Unlock no contract US iPhone in UK with O2?

[alex1015]

Hello all
I figured my title is pretty self-explanitory but allow me to elaborate. I bought an iPhone 4 in the US at the apple store. I have since moved to England. I was wondering if I could take the phone to O2 here to have it unlocked? Does it matter that the phone was not purchased through O2?

It was a no contract USA phone. I know the unlocking is done through Apple so will they simply see the IMEI and refuse to unlock it?

[iYeow]

They won't let you unlock, you have to jailbreak and unlock it yourself. If you buy it in UK with the official carrier, then you don't have to unlock , it is already unlock for that official carrier.

[alex1015]

What if I walk into O2 and ask? Does anyone have any experience with this or should I just hold out hope for ultrasn0w

[Simon]

O2 will only unlock iphones that they sell, not ones from other carriers.

[nebo1ss]

First off o2 or any other carrier does not unlock the phone. You put the request in to them and they enter the relevant data on the apple servers and the phone is unlocked through iTunes when you connect. In other words apple unlocks the phone.

O2 cannot enter data for your phone on the apple server. Only AT&T can do so, and they will not.

Apple sells unlocked phones in the UK the carriers do not. There is even more subsidy of the phones in the UK that US. The price you pay the carrier for the phone is totally dependent on the number of monthly minutes you commit too and the contract term. This can range from totally free to full price for the phone.

The carrier will arrange an unlock for you subsequent to the sale, but there is no walk away fee like with AT&T you are committed to full term and monthly commitment.

Hope this helps.