# Can Sprint phones use Verizon?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sprint-phones-use-verizon/413737>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 30, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sprint-phones-use-verizon/413737 "2007-07-30T21:26:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sprint-phones-use-verizon/413737/1 "2007-07-30T21:26:36Z")

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I’m looking at Treo 700p phones on ebay, and some are labeled Sprint. On the other hand, the Palm site says that they are usable on both services. However, people on the tubes seem to be saying that there are significant differences in the implementation of the networks that make them incompatible.

So, does that mean that Palm is making two different versions, and my Verizon account can’t use a Sprint version of this phone?

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [July 30, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-sprint-phones-use-verizon/413737/2 "2007-07-30T23:09:29Z")

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When I worked at Sprint, they were using the same technology as Verizon (we’d get Verizon customers roaming on to our network all the time). Sprint and Verizon phones have a “lock” code to prevent people from reprogramming their phones. Verizon won’t have the “lock” code for a Sprint phone, **but** if you can get the code (not always easy), then the Verizon folks should have no problem programming the phone for their network.

If you’re buying a Sprint phone off of eBay, get the ESN number of it **before** you buy the phone. Sprint blacklists the phones by ESN if the phone’s been stolen or if the customer hasn’t paid their bill and they _won’t_ (at least when I worked there) release that information so long as the phone’s blacklisted.