Could you explain what cell phone unlocking is? Is it the same as jailbreaking my phone? Isn’t doing this illegal? Why would I want to do these things?

-- Julie B.

Howdy Julie! We get this question a lot!

First and foremost unlocking and Jailbreaking your phone is not illegal, this issue was brought up in the courts in 2010 and was ruled to be completely legal. After all, you own your phone right?

Jailbreaking and Unlocking are both similar and completely different at the same time. Let me explain.

Jailbreaking is a term that has come to stand for the process of “hacking” your phone or device to add functionality that has been disabled by manufacturers and wireless carriers. This functionality is often at odds with the business model of companies such as Apple, and AT&T who would rather charge you additional fees for advanced functions of YOUR phone.

Jailbreaking gives you the ability to add your own wallpapers, themes, applications and functionality to your phone greatly enhancing its usability. Unlocking on the other hand is the process of removing the carrier lock that is placed on nearly all phones sold here today. When you buy a phone from a carrier such as AT&T or T-Mobile the carrier will lock the phone to their service, meaning if you attempt to use a sim card from another carrier the phone will not work. Wireless carriers want to make it as difficult as possible for you to leave their service for another. This practice is extremely unfair to consumers who pay a lot of money to own an expensive phone.

What unlocking does is remove the carrier lock on your phone so that you can use it on any GSM carrier you wish. GSM Carriers are… T-Mobile, AT&T, most international cellular services CDMA Carriers, whose phones cannot be unlocked because the phones use proprietary and incompatible radios, are… Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Boost The Tech Center supports open standards and open devices. We are here to assist our customers to reclaim control of their phones. Proprietary formats and standards are not consumer friendly!