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Question

Using unlocked (UK) phone abroad

Jul 21, 2016 12:57AM PDT

Hi all,

I have two phones - one used to be registered on a UK network and I have since received the code that unlocks it (so it is no longer tied to the original network) whilst the other I bought new and sim-free.

The purpose of doing this was to have spare phones for me and my girlfriend; we regularly travel to the US, Mexico and Brazil as part of our work. To keep in touch without paying the international fees that come if we use our UK sims we want to buy local sim cards and insert them into the phones - can we expect this to work on unlocked / sim-free phones or will these devices still only work with home (i.e. UK) networks?

Thanks very much for your advice

Unnecessary link removed by moderator.

Post was last edited on July 21, 2016 1:10 AM PDT

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Maybe.
Jul 21, 2016 7:49AM PDT

While you left out the make and model of the phones, it should in many cases just be a matter of buying service and the SIM in your country. However this won't avoid long distance charges but I suspect you know that.

Devices should be fine. Fees, well that depends on the plan.

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Devices
Jul 21, 2016 10:53AM PDT

Hi and thank you for your answer.

The phones (a link was removed by the moderator) are a Wildfire HTC and an Alba 4inch 3g. In conversation with a member of staff at the Carphone warehouse here in the UK we were told that their sim free phones will still only work on UK networks....is this a possible error?

As far as I understood, an unlocked phone should work on any network, unless there are specific hardware / software differences that are required to access other countries' services, right?

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That would be news to me.
Jul 21, 2016 11:12AM PDT

I have a buddy that travels to the UK and all his GSM phones just work. I'm sure there will always be an exception but here, I don't expect an unlocked GSM phone to have much of an issue.

As to your second question, this is where it gets involved. While 99.99% of the phones will just work, I find that the one rare model will ruin it for someone. I can't know if the carrier you use in the other country has opted for a band that isn't in your phone. Only you can research that. It's rare but why the answer can't be yes or no.