Home › News ›

NTT DoCoMo to Sell All Phones Unlocked

Jul 6, 2010, 12:41 PM by Eric M. Zeman

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest purveyor of mobile devices and services, has announced that all phones sold beginning in April 2011 onward will be sold without carrier-specific locks. By selling unlocked phones, customers will be able to take the SIM cards (subscriber identity modules) from competing carriers and use them in their NTT DoCoMo handsets. NTT DoCoMo is the first major Japanese carrier to take such a tactic, though it did so after the Japanese government asked for more openness in the wireless industry. DoCoMo's move is partially aimed at rival Softbank, which is the lone distributor of Apple's iPhone (which it refuses to unlock) in Japan. In the U.S., most handsets sold to AT&T and T-Mobile customers are locked to those specific networks. Customers wishing to change networks must either use a different device or have their device unlocked by the carrier before it will accept a SIM card from a different operator. Both Sprint and Verizon say that their devices are unlocked and can be used on other networks, though they don't have user-replaceable SIM slots.

iStockAnalyst / Kyodo News »

Related

Samsung Refreshes Galaxy S Series with S Pen, New Cameras

Feb 9, 2022
Samsung today announced its lineup of flagship phones for 2022: the Galaxy S22 series. The top-end S22 Ultra sees the biggest changes as it essentially absorbs Samsung's Note series with an integrated S Pen stylus and a more Note-like shape and design, instead of the Contour Cut design of the other models.

iPhone 14 Plus Offers a Big Screen For Less

Sep 7, 2022
Apple has revealed the iPhone 14 series, with new features, improved specs, and new size options. In place of a Mini option, the iPhone 14 will come in the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screen size options as the Pro models.

Nokia Phones Coming to New US Carriers in 2022

Jan 5, 2022
HMD Global is teasing its lineup of Nokia phones for the US for first half of 2022. The five new phones will bring the company's presence to two new US carriers, representing "its largest U.S.

Motorola's new Edge+ has Dual 50 Megapixel Rear Cameras and 60 on the Front

Feb 24, 2022
Motorola has announced its new flagship phone for 2022: the Motorola edge+ (2022). Its most unique specs are the camera resolutions: 50 megapixel for both the main camera and wide-angle camera; the selfie camera also clocks in at an unprecedented 60 megapixel.

Samsung Galaxy A53 Coming to US in Two Weeks

Mar 17, 2022
Samsung today fleshed out more of its 2022 lineup of affordable Galaxy A-series phones. The new Galaxy A73, A53, and A33 are nearly identical in design and features, differing only in a few display and camera specs.

Comments

This forum is closed.

This forum is closed.

flip mode

Jul 6, 2010, 1:33 PM

hmmmm

idk, correct me if im wrong but you dont really hear about big business of cdma phones being unlocked/flashed to a different carrier due to the crazy security and red tape. i use the word "business" lightly. it would be nice to grab lets say an evo 4g or a moto droid and use it on lets say u.s cellular because you don't want to be stuck with an enforced data plan even if you don't need one and you want to use the device primarily on wifi. as far as i'm aware uscc is one of the remaining few who don't enforce a mandatory data plan for smart phones. it's the little freedoms in life i miss the most 🤣

Jayshmay

I concur!!!

T Bone

US Cellular can afford to do that because their network is small with few smartphones.....if it was as big as one of the 'big four' with tons of smartphones on it, they would have no choice but to follow suit for the same reason all the other carriers...
(continues)

muchdrama

Jul 6, 2010, 7:49 PM

American carriers...

...please follow suit.

Mark_S

It would be nice if they did wouldn't it?. Corporate greed and selfishness are as American as Coca-Cola and Corn-dogs on a hot summer day. ☹️

...

kingstu

Jul 6, 2010, 1:05 PM

Every phone should be unlocked!!!

Separate the phone cost from the contract cost. Why should the operator care if the phone is used on another network as long as they have the user signed up to a contract they should be forced to pay it out? Finance the phone when you get a rate plane and have it all spelled out clearly for the consumer.

wdfichtel

This is exactly how I've tried to explain it to my dad, who's contract is up with Sprint this month and will be switching to T-Mobile... you can always get a discounted phone and pay $59.99/mo for unlimited talk and be under contract, or you can pay f...
(continues)

T Bone

The carrier cares because they sold the phone at a steep discount and if the customer cancels early or has the option of using the phone elsewhere, they lose money.

Sorry but I think the subsidy lock system works well for almost everybody, the Nexu...
(continues)

justfinethanku

Jul 6, 2010, 1:15 PM

Both Sprint and Verizon say that their devices are unlocked and can be used on other networks

Oh, thats cool. Can I use this EVO on Verizon then? Or the Droid X on Sprint?

Short answer... no.
(well, I guess the long answer is also no)

How are these phones unlocked again?

bp3dots1

justfinethanku said:
Oh, thats cool. Can I use this EVO on Verizon then? Or the Droid X on Sprint?

Short answer... no.
(well, I guess the long answer is also no)

How are these phones unlocked again?

The p...
(continues)

...

fahrende

You can register any ESN/MEID onto any CDMA network and you will get basic Call and SMS.

However, any data dependent services will be a black hole as the data configuration settings tend to be a black hole for CDMA. I've never done it with smart p...
(continues)

Page 1 of 1