Help Plz!!! Want to buy new cell phone offline, but under Telus contract.?

Question

I want to buy a new cell phone off ebay, but I'm unsure if I can use it to replace my current cell phone that's under a Telus plan. Will they let me switch phones, even though I did not purchase it from them?

Answer 1

Telnus uses CDMA network which basically registers each cell phone with their user by their ESN number on the back of each phone underneath the battery. Each cell phone has a different 11 digit ESN number.

The cell phones that are sold online are called unlocked GSM phones. Meaning you can used these phone on any GSM network (Cingular (A T&T, T-Mobile). GSM cell phones require sim cards on the back of their phones while cell phones that work on CDMA network do not use sim cards at all.

Because Telcus uses CDMA network there is no way you will find a unlock cell phone online because all of these phone that are sold online will use GSM network.