Sprint recently indicated via its support site that it will devise a way to unlock its phones by February 2015.
According to Sprint, none of the SIM-equipped phones it has sold during the past three years – including Apple’s iPhones – can be unlocked for use on competing networks. The company said it will unlock the SIM card slot of devices that have one, but this will only apply to devices launched after February 2015.
Sprint said phones purchased through its subsidiaries Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Assurance Wireless will not be compatible with Sprint’s network, even if unlocked. Further, customers need to meet certain criteria in order to be given the unlock code.
For example, the phone must be paid for and no longer attached to a contract. The change in Sprint’s policy is a voluntary action, though the Federal Communications Commission threatened all network operators with regulation if they failed to act on their own. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless all have to implement their own unlocking policies, too, but have yet to announce the details thereof.
