What does it mean when I see cell phones on Ebay that say "Unlocked" ?

Answer 1

It means that it is a GSM phone that can take the SIM of any other GSM network around the world. SO it is not 'locked' to one network provider (i.e. vodafone)

Answer 2

Unlocked basically means that someone has made the phone for use under any carrier

Cingular or Tmobile or any phone company will have phones specifically for use under their service. This makes it so that if you have a phone you like or is expensive then you will stick with their service

People have figured out how to unlock the phone so that you can you have a cingular phone but use Verizon service and vice versa.

Answer 3

This means that the phone will work on any carrier that uses the same frequencies and digital technology that the phone is made for. This is almost always for GSM phones. GSM phones use subscriber identity modules, or SIM cards for short, which contain your phone number, your phone book and all your account information. Any phone that you put your SIM card into becomes your mobile phone with your phone number. However, most cell phone companies aren't too keen on that ability since they like to give away phones for cheap or free and then people would run off and go use the phone on another carrier so what they do is they lock the phone from accepting SIM cards from other carriers. Once you're with them for awhile, the carrier could give you the code to unlock it although this can be uncommon. People have figured out ways to unlock these phones, usually with a cable and software on a computer, or through dealers with expensive unlocking equipment. An unlocked phone is generally more valuable than a locked one. For example, a locked phone could be locked to only be used on Cingular only, but an unlocked phone could be used on Cingular, T-Mobile, Rogers, Fido, Orange, Vodaphone, etc. etc. It makes the phone a lot more useful to a lot more people. However, if the person knows how to unlock a particular model phone, they can get themselves a good bargain by buying a locked phone, too!

CDMA PCS phones are also usually locked. This applies mainly to Sprint PCS and Telus. Since CDMA phones like Verizon, Sprint, Telus and Bell do NOT use SIM cards like GSM phones, they don't have to worry about a foreign SIM being used. However, these phones can be taken to another CDMA carrier, activated and used! Sprint and Telus weren't going to have any of that so they put a lock on their phone. When the phones are first programmed, a 6 digit code is used and then is never used again. A Master Security Lock code is then in effect. Unless you know this code, you can't get into the phone to change the phone number and use it on another provider. Again with cables or social engineering, people have managed to get the secret codes and unlock the phone, changing the code to 000000 so it can be activated on Verizon or other CDMA carriers.

Unlocked phones can move between carriers but only those using the same digital technologies and frequencies the phone supports. You can't take a Cingular phone and go to Verizon as another suggested (unless it was a really old Cingular phone, then it would only work in Analog mode!) GSM phones can only be used on GSM networks, CDMA phones can only be used on CDMA networks, iDEN phones can only be used on iDEN networks. Now as for frequencies, in the US and Canada, 800(or 850) and 1900MHz (a.k.a. PCS) are used. In Europe, 900MHz and 1800MHz are used. If you have a GSM phone that does all four, then great! You run into problems when you see any combination less than that. If you see a phone that only runs on 900MHz, 1800MHz or both 900 and 1800MHz together, it will NOT work in the US or Canada. If you see a phone thats 800MHz, or 1900MHz or both, it will NOT work in Europe. What frequency your carrier uses in your area you will have to determine either through them or this webpage:
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml

In general, the most popular frequency in the US and Canada is 1900MHz for GSM and in Europe the most popular is 900MHz.

Answer 4

maybe not the best answer but it's the correct answer....
Simply put---> UNLOCKED IS THE ONE YOU WANT TO BUY...

If it isn't unlocked you may need to pay someone to do it ....$50.00 or so...

Unlocked is a good thing..........

Answer 5

Network free just insert sims card