If you purchase an iPhone 3G at the Apple Online Store you can activate it with any wireless carrier. All you have to do is insert the SIM from the service provider of your choice into the iPhone 3G and activate it by connecting to iTunes 8. That statement makes most people who hate cellular phone contracts especially those that are locked to a particularly service provider very happy. Most people would much rather pay the full retail price for a cellular phone then get locked into a contract. If an iPhone 3Gs that were unlocked had been available when they purchased theirs they would have never committed to a long term contract in the first place just to get a better price.
However, there is some bad news to go along with the good news. One of the few places you can buy an unlocked iPhone is in Hong Kong. The first sentence in the first paragraph is a paraphrased version from the Hong Kong version of Apple's online store, where the local people can now purchase the contract free unlocked version of the iPhone.
A 16GB one goes for about $798 which is only $100 or so shy of triple the $299 you'll have to pay for the iPhone if you sign up for two years worth of AT&T service. However, people so hate locked cellular phones and contracts that it may still be tempting to them. Particularly if they may have plans to visit Hong Kong sometime in the near future anyhow.
However, many people already own an iPhone, and don't need another one. In addition may people are already signed up with AT&T until sometime in the future. Therefore, the only advantage of an unlocked iPhone that is purchased in Hong Kong would be the possibility of using a prepaid SIM card when they're in another country to avoid AT&T roaming fees. This may seem like an advantage at first but it may not be worth the $800 on top of the $299 they've already invested in the iPhone they already own.
Most people will still be pleased when AT&T begins to sell its contract free, retail priced iPhones and would be even more pleased if Apple were to sell an unlocked iPhone for use with any service provider. Most people don't understand why they don't already. Maybe they simply don't see enough of a market, or the service providers that they are in cahoots with demand that only locked phones be available.
The Communication Blog
However, there is some bad news to go along with the good news. One of the few places you can buy an unlocked iPhone is in Hong Kong. The first sentence in the first paragraph is a paraphrased version from the Hong Kong version of Apple's online store, where the local people can now purchase the contract free unlocked version of the iPhone.
A 16GB one goes for about $798 which is only $100 or so shy of triple the $299 you'll have to pay for the iPhone if you sign up for two years worth of AT&T service. However, people so hate locked cellular phones and contracts that it may still be tempting to them. Particularly if they may have plans to visit Hong Kong sometime in the near future anyhow.
However, many people already own an iPhone, and don't need another one. In addition may people are already signed up with AT&T until sometime in the future. Therefore, the only advantage of an unlocked iPhone that is purchased in Hong Kong would be the possibility of using a prepaid SIM card when they're in another country to avoid AT&T roaming fees. This may seem like an advantage at first but it may not be worth the $800 on top of the $299 they've already invested in the iPhone they already own.
Most people will still be pleased when AT&T begins to sell its contract free, retail priced iPhones and would be even more pleased if Apple were to sell an unlocked iPhone for use with any service provider. Most people don't understand why they don't already. Maybe they simply don't see enough of a market, or the service providers that they are in cahoots with demand that only locked phones be available.
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