AT&T has agreed to provide unlock codes for your phones in a class-action lawsuit settlement but the agreement doesn’t include that fancy iPhone of yours.
The company was facing some legal heat because it wasn’t properly disclosing that its handsets can’t work with other carriers without the unlocking process. The carrier denies any wrongdoing but is offering unlock codes in lieu of having to pay the lawyers the cash to duke it out in court.
You’re eligible for this case if you purchased almost any AT&T phone and service from March 12, 1999 to April 2, 20100 – so, that’s pretty much most of AT&T’s customer base. If you’re on a contract, you have to have at least 90 days of active service to receive an unlock code and prepaid subscribers need to provide a detailed receipt to get their code. Users can request up to five unlock codes a year and AT&T reserves the right to maintain exclusivity over devices for up to 10 months (this doesn’t include the iPhone, however).
Of course, the big fat gorilla in the room is that Apple’s iPhone is not going to be included in this settlement, as the carrier has previously said that it had originally signed a five-year deal for Apple’s touchscreen smartphone and this precludes it from giving out unlock codes. I get the philosophical griping about this, but an iPhone 3G or 3GS wouldn’t be as compelling on T-Mobile because it wouldn’t have access to that carrier’s 3G network.
An added wrinkle to the exclusivity agreement is that analysts are saying Apple was able to get a sweetheart mobile data deal for the iPad by extending iPhone exclusivity. Apple’s smartphone has been a major draw for AT&T, so this could make a lot of sense but we’ve been hearing a lot of iPhone-to-Verizon rumors lately. Maybe the reason AT&T isn’t worried about Big Red snagging that handset is because it already has it locked down with contracts.
[Via The Consumerist]