Yet another one of those “I need to use my cellphone in Europe” problems.
My situation:
I used to be with T-Mobile (USA) and my phone was a Motorola RAZR V3. While I was with T-Mobile, I was able to use my phone in Europe - I told T-Mobile to add overseas roaming to my contract, used my phone (at overseas roaming rates - somewhat expensive) and then when I got back I could turn off overseas roaming.
Unfortunately for my European cellphone plans, I have switched to Verizon and now I have an LG enV2(VX9100) phone which will not work in Europe.
Several people (including a guy in a Verizon store) have told me I should just sign up for a temporary plan while I am in Europe; since I’m there a month the money savings will make it worthwhile to get some type of pre-paid phone card.
I figure I can just bring my old Motorola RAZR V3 over there, have someone put in a new SIM card with minutes and use that. My colleague at work tells me that this is not possible until T-Mobile unlocks my phone. I think that this is not true since I am no longer with T-Mobile. I tried finding a phone number so that I could ask someone at Motorola but no luck.
Will I need to have someone at T-Mobile unlock my RAZR (I don’t know why they would to this for me since I am no longer a T-Mobile customer) before I can use it in Europe?
Your colleague is correct - the phone is locked, it won’t be able to connect with any sim card that is not from T-Mobile. However, you can get it unlocked without T-mobile’s help.
The easiest way to unlock it is to pay $10-$20 to a reputable cell phone store/website, and they will send you unlock codes with instructions on how to enter them.
Alternatively, I did a quick search and it looks like you may be able to unlock it yourself using software on your computer. You will have to do some research though, threads such as thisand thislook promising.
If the unlocking codes mentioned above don’t work, at least over here in the Netherlands, you can get your phone unlocked at just about any market. Just look for the guys selling phone fronts and chargers.
Thanks guys. Alternatively, I could try to walk into any T-Mobile store and ask them to unlock the phone for me for free. The worst they can do is say no.
Now that you mention it I recall hearing that American carriers are required to provide the codes for phones purchased on contract once you have fulfilled your obligations. I’m not sure how it works if you are no longer their customer.
Update: here’s what I found out. I went into a T-Mobile store, and the store employee said “we don’t give out unlock codes, but if you go to this other generic cellphone store they will unlock it for you for $10 or $15 per phone”. Then I called T-Mobile’s 800 help number and even though I’m no longer a customer with T-mobile they said they would give me an unlock code for the two RAZR phones I had with T-Mobile. I had to open the back of each phone, remove the battery, and read out to the person an IMEI number. I gave them an e-mail address and I was told that I would get an e-mail in the next 72 hours telling me how to unlock the phone. Once that is done, I should be able to use it in Europe by getting a new SIM card in Europe. T-Mobile did not charge me for unlocking the phone.
I will update again once I get the T-Mobile e-mail and have successfully unlocked my phones.
Forgot to update - I was able to unlock the phones once I got the e-mail from T-mobile, and then I was able to use them in Europe.