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Telus to offer iPhone unlocking in Canada

Telus introduced a new unlock policy that will let customers unlock a GSM-based handset for a nominal fee of $50. This new unlock policy goes into effect on February 15 and is available for any GSM mobile phone that has been on the carrier's network for a minimum of 90 days. The iPhone will not be supported initially, but the carrier has plans to make the unlock available to Apple's smartphone soon.

This new policy is friendlier than rival Rogers, which will also unlock a handset for $50, but only after the customer's contract has expired. The Telus unlocking option is available after three months, and though it wont release a customer from his or her contract, it will allow them to use the phone on another Canadian carrier or while traveling internationally. Telus introduced this unlock option to boost the variety of consumer-friendly services it offers to its customers.

[Via Electronista]
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TELUS starts unlocking wireless devices on February 15

TELUS customers enjoy more more flexibility and freedom

Toronto, ON – TELUS today announced that starting February 15, "unlocking" will be available for most SIM-based devices (IDEN and HSPA) for TELUS postpaid customers. This new service is the latest in a series of initiatives to enhance the customer experience at TELUS by providing more flexibility and freedom in the way customers use their wireless devices.

"Wireless devices are far more sophisticated and powerful than they were even five years ago and our customers are asking us now to give them the freedom and flexibility to use these devices as they wish. We are listening and responding to their needs, through services like device unlocking," said David Fuller, Chief Marketing Officer at TELUS. "It's all part of our commitment to continue to drive flexibility, simplicity and transparency within our offerings. Over the last few years, we've eliminated system access and carrier 911 fees, designed simpler family plans, created proactive alerts that notify customers going over their data allotments, and created options for our customers to upgrade to a new device faster. Helping our customers to unlock their device is just one more step in this overall service evolution."

Customers subscribing to a monthly plan (postpaid) and using an active and eligible SIM-based device for a minimum of 90 days will be eligible to have their device unlocked for a fee of $50.

TELUS is commited to offering the best overall customer experience in the industry. As a part of our quality mandate, TELUS works closely with leading manufacturers to ensure that their devices are built and tested for optimal performance on TELUS' network. During that process, TELUS locks the devices in order to maintain TELUS-specific configuration settings such that customers are getting the best possible experience when using applications and services on TELUS' network.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.7 billion of annual revenue and 12.1 million customer connections including 6.9 million wireless subscribers, 3.8 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers and 266,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed $185 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 3.5 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Nine TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.


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Telus introduced a new unlock policy that will let customers unlock a GSM-based handset for a nominal fee of $50. This new unlock policy...
 

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imkoonta

I just called TELUS and iPhones are not among the list of phones to be unlocked for $50. Bummer!

February 15 2011 at 3:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Claudio

There are plenty of websites out there that offer device unlocking out there for $10 - $35 depending on your hardware and the company providing the service. You basically send them the imei of your mobile device and they email you the unlock code that you enter once you install a non compatible SIM card (if you don't have one borrow one from a friend for a minute). Don't believe a website's claim of providing you with a code in 30 seconds, it usually takes them about 12 - 24 hours to obtain the codes and send them out to you.

Make sure you do a little research though as you don't want to give your IMEI to the wrong kind of people.

Some unlocking services actually let you download a small program to your computer and once you buy a credit you can enter the IMEI yourself and it spits out a code in about 2 minutes like htccode.com

February 08 2011 at 3:46 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
aceneerav

I bought my iPhone 3G in India from Vodafone for a full $700 and there is no contract on it. However, it is network locked. How can I get it permenantly unlocked without jailbreaking it?

Vodafone won't do it.

February 08 2011 at 12:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
yoinkers

a "nominal fee" of $50?

Um, $50 is a lot of f-ing money to have someone flip a bit. There's nothing "nominal" about $50 in this context

February 07 2011 at 3:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Andrew

Et tu, Bell?

February 07 2011 at 3:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
6 replies to Andrew's comment
TheCastro

The phone should always come unlocked, why should you have to wait any time period? If you have a contract you still have a contract wether or not the phone is unlocked. It's crap that you have to wait, so what if I want to use my phone on a different carrier while visiting Europe or Canada? I still have to pay a cancellation fee if I want out of my contract regardless if my phone is locked or not.

February 07 2011 at 1:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
pika2000

at least they offer it, unlike AT&T. Also, another proof that unlocking iPhone is done by the carrier, not Apple, unlike AT&T's lies.

February 07 2011 at 12:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to pika2000's comment
Iphtashu Fitz

Well keep in mind that there's unlocking the carrier side of the phone so that it can be easily ported from one wireless provider to another, and then there's unlocking the iPhone's operating system (jailbreaking) so that you could install apps other than those approved by Apple and available on the App Store. My guess is that AT&T is simply playing a game of semantics by referring to the OS unlock rather than the carrier unlock.

February 07 2011 at 1:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
NutMac

I would like Apple to offer the service directly. Furthermore, iPhones should unlock automatically when the phone is no longer in contract (either after contract term expires or when subscriber pays ETF).

February 07 2011 at 12:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to NutMac's comment
Iphtashu Fitz

Not just iPhones but any cell phone on any carrier should be unlocked once a contract is up. I believe that carriers are supposed to offer this to anybody who contacts them, but then I've also heard plenty of horror stories from people who have attempted it with little or no luck.

February 07 2011 at 1:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
AC88

The iPhone in Canada is already unlocked when you purchase it through an Apple store. Why would one pay Telus (or Rogers) to unlock it?

February 07 2011 at 12:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to AC88's comment
Vlad Zaharia

It's only unlocked if you buy it full price. If there's any subsidy, it will lock to the carrier of the first SIM card you insert in the phone.

February 07 2011 at 12:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Nick (xbl: andsoitgoes42)

Yeah, what Vlad said...

I got my phone for a pittance through quite a few discounts, versus paying a fortune through Apple directly.

But this is fantastic. We buy the phone subsidized, unlock it for $50 which then gives the phone far more value on resale when it's resold. And for Telus to do it while still in contract, it's really surprising.

Gooo Telus!

Wow. I never thought I'd say THAT.

February 07 2011 at 6:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

Makes me even more glad I switched from Rogers to Telus to get the iPhone 4.

February 07 2011 at 11:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Mike's comment
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