Can I remove a sim card from one phone & use it in another?

Question

I bought a new cell phone & I don't know if I need to get the phone activated, or if I can just insert the sim card & it will work.
I'm charging the phone now, so I haven't tried it yet.
Thanks!

Answer 1

GSM phones (which use SIM cards) are designed such that a SIM card can be moved from one to another, taking all of the user's account info with them. The result is that any GSM phone you put your SIM card in is your phone. Any calls you make will be billed to your account and your number will ring on that phone.

The caveat to this is SIM locking, which most providers do for phones purchased directly from them. They lock the phone to only accept SIM cards they issue. In other words a Cingular phone only accepts Cingular SIM cards.

Phones can be unlocked, to allow any SIM card to be used (as was intended). This can either happen at the provider's discretion (it is difficult, but some providers will eventually agree to unlock a phone if you pester them or have been with them for a long while...in fact T-Mobile makes it a policy to allow unlocking after 6 months of contract with them), or a 3rd party unlocking service. There are many to be found on the Internet, but I'll list one I've used at the end.

The service usually runs around $15/phone, and can be done remotely in SOME cases, but not all. Generally I find Nokia phones to be the easiest, as they seem to be interested in allowing their customers greater flexibility. Every Nokia phone I've ever unlocked has allowed simply remote unlocking (I've done 6 or 7).

Here are some guys I've used:
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/unlock/

Answer 2

I have Nextel and my daughter has Cingular and we both have used our sim cards on different phones. I guess it just depends on the brand of the phone not the Provider because I tried it once with nextel and for one phone it did not work but in another time that i tried it with a different phone it did work

Answer 3

Yes you can. Provided the sim cards are the same, and the phone is either unlocked or compatible with your current Carrier.

Answer 4

If your old phone had a sim card, then you should just be able to trasfer the sime card right over. I assume that the card didn't get broken or anything.

Answer 5

You still need to activate your new phone. Yes the card may work.

Answer 6

If you have bought a new phone (in the shop), it means that is SIM free and you can use it with any mobile carrier you wish.

Answer 7

You can, as long as the new phone accepts SIM cards (some US carriers don't) and the phone is compatible with your carrier's network (PCS, GSM, or CDMA).

Answer 8

You can if the other phone is the same network as your current phone, or if the new phone is 'unlocked', you can do this on your local highstreet probably.

Answer 9

you can remove card from phone and use it on another. no problem.

Answer 10

yes