iPhone locked to network advice

RockLobster

RockLobster

RockLobster

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Joined
2 Sep 2007
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Hi Guys

My girlfriend bought a new iPhone 6s with O2 on contract. When she received the phone she inserted her old EE contract sim as she was expecting some important calls that day. A few days later (today) she tried inserting her O2 sim and she gets the below error: -

"The Sim card that you currently have installed in this iPhone is from a carrier that is not supported under the activation policy that is currently assigned by the activation server. this is not a hardware issue with the iPhone. please insert another sim card from a supported carrier or request that this iPhone be unlocked by your carrier.please contact apple for more information."

From what I can gather iPhones (not from Apple, JL, etc) lock to the first network that the sim is from?

I assume O2 cannot unlock it as it's now locked to EE and EE won't unlock it because it's a new phone with an O2 contract..

What are her options here?
 
Okay I've just contacted O2 and they asked me to try a number of things including trying the new sim in another phone. I tried it in my Xperia Z3 and the sim worked fine so O2 then said to contact the retailer.

I've found a few unlocking websites so I may try that next. The only other option we have is playing dumb with the retailer and not mentioning we inserted an EE sim first.
 
Gigabit said:
iPhones from CPW, Argos, etc. sold "unlocked" lock to the first network.

I had believed that network phones were locked to said network from the start though. This is quite interesting.
Click to expand...

Nope, it was always the case they locked to the first SIM used with them, makes it a lot easier for retailers like CPW etc. since they don't need to do anything extra.

OP you may need to contact EE to unlock, iPhones are annoying to unlock as most 3rd party methods only temporarily unlock the phone so they get locked to the next SIM that gets used with them again. By going to the network it's locked to, it will be properly permanently unlocked.
 
I may be wrong but I can't see EE unlocking this phone. This is from their website - "If you’re on pay monthly, you need to have had your contract for six months before you can unlock a device. "

It's a new contract with O2. Unless they would be willing to unlock as part of her old contract? But surely they would only unlock her old iPhone 5s as that was bought with her old contract.

I've found this site - www.officialiphoneunlock.co.uk which say they will charge £20 quid to unlock. Does anyone have any experiences of these sites?
 
EE have an online form form for unlocking:-

"You will be charged £8.99 (incl VAT) for unlocking your device, this will be charged to your account. The IMEI of the device to be unlocked must be registered on the account and not blacklisted."

I've bold the important point. What do they mean registered? Will the phone be registered on the account or will it be her old iPhone 5s?
 
An update. Spoke to EE last night and the lady explained about the 6 month rule. She's going to contact the unlocking team this morning to see if they will make an exception. She said if they won't unlock it will need to stay on the EE network for a minimum of 6 months.

Other than that play dumb and send it back but I'm sure the retailer can check when the phone was activated (sim inserted) and see that it was after delivery date.

What a crazy situation.
 
If she bought it on contract, just return the whole thing within the 14 day cooling off period.

Start again from scratch with a new phone and new sim, let the retailer deal with EE.
 
If you know any company (yours or your girlfriends) who have EE as their corporate provider ask them to process the unlock request.

i.e. your company buys iPhones from EE and gets them unlocked (for worldwide use) by EE corporate customer services etc. Give them the IMEI etc and they would be able to unlock it.

I have seen this done with other networks as in essence whether EE consumer or EE corporate customers request it, it all gets pumped into the same system that interacts with Apple's activation servers which do the actual unlocking (regardless of what Apple say they do the unlocking, they just make you go through your carrier to request it).


rp2000
 
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Gigabit said:
The online services that work essentially use somebody who works for EE or Vodafone or whoever to request the unlock. It's incredibly dodgy.
Click to expand...

That's what I figured. I'm still waiting for EE to contact me. I am seriously thinking of using one of these services.

RP2000 my company uses Vodaphone and she works for the NHS so doesn't get a phone. Thanks for the idea though.
 
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