Bill to Legalize Phone Unlocking Clears Committee

If you did pay your ETF then most wireless carriers can and should release the unlock though. The problem is though that most people don't pay the ETF and expect to have their phone unlocked still.

So are you saying that while in contract and making monthly payments that I shouldn't be able to pop out my sim and put in another while in another country?

If the phone isn't paid off or at least reached a certain point in the contract like maybe half then no and that's only if you got it at 2 year contract pricing if you bought it outright you should be able to right out of the box.

Sprint has a policy (that started with the iphone4) of NOT unlocking your phone unless you're at a certain point in your contract. This does not include phones out of contract... Sprint does not willingly unlock phones out of contract on their network, ever. I had to fight my way through 3 managers and eventually call to Overland Park to have my full price purchased iphone 5 unlocked, and now i'm going through the same song and dance about the Galaxy S4. Though I have a lot more hope that there will be an unlock method for this phone on the internet than there was for the iphone, so I stopped fighting with them.

Now that's a situation that shouldn't happen to an extent. But like I said if you buy your phone outright you should be able to unlock from day 1 if you do 2 year contract pricing I have no issue with them locking the phone til a certain point in the contract.

Well, that's total nonsense. If you're under contract, then you are under a contract to pay for service for a given amount of time (including the part of the service bill which is paying back the cost of the phone). Why should I have to wait 24 months to use my phone with a different SIM when I'm on vacation in another country if I'm STILL PAYING MY BILL in my home country? If I cancel my service, then I owe the ETF, so the company still gets the payback on the phone.

If the problem is that people aren't paying back ETF's, that has nothing to do with whether phones should be locked or unlocked. They need to come up with ways to collect on the ETF, not prevent people from using their phones as they need to.

That is their way of collecting on the ETF. People who care about their credit score aren't the problem it's people who don't that see an ETF as no barrier to changing service. I'm not saying it's perfect but it does make sense from a business stand point. If it's that big of an issue then buy your phone outright and be done with it. Thats no contract to wait for and no ETF. No one forces you to buy a phone under contract.

You could always just use the same sim card. And if you call up your service provider then they will gladly as long as you have been paying your bills give you the unlock code. So what is so wrong about calling up and getting the unlock code?

There's one problem with your arguement, where does your bill ever go down just because you either bought the phone outright or your 2 years are up?

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For 1 cars and cell phones are not the same thing. And if you're going to make comparisons at least do it right because dealerships rarely are the ones who own you loan. Oh and by the way if you don't pay your auto loan they come and take you car, so by that same token if you have a phone on 2 year contract pricing and cancel your contract your carrier should be able to take your phone if you don't pay your ETF. Also if you read the fine print in many auto loans there are parts about not modifing your car while it still is owned by the lender.