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Unlocking Your Mobile Phone

Cell phone carrier networks (like Verizon, T-Mobile, and Cingular) are offering new latest generation phones at artificially low prices in order to sign up a new customer to a long-term contract. Because these companies are selling these phones at lower than cost, the carriers are modifying the phone's software so that it's locked from use with another carrier's service. This keeps people from signing a low cost contract, securing the phone, and then re-selling it for a higher price than what was paid. The process of breaking the protection of the cell phone and permiting it to with other networks is called "unlocking", and there are services that will do this for you. The easiest way to know whether a cell phone is locked is to use another SIM card from a different carrier to see if it is capable of working. If the message on the screen of your phone will be that the SIM card is not accepted, this means that your mobile is locked and you have to unlock to use other SIM cards.

The mobile unlocking service is not always a legal process. Its legality depends on the way of obtaining the phone. If it has been bought together with a SIM card and without signing any contract, it is yours and the unlocking process could be legal. But in the case of having bought it or receiving free and signing a contract, it is possible that the contract says that it is not yours and if you want to sell or unlock it, you will have to pay its value.

There are many ways of unlocking the mobile phones and each one has its advantages and its disadvantages. The most used way is using an unlock cable that connects the phone with a personal computer and some special software, but any special hardware or software can be used and may be required for each type of cell phone. Another way to unlock mobile phones is through the IMEI (The International Mobile Equipment Identity) that is a unique number for every mobile phone that can be found by dialing a code number into the phone. Having the IMEI code number of the cell phone, the next step should be made through programs that can be downloaded from Internet. This is one of the easiest ways to unlock mobile phones because it is accessible for each user and could be free.