SIM only mobile contracts are increasingly popular with UK shoppers thanks both to the added flexibility of 30 day and 12 month contracts and lower prices than a traditional handset contract.
But to save the cash with a different network you’ll need to take your existing mobile phone with you and here a lot of consumers hit a problem – most phones only work with the network which supplied them thanks to a process called ‘network locking’.
Locking a handset means it’ll only register on a specific network BUT here in the UK, unlike in some other countries, all mobiles sold are all actually technically capable of working on all other networks – they just need to be unlocked.
Walk down your local high street and you’ll probably find lots of shops offering to carry out the unlocking process for you, and the web is full of sites (some even honest) offering the same service BUT in most cases the mobile network which supplied the handset will also unlock the phone and often for free.
To make things as simple as possible, telecoms regulator Ofcom has put together a handy guide how to get your mobile network to unlock your handset and how much it’ll cost you.
Happy shopping!
