The U.S. Supreme Court, by not taking action, has let stand a lower court ruling that says cell phone companies, namely, AT&T and T-Mobile, must allow their customers to unlock their cell phones.
The specifics of the rulings and the repercussions are not finalized yet. However, Verizon and Sprint, both have decided to unlock their phones after the initial contract period. AT&T and T-Mobile, however, operate GSM phones that are far more mobile than the Verizon and Sprint CDMA technology.
This makes a world of difference to travelers. If our GSM phones are unlocked, even after the two-year original contract, we would have freedom to slip new SIM cards into our phones when traveling and save a load of money on basic calling, especially on receiving calls while overseas — its free to receive.
There are going to be far more questions that will be wrestled with by the companies and lawyers regarding the iPhone because of its relationship with AT&T, but in terms of basic calling, GSM phone users will be eventually be free to use any SIM card they desire.
Tags: AT&T, CDMA, cell phones, GSM, T-Mobile
