Sprint Plans To Lock iPhone 4S, Then Offer Unlock To Good Customers

There has been some confusion about Sprint’s policy on unlocking the SIM card in the Sprint iPhone 4S, but Jason Snell of Macworld was able to get some clarity on the situation.

…the Sprint iPhone 4S will ship with its micro-SIM slot unlocked. However, Sprint now says that it will be locking that slot “shortly after launch” via an update pushed to those devices. After the slot has been locked, Sprint says that it will allow customers in good standing to unlock the SIM for international use in the future.

Verizon’s policy is to lock the micro-SIM card out of the gates, allowing customers to use a “roaming SIM card” that is tied to the users account. Standard practice for those who travel frequently outside of the U.S. is to purchase a local (read: low cost) SIM card, as to avoid hefty roaming charges.

Sprint’s official statement is as follows:

Sprint’s policy is to have the iPhone 4S SIM locked to our network domestically and internationally. At launch, the International SIM will be unlocked. We do expect a SIM lock to be pushed to the devices shortly after launch. We will then allow existing customers in good standing to unlock the SIM for international use if needed in the future.

Customers can sign up for one of our international rate plans and use this phone all over the world. When traveling internationally, there is a setting that must be turned on within the device to connect to GSM. The phone will work with a SIM that is provided within the device out of the box. International voice and data charges are on a pay-as-you-go basis and vary based on the country where the customer is using their phone; a list of rates is available at www.sprint.com/international.

Sprint offers two international voice plans that customers can subscribe to for discounted voice rates:

The Canada Roaming add-on is $2.99 per month and all calls placed from Canada are only 20 cents per minute. Without this add-on, calls from Canada are 59 cents per minute.

The Sprint Worldwide Voice add-on is $4.99 per month and offers discounted rates in countries around the world. For example, calls from Italy are $1.69 per minute with this add-on or $1.99 per minute without the add-on; calls from Peru are $2.29 per minute with the add-on or $2.49 per minute without it.

So if it’s a software update that gets pushed, theoretically one could avoid the update, thus keeping the unlock?

Source: Macworld