If you are one of the nearly 200 million American cell phone users, you probably signed a contract to get a steal of a deal on your phone. While this contract might be fine and dandy if you stay in the same town or city, travelers risk high roaming and per minute fees if they venture out of service area. This is where unlocking your cell phone comes into play. So how will you know if your phone is locked? And how do you unlock it if it is?
Cell phones providers AT&T/Cingular and T-Mobile are GSM (Group Special Mobile) and can technically be used worldwide if unlocked. Sprint, Nextel and Verizon are not GSM providers and cannot be unlocked. If you have a SIM chip in your phone, then it is GSM and you can perform a mobile unlock on your cell.
Once you’ve determined your phone number and account are tied to your SIM chip, not your actual phone, you can then perform the following test to see if your phone is locked: