Unlocked phones or locked phones

[aakany]

Hello community?

Are phones sold on public mobile unlocked or locked phones ?

[computergeek541]

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@Iaeejy wrote:

They have unlocked phones as crtc mandated this in 2017 in canada.

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Your willingness as a new member to participate is appreciated.  However, please note that this informaiton was already provided several hours ago.  I know that sometimes, people missing something and don't see something that has already been said (even I do it on occassion), but let's try to keep the repetitiion to a minimum.

[Iaeejy]

They have unlocked phones as crtc mandated this in 2017 in canada.

[darlicious]

@aakany 

The iPhone7 was released in September 2016 so the possibility exists but very unlikely. But test as suggested by @hTideGnow just to be safe.

[hTideGnow]

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@aakany wrote:

I am buying an iphone 7 and people use iphone 7s back at home (Uganda- it’s in East Africa).

if the phone comes unlocked. It should really be good

my worry was getting it locked by public mobile

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In terms of the bands, iPhone should be really safe, almost worldwide without much issue.  And you used it there before, so, you tested the bands already  🙂

[darlicious]

@aakany 

Public mobile doesn't lock any phones because they only began selling phones (again*) in the last year nearly 3 years after the WCC legislated that all phones must be sold unlocked. There was one re ent anomaly of a locked phone being sold to a customer but it wasn't locked by pm. When buying any used phone you cannot be 100% guaranteed anything but the likelihood of a pm CPU being locked to any carrier is exceptionally low.

Different countries in Africa can have very old or very new technology for the cellular network. Honestly unless it's a global/international phone then most of Pm's phones would be less suitable for your needs as they are made for the North American market.

What countries will the phone be used? What is your budget? Which phones were you interested in?

[aakany]

Very wise test procedure my friend. Thank you

[aakany]

I am buying an iphone 7 and people use iphone 7s back at home (Uganda- it’s in East Africa).

if the phone comes unlocked. It should really be good

my worry was getting it locked by public mobile

[hTideGnow]

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@aakany wrote:

I don’t intend to use the public mobile line and hope that won’t affect my phone that O just ordered or you think I should cancel the order 

I am asking all these questions because I want to ship the phone to Africa and I don’t want my family member to face the challenges of blocking the line and the hustle of unblocking it

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The only problem with shipping out to Africa is to make sure the phone has the required bands used there.  Make check with your relatives there, ask them which mobile provider they are going to use it on and you can lookup the bands required.

Also, to confirm the phone is unlocked before you shipping to Africa, insert SIM from another carrier (Rogers or Bell) and test it.  If it works without asking any unlock code, that would confirm it is unlocked.  

[Anonymous]

@aakany 

All wireless devices sold after December 1, 2017, must be unlocked or sold with instructions on how to unlock the device at no additional cost. All wireless devices that are locked to a carrier must be unlocked upon request at no cost to the consumer.

Here’s everything you need to know about Canada’s unlocking

all device you can use it in the wide-world,

For Public Mobile uses the following frequency bands:

• 4G LTE and LTE Advanced: 700 MHz, 850 MHz, 1900 MHz and 2100 MHz downlink and 1700 MHz uplink (AWS).
• HSPA: 850 MHz, 1900 MHz (UMTS).

[aakany]

I don’t intend to use the public mobile line and hope that won’t affect my phone that O just ordered or you think I should cancel the order 

I am asking all these questions because I want to ship the phone to Africa and I don’t want my family member to face the challenges of blocking the line and the hustle of unblocking it

[hTideGnow]

@aakany wrote:

I have read messages here where members are complaining about their phones being locked by public mobile that’s why i am asking 

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@aakany   Phones old on PM are unlocked.

In fact, all phones you purchase from any carriers are all unlocked and you are free to use on any network

Yes, there were posts about that people getting locked phones from CPO purchase, but that likely just they didn't do the proper  "clean up"/refresh of the phone.  If that ever happen, open a ticket with PM and they will unlock it for you

[Anonymous]

 @aakany : Good of you to do some searching around. I think we have seen the very rare mentions of a phone from here arriving locked. They're not supposed to be. So they return it and get another one or figure out how to get it unlocked.

Edit: lol yes...the above first of all.

[hairbag1]

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@aakany wrote:

I have read messages here where members are complaining about their phones being locked by public mobile that’s why i am asking 

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PM cell customers phones don't get "locked" to PM.

[aakany]

I have read messages here where members are complaining about their phones being locked by public mobile that’s why i am asking 

[Anonymous]

 @aakany : You can buy any phone anywhere and use it anywhere there's cell service. As long as it's compatible with the carrier you want.

[aakany]

Second question 

If the phones are unlocked, can I use the same phone outside canada/ south America. To be specific can I use the phone in Africa

I also don’t intend to use the public mobile line ; is that still fine?

[Anonymous]

@aakany 

all device at any store in canada is unlocked...

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

 @aakany : Unlocked.