Some mobile phones are engineered to utilize a Customer Identification Module card, or microchip that stores customer info. The SIM card is issued by a carrier and provides cell service by turning on any telephone into which it is inserted. A locked telephone nevertheless, will only recognise a SIM card from a selected carrier. If the cell-phone is unlocked, it’ll recognise a SIM card from any carrier. The “lock” is a software setting that keeps the cell-phone “loyal” to one carrier. In areas like the US where carriers offer free or extraordinarily discounted telephones with cell plans, the telephones are frequently locked so they won’t work with other carriers. Carriers claim this is important to subsidize the price of the telephones. After a period, a carrier might consent to unlock the telephone on request, maybe charging a charge. Nonetheless due to exclusive settings often installed in locked handsets, the telephones don’t always function properly with other carriers, even once unlocked. From the perspective of the client, the practice of carriers locking telephones and using exclusive settings defeats plenty of the advantages of SIM handsets. [Read more...]