can contact the Canadian carrier from which the device was originally purchased in order to unlock it.

[CalgaryBen]

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@johnny5 wrote:

You can call ANY cell provider in Canada now and have the phone unlocked since the law was changed.  As long as there is no balance from purchasing their phone from Bell ( 2 year contract must be up). 

I had Telus unlock mine before I went to Public.  Took 15 min.   

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Are you suggesting that Telus unlocked your phone, which was locked to a different carrier?

This contradicts what the carriers all claim on their websites (and the collective understanding of most people in the know).

Telus says:

Device eligibility

• Device is locked to the TELUS network (TELUS can only unlock TELUS devices)
• Device is not flagged as lost or stolen

Ref: https://www.telus.com/en/ab/support/article/unlock-mobile-device

Rogers says:

Q: Can I unlock a device that I bought from another carrier?
A: We can only unlock devices that were purchased directly from Rogers
Ref: https://www.rogers.com/customer/support/article/unlocking-devices

Bell says:

Eligibility

• Your device must be currently locked to the Bell mobile network. (This implies that they can only unlock devices originating on their own network)

Ref: https://support.bell.ca/Mobility/unlock_your_Bell_device

Just wanted to set the record straight and dispell any misinformation, with references from sources...

[computergeek541]

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@johnny5 wrote:

You can call ANY cell provider in Canada now and have the phone unlocked since the law was changed.  As long as there is no balance from purchasing their phone from Bell ( 2 year contract must be up). 

I had Telus unlock mine before I went to Public.  Took 15 min.  

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You must contact the cell provider that the phone is locked to.  example: you can't call Telus up to unlock a Rogers cell phone.

In addition, there is no such restriction about a contract needing to be over before a phone can be unlocked.

[johnny5]

You can call ANY cell provider in Canada now and have the phone unlocked since the law was changed.  As long as there is no balance from purchasing their phone from Bell ( 2 year contract must be up). 

I had Telus unlock mine before I went to Public.  Took 15 min.  

[CalgaryBen]

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@mimmo wrote:

@CalgaryBen  why did you not contact bell to unlock it?  they are supposed to unlock phones for free.

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Because I don't have an account with Bell, and their unlocking "rules" stipulate that you "must have an account in good standing."

Even if I had an account, going the eBay route meant not having to wait on hold, verify account information, etc.  Not sure if they have online chat support, but that's another route.  Again, not having to worry about all that was the main reason for spending the $1 and being done with it!

[mimmo]

@CalgaryBen  why did you not contact bell to unlock it?  they are supposed to unlock phones for free.

[CalgaryBen]

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@CalgaryBen wrote:

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I just found a lister on eBay offering unlocking for $0.99, so I'm giving that a try on another Bell-locked iPhone 4S I have, just for the sake of testing out the service.  Granted, as you say, "there is no need to pay" with the new CRTC unlocking rules... the $1 is worthwhile for getting someone else to wait on hold, jump through hoops, etc.and not having to do it myself!

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Update: Done, worked effectively!  I got eBay notification that "item has shipped" about 8 hours after I used Buy It Now, but PM SIM wasn't working in the phone.  I contacted seller, and was told it could take up to 4 hours after the notification.  I tried re-inserting PM SIM again next morning (about 16 hours after purchase), and the phone was able to register on the PM network!  For anyone needing similar service, simply search for "iPhone unlocking Bell" (or whatever carrier your iPhone is locked to), then sort with lowest price first... should show up at the top.

[computergeek541]

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@stonechucker wrote:

Which is exactly what the CTRC also forbid in the 2017 changes - outright phone sales must be allowed and must be sold unlocked, or with the unlock code provided upon request.

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Perhaps, but we know it's difficult to purchase a phone outright from a stores that also sells cell services.  Some stores refuse to do it know matter what the customer says.  Then again, we also see phones that are usually sold for $500 to $600 brand new being marked up to ridiculous prices such as $880 (example Koodo LG G6).  That type of pricing makes it pretty obvious that they've done that to discourage/prevent people from making outright purchases.

[stonechucker]

Which is exactly what the CTRC also forbid in the 2017 changes - outright phone sales must be allowed and must be sold unlocked, or with the unlock code provided upon request.

[computergeek541]

A Bell-locked phone cannot be used on Public Mobile.  Public Mobile isn't a Bell-owed company, but rather a Telus-owned company.

As for Bell only willing to do it for active customers, I can't say that I really blame them for taking that stance since why would they want to help someone who is not bringing in any revenue for them?  However, this really goes against the spirt if of how the unlocking rules were supposed to allow customers to more freely switch between companies. This is Bell we're talking about, a company who wants to start locking phones again, but then unlock them when activated.  They say it's to dsicourage theft, but suspect it's also to discourage people from legititmately purcahsing devices without activating a new service.

[CalgaryBen]

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@stonechucker wrote:

I see Bell is still listing you must be an active customer in good standing.  Ridiculous.  It's a Bell locked device, if you have it, and can prove ownership - they should unlock it for you.  Also, there is no need to pay for the service as of December 1, 2017.

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Yep, ridiculous indeed, especially since both Telus and Rogers (and subsidiaries) are quite relaxed about unlocking without needing an account.  And for an old device (3+ years), there won't be any residual subsidy or balance owing, so unlocking shouldn't require so many hoops and hurdles.

I just found a lister on eBay offering unlocking for $0.99, so I'm giving that a try on another Bell-locked iPhone 4S I have, just for the sake of testing out the service.  Granted, as you say, "there is no need to pay" with the new CRTC unlocking rules... the $1 is worthwhile for getting someone else to wait on hold, jump through hoops, etc.and not having to do it myself!

[stonechucker]

I see Bell is still listing you must be an active customer in good standing.  Ridiculous.  It's a Bell locked device, if you have it, and can prove ownership - they should unlock it for you.  Also, there is no need to pay for the service as of December 1, 2017.

[bridonca]

As already said, you will need to unlock your Bell iphone before you can use it with Public Mobile.  Here is a Bell website on how to do it.  https://support.bell.ca/Mobility/unlock_your_Bell_device?step=1#displayStep

[CalgaryBen]

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@harsheng wrote:

He got his iPhone 4 years ago from Bell, and he is with a provider which uses Bell network right now. His phone is still locked in Bell.

He wants to know if the locked phone can be used with PM, or it has to be unlocked.

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I was in a similar situation.  I had a Bell-locked iPhone 4S which I had been using on PC Mobile Prepaid (uses Bell network), but no longer needed.  I wanted to give this phone to my son, and get him activated on PM.  I tested my own activated PM SIM card in the phone and confirmed that it wouldn't work on PM without unlocking.

I called PC Mobile to try unlocking, but they wouldn't do it, since "we've never sold iPhones, so it's not technically ours, and we have no way to unlock".  I called Bell, and they wouldn't help me since I didn't have an account with them.  This was earlier in the year (2018), so maybe things have changed.

To avoid further frustration, I simply found someone on eBay who listed unlocking of iPhones locked to Bell. I paid my $3, provided them with the model and IMEI, and 24 hours later the iPhone 4S was unlocked and I was able to use my PM SIM card in it.

I don't remember the eBay seller, but pretty much all of them with a decent feedback history will probably achieve the same thing.  The nice thing is they jump through all the hoops for you, so you don't have to wait in a call queue, etc.

[mimmo]

Any friend on bell network can get it unlocked.

[hairbag1]

Have your friend call his provider to unlock that phone, then it'll work with the PM network. You can go on line and pay for unlock codes if you'd rather....!!