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Purchasing Unlocked Cell Phones in Canada
3 Things you need to consider before your purchase
With Bell and TELUS having upgraded their network technology to HSPA it now means the Big 3 cell phone carriers (Bell, Rogers, Telus) have compatible 3G networks. For us – subscribers – we now have the ability to purchase unlocked phones and activate them on “any” of the carriers’ networks or take an existing compatible device and activate it with any carrier. So what’s the catch? Well, unless you are a tech wizard, this process can be very confusing. The good news, however, is that the stage is set for Canada’s cell phone gray market (i.e. swapping/activating of cell phones between carriers) to increase, but before purchasing an unlocked phone or having one unlocked, you must do your homework first. In addition to getting the technical details right other potential issues could be purchasing a stolen or fraudulently obtained device so if it’s too good to be true it probably is.
Navigating the unlocked cell phone market can be tricky for customers that aren’t tech savvy so let let’s break it down. The first thing you need to know is that all cellular devices sold by Bell, Rogers or Telus are locked to their network, hence the need to purchase an unlocked cellphone from some other source or have a compatible device unlocked in order to use it. In Europe it is illegal for a carrier to lock phones to their network but in Canada that’s not the case, so before you purchase that new cell phone you need to be sure it will work on the cell phone provider’s network.
