Is this normal?

[TonyE]

HI, I have just signed up for PM. I filled out al of the account stuff and made sure the Iphone was unlocked and all is good. Within an hour or so my old phone provider was off my phone but there is no one else there. In the top left hand corner I have 4 bars for phone and wifi but there is not place where it usually says "public mobile."  When I turn on the phone it says SIM Not supported  ...the SIM card that you cuurently have installed in this Iphone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. This is not a hardware issue with the Iphone. Please insert another SIM card from a supported carrier or request that this Iphone be unlocked byyour carrier. Please contact Apple for more information."

- do I have to wait longer for PM to activate the card/phone?

- Is it my SIM card not working properly?

- What else can/should I do?

Thanks for your help

-

[CS_Agent]

Hi @savvy,

We've replied to your PM. Please check your inbox 🙂

Cheers,

Syed

[savvy]

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@TonyE wrote:

So what was going on when we called Sasktel and their people told us that they unlocked it and it wasn't? Ever wonder why people are leaving Sasktel and moving over to PM? Now I am going to go and have a chat with sasktel and keep digging why it didn't work the first 3 times. Thank you all for your help into this 11 hours of getting my 2nd phone going in which none of which was PM's fault again. Have agreat day:)

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Yeah, that's exactly what was going on - people weren't inputting it correctly or something in the system was glitching (I'd like to say it's more likely incompetence somewhere along the line on their part sadly). Happy you finally got it working!

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@srlawren wrote:

*puts on flame-retardant suit*

Reason #273 not to buy an iPhone: Apple's unlocked device database

*takes off flame-retardant suit*

---

Umm not to stoke the "flames" lol... but as I said earlier all of the recent iPhones self-unlocked (which makes it more convenient since many modern Androids still require unlocks). So reason #273 is irrelevant.

[srlawren]

*puts on flame-retardant suit*

Reason #273 not to buy an iPhone: Apple's unlocked device database

*takes off flame-retardant suit*

[popping]

@TonyE

Great to hear that have your iPhone unlocked..

Now you can enjoy your new service with PM.

[TonyE]

so part 12 of this saga...lol....I called Apple support and he said yes it is still locked with Sasktel and that they have to unlock it. I told him that I called them at least 3 times and all of the times they said it was unlocked. He then told me that when he got his phone unlocked the same thing happened to him and he finally took it to a dealer store and he got them to unlock it right there and it worked. I took this phone to a Sasktel store and he unlocked in. I came home and restored it and it worked perfectly. So what was going on when we called Sasktel and their people told us that they unlocked it and it wasn't? Ever wonder why people are leaving Sasktel and moving over to PM? Now I am going to go and have a chat with sasktel and keep digging why it didn't work the first 3 times. Thank you all for your help into this 11 hours of getting my 2nd phone going in which none of which was PM's fault again. Have agreat day:)

[savvy]

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@TonyE wrote:

s my phone is a model ME 304c/a which says its a 5S. I bought it used from a person but it has worked through the service provider Sasktel for years now. I have to call Apple support now to see if they can come up with something else to unlock it. Thanks

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Are you still in contact with said person? If so they may be able to get Sasktel (or whomever it was purchased from) to unlock it for you. If not, your best bet is honestly the mall Kiosk guys who unlock phones and pay the piper so to speak (even though carrier unlock is supposed to be free now). Now that it's free from carriers, they charge much less for their unlock services, at least around here. It might be worth the enquiry to be able to fix the problem quickly and permanently.

[Dunkman]

@TonyE

It is locked to one of the Canadian mobile carriers.  If it worked with Sask Tel, it might be locked to Sask Tel.  You might want to call Sask Tel customer service to ask if they can unlock your phone.  For Canadian carriers, starting this year, the unlock process should be free.  Just need to find which carrier your phone is locked to....  

You could also try ebay.ca to pay somebody to unlock your phone, but since the new law in Canada came out for free unlocks by Canadian carriers.

[TonyE]

s my phone is a model ME 304c/a which says its a 5S. I bought it used from a person but it has worked through the service provider Sasktel for years now. I have to call Apple support now to see if they can come up with something else to unlock it. Thanks

[savvy]

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@TonyE wrote:

I tried a different PM SIM card and that one wouldn't work either so I called Apple support. They got me to restore my phone again and said that it is still coming up as "locked" so now in 11 hours the Apple people are calling me 😞 wow what a cuffafull ( aka pile of sh-t ) This si the 2nd phone I have tried to go to pm on and both have been alot of hassle. Thanks for your help

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I'm really sorry that Apple Support had you do all that. Do you have an "old" iPhone? All of the recent iPhones, if they are originally from a Canadian carrier will auto-unlock on their own as far as I know. The only ones that did not, are older models (I believe iPhone 6 and earlier) in which case you (or the original owner) must contact the original cell phone service provider it was activated with, prove ownership and they will unlock it for you for free. They can no longer charge you for this service. (CRTC rules)

EDIT: I see it was an iPhone 5s. May I ask where you got this iPhone from? Can you double-check the Model # in the phone and make sure it's not a 5c or an original "5"? If it was used it could cause problems. I've had to get a lot of phones unlocked to move over and I've never had to call Apple at all to do so.

[TonyE]

I tried a different PM SIM card and that one wouldn't work either so I called Apple support. They got me to restore my phone again and said that it is still coming up as "locked" so now in 11 hours the Apple people are calling me 😞 wow what a cuffafull ( aka pile of sh-t ) This si the 2nd phone I have tried to go to pm on and both have been alot of hassle. Thanks for your help

[Ba · Accepted solution]

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@TonyE wrote:

y phone provider says that it is unlocked and that they let Applie know. They then say that apple has to unlock the phone and when I do an Itunes reboot/restore that is when the phone is unlocked. I have done that twice now. How can you tell if your iphone 5s is unlocked or not?

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Is your new SIM (from PM, not the SIM from your original carrier that your iphone was locked to originally) in the phone now? It should work now if it has been unlocked. If not, leave your new SIM in the phone and reset the phone. When it reboots, it should go through the activation process asking for you language choice, wifi conection, etc. then your SIM carrier will show (PM in this case) and you know it is unlocked. If not, your phone is still not unlocked.

[TonyE]

y phone provider says that it is unlocked and that they let Applie know. They then say that apple has to unlock the phone and when I do an Itunes reboot/restore that is when the phone is unlocked. I have done that twice now. How can you tell if your iphone 5s is unlocked or not?

[Psygineer]

You likely got your old phone as part of a contract/promo so it is tied to the network carrier you were on. If you contact them they will unlock it for free. Usually, it is prefered to unlock while you are still a customer of theirs as some of them like to make you jump through a few hoops, but in the end, they have to unlock it for you. Visit your carriers website, it should be laid out in the help section how you can go about getting it unlocked. Likely will need to call them during business hours.

[popping]

@TonyE

"the SIM card that you cuurently have installed in this Iphone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server" 

This message is telling you your iPhone is locked. 

You need to contact your previous provider to get it unlocked.