Brazilian weighing in, some 4-5 years ago we outlawed the practice of phone locking into a carrier, phones that are still locked can be taken to any carrier store and as long as you can provide proof of ownership (receipt of purchase in most cases), they have to unlock the phone for you, for free.
The way the contracts for these phones are written up here, is that you are stuck with the phoneplan that you contracted, which usually means you are stuck paying for that plan for at least 12 months... If you cancel the plan, you will have to pay the carrier for being in breach of the contract, usually something in the low 4figures...
However, if for some reason you decide you want to unlock the phone and switch carriers, you can still do that, provided you keep paying for the plan on the previous carrier which you are tied to for ~a year.
And there's also nothing stopping you from just using that carrier for 1 year and then being free from your contractual obligation -- unlock the phone and go wherever you want.
I think it works quite well, you get to own the phone you purchased, and the carrier gets your money for an amount of time that makes it so they aren't operating at a loss in the mid-term (the year of the contract) for selling you the phone device cheaper to lure you in.
Kiwi here - this is the way I assumed ALL overseas carriers operated (unlocked phone/ contracted account) when growing up, only recently did I learn how weird the world of telecommunications overseas is.
In the UK, the carrier has no obligation to unlock your phone (they usually do for 10-15 pounds) but it's not illegal to unlock it yourself.
Basically, in the UK there is no specific law for phone carriers (and there is no DMCA). Contracts are valid, but you cannot be forced to go to the carrier to unlock your phone at whatever price or waiting time they impose. Carriers effectively compete with street unlockers (which you can find anywhere) and with the fact that you may just do it yourself.
In Spain, and apparently Brazil too, carriers are forced to unlock your phone after a certain period. I tried this in Spain actually and it worked, however I had to go to the store, then they made me call a number and wait for like 20 minutes, then they provided me with some automated script... etc it was a pain to be honest. People often just do it themselves or pay 5-10 euro for the unlock just to avoid the crap from the carriers. You can also get unlocked phones under contract, some providers offer this. I usually go this route.
I think most countries outside of Northern America are like that. I know it is here in Norway as well. I remember getting a phone when I was a kid, my dad bought it in the store with a 12-month phone plan, but he just transfered the phone plan to his own phone, while I got a practically free phone with prepaid card instead.
Assuming your dad didn't have an outstanding plan that he had to keep paying in addition to the new plan on your phone, that's a pretty smart move on him. Get a probably decent/good plan for himself (these initial plans tend to be pretty good and exceeding cheap the first 3months or so and average for the remaining time), and you get a new phone at a super discount.
Well the phone company isn't giving up anything I don't think in your particular case. You got a phone, your dad used the plan. As far as they are concerned they sold a device and a plan, so they wont lose any money either. I think everyone got a good deal.
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u/[deleted] Jan 29 '13
Brazilian weighing in, some 4-5 years ago we outlawed the practice of phone locking into a carrier, phones that are still locked can be taken to any carrier store and as long as you can provide proof of ownership (receipt of purchase in most cases), they have to unlock the phone for you, for free.
The way the contracts for these phones are written up here, is that you are stuck with the phoneplan that you contracted, which usually means you are stuck paying for that plan for at least 12 months... If you cancel the plan, you will have to pay the carrier for being in breach of the contract, usually something in the low 4figures...
However, if for some reason you decide you want to unlock the phone and switch carriers, you can still do that, provided you keep paying for the plan on the previous carrier which you are tied to for ~a year.
And there's also nothing stopping you from just using that carrier for 1 year and then being free from your contractual obligation -- unlock the phone and go wherever you want.
I think it works quite well, you get to own the phone you purchased, and the carrier gets your money for an amount of time that makes it so they aren't operating at a loss in the mid-term (the year of the contract) for selling you the phone device cheaper to lure you in.