Cdma Unlocked Phones

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

How Cdma Cell Phone Unlocking Works

Unlocking CDMA Phones

CDMA phones can be unlocked technically. But not in the same way most people thinking of GSM/TDMA and iDEN unlocking. CDMA mobile phones don't use a SIM card, they're "hardwired" to the provider that sells them. examples are: Verizion Wireless CDMA Mobile Phones or Sprint-Nextel and their CDMA Cell phones as well as other smaller carriers. Because of this they can only be unlocked by the provider with a special code that they absolutely will not give out over the phone unless you know someone on the inside.

As opposed to a At&t Wireless (formally Cingular), T-Mobile or Cellular One customer who can call up these GSM Carriers and get a unlock code over the phone. So He/She can use the cell phone over sea's (Note the cell phone much have the right frequency built in to be used over sea's) More About Gsm Cell Phone Frequencies . GSM Cell Phones can most of the time be unlocked remotely. While a CDMA phones require a bit of 'reprogramming' to unlock which can also be done remotely BUT it's not as simple as calling your provider and getting a code over the phone.

Why CDMA phones aren't unlocked

It is impractical to Unlock CDMA cellPhones. Sprint wont activate a non-Sprint Phone, so an unlocked CDMA phone would be useless to a Sprint Customer. Verizon will sometimes activate other CDMA provider's unlocked cell phones. i've witnessed this. But if you are an average joe with no connection in Verizion they will probably give you a hard time, try to sell you one of their cell phones etc. Although if a potential customer goes into a Verizon authorized Dealer Store and not an Official Verizion Store they may be easier on the customer. Their main goal is to sell Verizon service. Even if they lose money on the phone they make commission on the services plan and extra they can convince the customer to buy. Most of the time if an unlocked CDMA phone is activated with a provider from other than who it was made for a lot of the features will not work correctly or unless someone with quite a bit of technical knowledge reprograms the phone to your provider's specifications.

Note: Spread-spectrum techniques (used in CDMA) are methods by which energy generated at one or more discrete frequencies is deliberately spread or distributed in time or frequency domains. This is done for a variety of reasons, including the establishment of secure communications, increasing resistance to natural interference and jamming, and to prevent detection.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

So is there anyway to use a verizon wireless phone on AT&T, Cingular? I have an Lg chocolate VX8500.

The Guru said...

no way to use vx8500 with AT&T because its cdma based. While AT&T uses gsm sim card technology. Verizon does have some duel mode phones which have both cdma and gsm capabilities you can use these phones with AT&T if they have the built in 850mhz freq. that AT&T uses.

Anonymous said...

what about something about the gzone. it has dual but its 800/1900?

Unknown said...

so unlocking a phone in general is just to use it for other companies right? it doesnt do anything else like open up hidden programs within the phone?

i ask cuz ive heard so many different things that i dont know what to believe.

GR Brit said...

You said: "Sprint wont activate a non-Sprint Phone, so an unlocked CDMA phone would be useless to a Sprint Customer."

Is this still true? When I log into my SprintPCS account, I see an option to swap the ESN and enter the ESN from a new phone. Nowhere on the screen does it state that it needs to be a Sprint phone, which would be pretty underhanded if it were true.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hello,Im living in Canada and my uncle sent me LG VX8500 verizon CDMA.Now i want use that on my telus or sasktel account but they said you must be unlocked Verizon.Is that possible? Or Do you know any solution for help prgrams etc.

Thank you for,

Anonymous said...

what about unlocking a moto krave zn4 for use with cricket

angelanna said...

so there is no way for me to buy a phone from china to use with my verizon service? Or is there if so what do i need to look for to be sure it will work?

angelanna said...

I need to know if it is possible to use an "unlocked phone" from china with my verizon service? If so what do I look for to insure it will work?

sameer110 said...

i have a HTC pb00100 cdma phone can i use with indian cdma services please help me. I tried a lot about it.

sameer110 said...

how can i work htc pb00100 verizon phone cdma in indian cdma network please help me. i tried a lot.But i can't found it out so please help me out.