A lot of hype is surrounding the DCMA exemption that makes cell phone unlocking illegal in the U.S. However, that hasn’t stopped carriers from making statements.
AT&T announced in a statement that the policy doesn’t affect them, and they will still unlock phones for valid customers who are eligible for unlocking.
Here is a part of the statement from AT&T’s blog writing;
“I want to be completely clear that AT&T’s policy is to unlock our customers’ devices if they’ve met the terms of their service agreements and we have the unlock code. It’s a straightforward policy, and we aim to make the unlocking process as easy as possible.”
This isn’t a surprise though, as most of the carriers should never have the problem to unlock cell phones in the first place; because they have the ability to do so. However, many consumers aren’t aware of this.
The unlocking is only possible for customers who meet the requirements, and here’s an excerpt from the blog post which state what they are;
“As we make clear on our website, if we have the unlock code or can reasonably get it from the manufacturer, AT&T currently will unlock a device for any customer whose account has been active for at least sixty days; whose account is in good standing and has no unpaid balance; and who has fulfilled his or her service agreement commitment. If the conditions are met we will unlock up to five devices per account per year. We will not unlock devices that have been reported lost or stolen.”
Ok so it boils down to this; your phone must be active for at least 60 days on the carriers network, you must have a paid account and you have gone through the service agreement, which is usually two years.
What about those who are not eligible or haven’t fulfilled their service agreement with AT&T or any other Carrier?
There is still hope for everyone who isn’t eligible. There is a factory unlock solution that works on all iOS firmwares; iOS 6.1, 6.1.1 and 6.1.2 unlocking with all basebands (old and new). There isn’t even a need to jailbreak the device.
However, there’s a need to find out which carrier the device is locked to before proceeding further. The next step is to find out factory unlock eligibility and the last step is to find the IMEI code by going to Settings > General > About.
Factory Unlock AT&T iPhone 3GS, 4S, 4 or 5 iOS 6.1, 6.1.2 |
After doing all this, instructions will be e-mail to you, after which you can unlock your phone and update to future firmwares and basebands without any worries.
Our recommendation is the most affordable, reliable and durable (permanent). Apart from AT&T, the solution works on Rogers, Optus, Telstra, Vodafone, O2 and other famous carriers in the world. To visit the legit and official iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S and iPhone 5 factory unlocking service, simply click here.