British carrier O2 to unlock out-of-contract iPhones

Yeah sucks that for Pas You Go users we have to pay ~ £14 to unlock it but even that I could tollorate, but on top of that we have to wait 12 months even though we paid a premium up front!

Once an iPhone is out of contract, you don't need anyone's permission to unlock it without penalty.

Whats the big deal? In the Netherlands T-Mobile offers unlocking from the beginning. It's gonna cost ya 120 euro but hey. And better yet, after 1 year it's completely free to unlock :)

Well done o2 this is why you are miles better than those **** at orange.

HELLO , this is a legal requirement in any member state of the whole freaking EUROPEAN UNION , see Unfair Commercial Practices Directive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_2005/29/EC_The_Unfair_Commercial_Practices_Directive

In France for example the subscriber has the right to request that the SIM lock be removed at any time, it will be free if the contract expired , or paid otherwise.

Hey,

Just a quick note:

"Britain" refers to the island "Great Britain" which is only the countries England, Scotland and Wales.

The "United Kingdom" refers to the countries England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. I.e. where the iPhone is sold by O2 UK :)

That's really good that they are unlocking it. Its going to make the bucket load of 18 month iphone 3G's that hit eBay next month alot more appealing. My only question is if o2 are going to charge for this?

I know Orange have offered this service for all their handsets for £35 and lets face it, I doubt o2 are going to miss a trick!

OK, this is slightly inaccurate, in that you do NOT have to be out of contract. You can unlock your iphone at any point.

This is a fine example of why I stay with O2. I don't have an iPhone, but if I did it would take a lot of bribery to get me to move from O2.

But why is this kind of thing not more common? Do companies really have so little faith in their services that they forcibly stop you from trying another companies services?

I moved from O2 to T-Mobile. Most uncomfortable 18 months of my life. I'm back on O2 for the foreseeable future.

What about unlocking 2G phones if you're still using your current 3G (and want to keep that up for now)?

Spent a weekend with awful or zero 3G in various parts of the UK (Tunbridge Wells, Hastings and Bermondsey). If Vodafone don't have restricted use (like Orange) I'm off.

My contract runs out soon but I was eligible for a 3Gs in August and O2 haven't even bothered to contact me to "upgrade". I've been on O2 over 5 years. Seems they are taking me for granted...