AT&T agrees to provide unlocks for all devices minus iPhone

By on May 24, 2010 at 6:06 PM
General May 24, 2010

new-att-logo2

Thanks to a settlement of a pre-trial class action lawsuit, AT&T today agreed that it will provide unlocks to pre- and post-paid customers provided a specific set of criteria are met. Pre-paid customers must provide proof of purchase of their locked handset, while post-paid subscribers are required to have their accounts in good standing and have “completed a minimum of 90 days of active service.” That’s all fine and well, right? Well, there’s one sticky issue that’s sure to cheese off more than a few people. According to the settlement, “handsets for which AT&T has an exclusive sales arrangement with a manufacturer of less than 10 months will have to wait until the 10-month period expires before they can receive an unlocking code.” This means that if AT&T has an exclusivity period which extends beyond 10 months — as is the case with the iPhone and the BlackBerry Bold 9000 — then AT&T is not obligated to issue an unlock. Sucks, but not exactly surprising, now is it?

[Via Consumerist]

Read

Tags:
, , , ,
50 Comments

Related Articles

  • T-moblzz

    Wow

    • racster

      And all it took was a class action law suite. AT&T did not do it out of kindness, but they had to. T-Mobile does it because they want to.

      • sk08

        yup, all accept the t-mobile sidekick 08, they refuse to give an unlock code for that no matter what.

      • Amanda

        T-Mobile has to do something to make up for their shitty service!

  • http://none? AT&TRegionalManagerATL

    this is not surprising in the least. they are finally catching up with T-mo

  • Sprint Thug

    Lame. Where’s the Dell Android for att at?

    • Kirk

      ATT only sells the best phones, sorry.

    • Tim

      Um that’s another exclusive so it wont be eligible.

  • Dave

    geohot made it ra1n for iphones long ago. seriously if you want that phone unlocked you just click one button

    • Dave

      sorry.. it is sn0w for unlock and ra1n for jailbreak..

      • Scott

        Unless you upgraded to 3.1.3 with the new baseband.

  • At&tAtlantaRegionalManager

    This really means nothing to me..i will never go to Tmobile and do not travel abroad so locked or unlocked wont benefit me at all..Not to mention if you go to another GSM carrier you still have to look at att’s Bloat ware all the time still

  • hank

    Bash AT&T all you want, but I have NEVER had any problems getting an unlock code from them for ANY phone for ANY reason. Admittedly, I have not owned an iPhone… but I’ve not had the first issue trying to get an unlock code for any brand new, high dollar phone.

    • Versed

      Exactly, except for the iPhone, I have asked and have got unlock codes for the N75 and BB Bold 9000. In any case the latter can be unlocked cheaply for like $20.00.

      • just a rep

        A big part of the issue is the phones arent offered everywhere in the world. At least once a week someone from China who happens to be in the US will ask to buy anywhere from 5-50 full cost bb bolds because they can turn them for wayyyyy more than they pay…Always asking if we will unlock them. No to both. I also use to have people from India trying to do the same thing with the Iphone but it seems to have stopped.

    • b00dah

      ” but I have NEVER had any problems getting an unlock code from them for ANY phone for ANY reason”

      Dude… the terms “ANY” in your statement… uh er uhhh…. doesn’t really count. You’re NOT getting an unlock code for the iPhone.

  • Roger A

    Does that mean that it will not unlock EVER or only until the exclusive deal expires?

  • NuShrike

    T-Mobile is still better.. Have pre-paid account in good standing that’s had a refill or a certain min-balance, and unlock all you want.

  • http://www.mgmmirage.com Steve Soares

    Why is the I-Phone any different? T-Mobile will unlock any device purchased from them after 90 days of service.

  • StevenGlansburg

    Why don’t Verizon or Sprint offer unlocking for their phones? Oh wait, yeah you can’t use them anywhere outside of the U.S….

    • http://celebrityblackberrysighting@gmail.com Eric W

      1980 Tech. And the only place would be… never mind. Haha

    • Versed

      Even if they did unlock them, doesn’t matter, VZW and Sprint will not put them on each of their systems. OK, some odd person here and there have got them to use those esn’s but its very rare, and even then, there are data problems.

    • NCX

      Verizon phones can be used outside of the US, not all of them can but the World Wide Edition phones can be used on Vodaphone, so your statement isn’t entirely true

      • Roger A

        Lets also not forget that some places in South America, Japan, India, a few SE Asian countries, Israel, Mexico, Canada all still have CDMA networks, and I could be mistaken but I think New Zealand.

      • just a rep

        Yeah it works in close to the same amounts of countries on a worldwide basis but CDMA is still fading. Verizon did join the GSM world association after all. It just happens that all of Europe is primarily GSM.

    • SKINNI

      Seriously how many people travel across the pond on a routine basis or at all in their life for that matter. I got with Nextel back in 2000 for a trip to Saudi Arabia since their service worked there. Thats a rare case but as a whole it really isnt that big a deal. Ill admit i wouldnt mind being able to “HOTSWAP” phones but thats the only true advantage I feel i loose

      • ja2bk

        Why do people only think “across the pond” has GSM? I have used unlocked phones in other countries other than those “across the pond”

    • elgee02

      Used my VZW phones in Mexico many many times throughout the years without a problem.

      VZW even sells quite a few global phones with sim cards in em, which VZW can also unlock for you too. I’ve never been to Europe, but if I wanted to all I gotta do is get online and switch my ESN to my old storm I have lying around and make a 5 minute call to VZW to unlock the sim.

      Easy as pie.

  • Alex

    Can people not read anymore or what? The settlement is located here http://www.attlockinglawsuits.com/pdf/meolinot.pdf. It has been summarized incorrectly.
    Here’s what it says -
    1 – They will not provide codes for the apple Iphone or any phone with an exclusive sales agreement longer than 10 months…this is potentially MANY more phones.

    2 – For phones with less than a 10 month exclusive sales period, the code will be provided once the exclusive period ends.

    Was that so hard?

    • Doniv

      Nothing exciting about this news…

      Where will the customer go with the unlocked phone….? To the worst T mobile?….

    • Roger A

      I guess the unresolved question is – “Even if the deal is longer then 10 months, will AT&T unlock after the deal expires, or will it never unlock”

      If it wont unlock after 10 month exclusives, I see AT&T gobbling up and spending a ton of money for exclusive deals, then the FCC and FTC and a few other entities attacking AT&T over the exclusives and anti-trust issues…yadda yadda yadda…

      The way I look at it is this… Unlock the phone when requested and…

      A. Charge a fee to unlock (within reason), phone remains in contract.
      B. Exchange the unlock codes when the ETF is paid.
      C. Offer unlocked phones on contract with subsidy price, but when person leaves carrier charge them the remaining price of the phone from the subsidy to the full price in addition to/or any remaining termination fee.

      • Someone who actually reads

        I will answer your question simply, by quoting from the settlement.

        “For AT&T Handsets for which
        AT&T Mobility has an exclusive sales arrangement
        with a manufacturer of less than 10 months, the
        period of exclusivity associated with that sale must
        have expired before an unlocking code can be
        obtained”

        So yes, AT&T will give the unlock code after the exclusivity period has ended.

        On the other hand, Ive never had issue getting an unlock code for any phone except the iphone with AT&T. Some codes take longer to get, most notably Nokia with a turnaround of sometimes over ten days, but are available. At no extra price, just add the basic international roaming feature for a short time. Free feature + phone is now unlocked? And this has been available for I dont know how long? Why is there even a lawsuit over this?

  • Gag

    As much as it unnerves the rest of us, the point of an exclusive device is for it to be on one network. Let’s start blaming OEM’s a little bit more here because they certainly deserve the blame too. Just put all the damn bands in one phone and sell it around the world. Artificial limitations are stupid and manufacturers create them way too often.

    • Bob

      wasn’t that the idea behind the N1? buy direct from google then pick your carrier? didn’t work out too well. though i do like the idea.

  • STFU

    WHY THE FUCK IS THIS EVEN NEWS!!!??

    BGR PLEASE wake up and smell the coffee! att has been handing out codes for a long time now! I got my 9700 unlocked a week after buying it by calling in! Just say you need to go international.!

  • BrainJuice

    This is a horrible way to end my evening read session; I’ve no interest in any “Apple related” news, unless it includes the words “death”, “failing”, “banktrupt”, or anything else of that nature.
    Go ahead Apple lovers, downrate me, quick now, so you can all return to the fornication and worship of Jobs and his company.
    Goodnight BGR, hopefully tomorrow, you’ll have better news to report.

    • Roger A

      At the end of the day its just another phone to make one look and act impressive but really they are still the same asshole douchebags they were the day before.

      Call me what you want, but I cant stand AT&T (Never liked them or Cingular or SBC or any other company they have ever touched and I never will), and while I USED to be in love with Apple, I realize that they are getting too arrogant, creating disposable products that are overpriced (compared to their disposable products of the late 90s and early 2000s that were reasonably priced), and think they are being innovative by putting in well-established technology in devices but continue to charge the same price year after year that is a higher price then any competitor on earth.

      How does that make the iPhone cool again?

  • Jordan

    Thanks for this! Why is everyone bashing BGR on this?? I would not have known about this any other way and because of this I called up AT&T and got my unlock code for my palm pre plus within 5 minutes simply by stating their was a lawsuit regarding them providing unlock codes.

  • Gary

    I just tried and they gave me the “not a customer for 6 months crap”. Hopefully i can get it, for my Palm Pre Plus.

  • dewebsurphur

    Who cares,just jailbreak the iphone.

    • Tim

      Newer iPhones cant be unlocked after jailbroken anymore. Once that baseband is upgraded — and newer ones come with the new baseband – you are SOL

  • mi_canuck

    9650 on Sprint has it’s GSM side unlocked right out of the box… You don’t even need to call and get a code, it’s already done… THAT’S how it should! :)

    Full UMTS/HSPA for 2100Mhz in Europe and Asia… Edge quad band anywhere else.

  • Peter

    Is this any different than how it used to be? I have always been able to get AT&T to unlock my phones, though I have never tried an iPhone because I know they won’t unlock that.
    It seems like this was just wasted time.

  • Mrwirez

    GoogleNET!!

  • trash2iw

    Umm… AT&T has always provided unlock codes (except foe the iPhone). If you buy the phone outright you can call them and they will give you the code, if you bought a phone with a discount then you have to wait 3 months.

  • Hk

    I have managed to unlock all the AT&T branded phone except for iPhone. Even blackberry 9000. And I got all the unlock codes from AT&T representative. I have been doing it for almost 2 years.

  • Greg

    What exactly is new here? When I was on AT&T I had no problem requesting the subsidy unlock after 90 days. This was 6 years ago…

    • Mike

      Just spoke with ATT buisness dept. I asked to unlock my 3G,iPhone 22 months into contract. I explained I was traveling overseas, they said they needed to submit for approval and let me know when it was complete, 7-days. My plan is to move to T-mobile..I will keep you posted.

      • Dino

        @Mike

        Something new about your unlocking?

  • Rick

    ATT is not unlocking the palm pre plus…just got off the phone with them,,,

blog comments powered by Disqus