Sprint Nextel agrees to start unlocking phones

An under-the-radar class action lawsuit against Sprint Nextel is winding its way towards a settlement this week, and it contains a pretty huge concession by Sprint: the company will unlock phones for both current and former customers, and will begin training its customer service reps on how to connect non-Sprint phones to its network. The settlement was tentatively approved by a California judge on October 2, but hasn't had a final approval hearing yet, according to Sprint -- but it's still a huge win for US consumers, who haven't been able to buy mainstream unlocked phones from any of the major carriers. Of course, since Sprint's network is CDMA, unlocked phones will only work on other CDMA carriers like Verizon -- and there's no guarantees those companies will be happy about it -- but at this point we'll take whatever we can get.

[ibsnowedin @ Oct 26th 2007 5:43PM]

wow.. will the other carries adopted this motion?

[Yojimbo @ Oct 27th 2007 1:48AM]

Cingular/AT&T will unlock any of their phones after three months (except the iPhone). They have done this for a long time now.

[phone phreak @ Oct 27th 2007 3:51PM]

for fuller story see here http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071026-sprint-unlocking-settlement-may-pressure-others-to-follow.html

the deal is: 1. this ONLY applies in CALIFORNIA
2. the full story does not say sprint will accept unlocked phones, only that they will unlock sprint phones (for whatever good that may do)
3. this is only AFTER the 2 year contract is up
4. this deal is NOT yet finalized and may change before it is done

I realize there is a race to be first with the story but lets not have more misinformation than information please

[Anwa123 @ Oct 26th 2007 5:44PM]

So will any new phone work with sprint, as long as it is cdma? When is this going to go into effect?

[phone phreak @ Oct 27th 2007 3:51PM]

the story says it is working toward a settlement; this is NOT a done deal

[maximum14000 @ Oct 26th 2007 5:47PM]

AWESOME!!! so wait, does that mean that i say, i buy verizon's voyager when it comes out next month, i can take the phone and hook it up to sprint? what about a helio ocean?

[Matt @ Oct 26th 2007 5:57PM]

The phone will have to be unlocked by the "owning carrier". So if Helio will unlock the phone for you, then you may be able to take it to Sprint but seeing how tightly Helio is tied to the (sprint) network, features available on Original Helio most likely will not work once ported to Sprint (just my wild guess)...similar to GPRS settings from say at&t not working on T-Mobile and vice versa.


Maciek
www.symbiosis60.com

[xman @ Oct 26th 2007 6:01PM]

WRONG!
Sprint can't unlock a Verizon or Helio phone. They can only unlock their branded phones, which you can take to Verizon or Helio and ask them to hook up. But of course they will tell you that they can't.
Remember, this case is currently only applicable to Sprint since they've settled. You will have to bring a separate lawsuit against Verizon and Helio and win to set a precedent. But that should be easy now that Sprint has lost.

[Jesse S @ Oct 26th 2007 9:51PM]

Verizon and Helio phones aren't locked...

As others have said, THE NETWORK WAS LOCKED.

You can now use ANY CDMA phone on Sprint, as long as it supports Sprint's frequencies.

[phone phreak @ Oct 27th 2007 8:34PM]

short answer - NO

long answer - this is not yet a done deal and there are NO details on if, when, what is involved but, pay attention, ... it ONLY APPLIES TO CALIFORNIA and ONLY AFTER YOUR 2 YEAR CONTRACT IS FINISHED! That part will NOT change as this deal is finalized

[r3loaded @ Oct 26th 2007 5:54PM]

OMG?! Unlocked phones? In North America? From a CARRIER?
*faints*......

Oh, someone just revived me, Sprint are CDMA. Here's to hoping for you yanks that the GSM operators follow suit.. :)

[Matt @ Oct 26th 2007 5:57PM]

T-Mobile will unlock any phone every three months (meaning you can request unlock code every three months)

Maciek

[dado @ Oct 26th 2007 8:51PM]

About a year ago, Cingular (now AT&T) gave me the code to unlock my phone, a Treo 650 (GSM).

I've been a customer for a very long time though, since 2000, when it was called CellularOne, which became AT&T, then Cingular, then AT&T again (but not the same AT&T).

[Andrew @ Oct 27th 2007 6:30AM]

CellularOne is now Unicell

Or maybe they just ran commercials in my area advertising that... as a joke?

[darkstar @ Oct 26th 2007 5:54PM]

finally the world is starting to make sense.

[ssuk @ Oct 26th 2007 6:39PM]

*America

The world consists of more than your shithole country, you know.

[C. T. @ Oct 26th 2007 7:27PM]

Man, really? "Shithole country"? Was that necessary? Especially 'cause from where I'm sitting, America is pretty top notch. We have the best movies, the best athletes, the best economy, the best military, the biggest corporations, the most foreign aid contributions, the only space program to go to the moon, and in general do everything biggest, best and first. Only in America do the poor eat too much. Only in America do people hike across deserts and swim across seas to sneak in with the hope of a better life. Where are you from, anyway?

[allaina @ Oct 26th 2007 8:51PM]

CT:
you know, you got AWFULLY defensive about that.

we also have the largest NATIONAL DEBT, and the fattest freaking people.


we're not the BEST country, we're just one of the many countries that make up the world. EVERY country has it's ups and downs, has it's good and bad; why not appreciate what we offer, as well as what other countries offer.

we have our freedoms, but at the price of our privacy, as well as other freedoms. seriously. if you're going to just use this forum to talk about how you live in the GREATEST COUNTRY EVAR LOLZ AND EVERYONE ELSE SUXORZ then you seriously need to find a new forum. oorrr, fall in a hole, and die.

[Jesse S @ Oct 26th 2007 9:54PM]

Well, to be fair, we DO have a larger/better economy (per capita) than the European Union, so I would assume that makes us the biggest/best out of everyone.

And I'm not sure, but I don't think we have the fattest people. I think there are one or two countries with a higher obese population, but again, I'm not sure.

[David @ Oct 26th 2007 5:59PM]

"OMG?! Unlocked phones? In North America? From a CARRIER?
*faints*......"

Doesn't seem their going to be selling phones unlocked. Just allowing non-Sprint'd phones on their network and allowing people to unlock theirs when they leave Sprint for someone else. The few GSM carriers here already do this.

[Jesse S @ Oct 26th 2007 9:54PM]

facepalm.jpg

[Jesse S @ Oct 26th 2007 9:55PM]

Actually, I retract that "facepalm.jpg" comment. Sprint does have world phones which had locked GSM, so now those GSM phones will be unlocked.

[Daran @ Oct 26th 2007 6:00PM]

This is the only thing about Sprint I hated, and now it is remedied.
Makes me happy to use them finally. =] (Even if it did take a lawsuit or two)

[Pat @ Oct 26th 2007 6:07PM]

Just try explaining the unlocking concept / process to the cretins Sprint hires to be their customer support agents. Remember that they're rated the worst customer support EVER.

[BB @ Oct 26th 2007 6:07PM]

WOW.. This is one of those looks great on paper, but whats the point Verizon Wireless wont activate a sprint phone on its network to many fail safes in place, and since that whole e911 push all ESN / MEID's have to be loaded into a special system in order for them to be activate. The next thing is that some if not all the CDMA providers will start using some type of internal software to randomly generate lock codes that why the phones cant be used on another CDMA service providers network..
If the US where anything like Europe where they all use GSM and the phones are compatible because most providers offer all the same features I'd say have at it, but that's not the cause VZW uses, BREW and Sprint uses JAVA. You know that some phone tart will call Spint when the Verizon Wireless phone they bought doesn't work. Like I said this looks good on paper but so do alot of things that never work out..

[Mike @ Oct 26th 2007 6:23PM]

Doesn't Sprint use 1900Mhz spectrum while Verizon uses 800Mhz? In other words, unlocked or not, they won't work on each other's networks. (that's the way it used to be at least...)

[Sandeep @ Oct 26th 2007 7:27PM]

Most Sprint phones can roam onto the Verizon network, as well as US Cellular (from experience as a Sprint customer).

[Jesse S @ Oct 26th 2007 9:58PM]

Mike, I'm pretty sure Sprint and Verizon use the same spectrum. They don't just use one frequency. At least, their phones usually support 2+.

And isn't BREW, Java?

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Oct 26th 2007 6:23PM]

Thank you sprint. This is the least you could do for me. I wanted you to turn to Gsm but this is still ...AWESOME!!!!!!

[MasterCKO @ Oct 26th 2007 6:34PM]

Wow, this is huge news. Of course having the ability to use unlocked phones on the Sprint network (of which I'm a proud member) and to get Sprint to unlock their own phones is amazing. But what makes this even better is that it's PRECEDENT. We might soon find ourselves joining the rest of the modernized world (well, Europe) with all our phones unlockable and portable BY LAW (I'm looking at you VZW). I can't wait. 8^D

[Jesse S @ Oct 26th 2007 9:58PM]

Yes, this does set an awesome precedent, but if you thought CDMA phones were locked, I'm just going to laugh.

[MasterCKO @ Oct 28th 2007 5:12AM]

huh? they are/were. Or didn't you read the article?

[MasterCKO @ Oct 28th 2007 5:25AM]

Also, I saw your comments about carrier lock vs. phone lock. YAWN. The point is that Sprint's policy is now to actively allow phones that aren't Sprint-branded to work on the Sprint network. And to allow users to/notify users that they can use Sprint phones to be used on other networks (if other carriers allow it).

How is the end result any different for the consumer than GSM-unlocking? Oh that's right, it isn't. Welcome to the real world where the large majority of people DON'T GIVE A SHIT about the nuts and bolts.

[g @ Oct 26th 2007 6:42PM]

Sorry, but a *settlement* has no legal precedential value.

[g @ Oct 26th 2007 6:45PM]

Furthermore, nothing in the article says that Sprint has to allow unlocked phones on to its network, but only that it will unlock phones.

[Mark @ Oct 26th 2007 6:50PM]

If Sprint will indeed start to let non-branded phones onto its network, then this is HUGE. This could end the CDMA lockdown in the US once and for all - if this is taken far enough and VZW and Alltell are also sued.

[john @ Oct 26th 2007 6:57PM]

nonow someone just needs to bring the same suit
against metropcs ... then maybe you'll be able to
use decent phones with their flat rate services.

and due to this case, the consumer will have precedent on their side.
w someone just needs to bring the same suit against metropcs ... then maybe you'll be able to use decent phones with their flat rate services.

[nojok3 @ Oct 30th 2007 12:07PM]

Get the Sprint SERO plan from www.sprint.com/sero using the email [e-mail] . Cheapest out there.

[ErikEngd @ Oct 26th 2007 7:12PM]

These wireless network operators have too much power when come to deciding which phones customers can use on their networks. It's time to take that power away. Let the customers who must sign a ridiculous two-year contract decide.

[Bryan @ Oct 26th 2007 7:20PM]

does this mean that I can connect some of those beautiful korean phones with my sprint service?

[allaina @ Oct 26th 2007 8:59PM]

in a perfect world..


(but, oh god, i understand how much you want to...)

[james @ Oct 26th 2007 7:25PM]

Doesn't the Nextel side of Sprint still work with the iDEN network and not CDMA? And aren't they the only carrier that uses iDEN? This doesn't seem all that Earth-shattering to me.

[Antonio @ Oct 26th 2007 9:19PM]

they have many spin-offs that pay to use the i-den network (i.e. Air-tel)

[sgt_easton @ Oct 26th 2007 7:28PM]

This is a step in the right direction. But, this alone gets us nothing until another CDMA carrier follows suit.

ex 1. I try to use a Verizon phone on Sprint.
This won't work, because Verizon won't unlock my phone.

ex 2. I try to use my unlocked Sprint phone on Verizon.
This won't work because Verizon only accepts Verizon-branded phones.

Rinse and repeat with other CDMA carriers.

[Jesse S @ Oct 26th 2007 10:00PM]

facepalm.jpg

[Jamar0303 @ Oct 26th 2007 10:34PM]

Depending on where you live, there are certain experts that can put your phone onto the Verizon network. It's been done for Korean phones on Verizon for ages, and they can probably do the same for Sprint phones.

[ScOObyDoo @ Oct 26th 2007 7:41PM]

Let us keep one thing in mind though. YES, they said they'll do this. Yes it is a good thing.

But trying to find a Sprint CSR that even knows how to spell "unlock" will prove to be quite the challenge.

[Feech @ Oct 26th 2007 7:50PM]

This is great new for us that use a CDMA provider. Now we need the other carriers to follow suit. Don't think that Sprint and Verizon haven't spoke to each other about this and how this will affect the business. The thing is recurring revenue, the cost to acquire a new customer, and the cost to reduce the churn of existing customers, is whats inportant to the providers. Unlocking phones will do all those things. Expect Alltel and Verizon to follow suit quickly.

[strdust @ Oct 26th 2007 7:57PM]

anyone want to go sue Verizon now?

[john @ Oct 26th 2007 8:03PM]

And MetroPCS. Don't leave out MetroPCS.

Think of what Sprint and Verizon would have to do to keep their customers if anyone could just move over to MetroPCS's lower/flat rates.