Moved to USA phone locked to Public Mobile

[MDKelly]

Hi Community,

I've recently moved to the USA from Canada. I had bought a Ulefone Armor 9 which was unlocked when I bought it and successfully connected to Public Mobile Networks for the last 3 years. While the service was always great it didn't make sense to carry the number and plan into the USA.  I've started a plan with Mint Mobile and my phone is now having issues connecting to their network. The tech support from Mint has identified the phone is locked. Is there a process to go through to have my phone unlocked by Public Mobile as I move into this new phase of life?

Grateful for any support!

[Santhi23]

Hello I was able to acess my account and unlock it by signing in on this community page and clicking shop on the public mobile menu at the top right.

[Yosemite_Sam]

If you bought your phone in Canada, I would say it IS UNLOCKED. 

June 2020 was the launch date. 

 

[Yosemite_Sam]

American mobile companies have had some odd policies of locked and locking phones within  the stage of your contract. They are also known to lock unlocked phones when you sign on. 

BUT not in Canada. Depending the year that you bought yours it may have been unlocked. December 1 2017 all phones sold had to be unlocked and carriers could no longer charge to unlock. 

So when you came to PM, your phone was unlocked or locked to Telus or Koodo. 

If the specifications of your phone meets the requirements for Mint, I would suggest you contact PM to unlock it for you. It will take a few days. 

[BKNS27]

@MDKelly 

I don’t recall PM ever selling the Ulefone Armor 9 phone. In Canada it is illegal to locked phone after 2017. The Ulefone Armor 9 was manufactured in June 29, 2020 so I really doubt any Canadian carriers are permitted to lock your phone. 
If it was locked, it would be the carrier that sold you the phone that would lock it. I heard that some US carriers still lock phones.

You will need to go back where you got the phone to have it unlocked.

[Chalupa_Batman]

Perhaps @MDKelly can take a screen shot or picture some how.

Edit: It's OK you're not an apple guy. I judge you for other reasons. LOL

[dust2dust]

@Chalupa_Batman- lol and I'm not an Apple guy. The page you found is about a pin type of lock. My thinking of the OP is that Mint thinks the phone is like locked to a previous carrier. Which is why I asked if there was a message and what it was.

[Chalupa_Batman]

I doubt. I can for sure say that PM did not lock the phone. So I assume you've signed up for MM already? 

Here is a site that tells you how to unlock. https://www.hardreset.info/devices/ulefone/ulefone-armor-9/faq/faq/unlock/

I'm an Apple guy sorry. Ha. 

[MDKelly]

@Chalupa_Batman So what I find curious is that the phone if it was locked by the manufacturer should not have been able to access the Public Mobile Network over the last few years. Could it be that the manufacturer decided to lock a phone remotely by some means?

[dust2dust]

Yes this seems extremely unlikely. Are you seeing a message when you try to install the Mint sim? If so, what?

[Chalupa_Batman]

HI @MDKelly 

If the phone is indeed locked, you'd have to get a hold of the manufacture. Cell phones can not be locked as of 2017 and Public Mobile doesn't lock them either.

EDIT: Mint has some amazing deals right now. https://www.mintmobile.com/plans/ 

Also, You actually have kept your number in Canada IF you wanted. You also could have got the Can US plan too to save money. You may decide to move back to Canada at some point this year or next year. 🙂 

EDIT 2: Google