Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 02-Apr-12 17:11, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
wrote:

The analog cell phones of that era supposedly could be switched beteween
the A and B carrier, though I think in practice very people did so.

Hm? Even though the prefix was used to route the inbound call to the
correct cellular network?

My AMPS phones all had menu options controlling whether to prefer A or B
towers, allow roaming to the other one, etc. You couldn't port your
number from one carrier to another at the time, but at least you could
keep your (expensive) phone when switching.

Yeah, I recall. Ever have a Digital AMPS handset? hancock will have to
answer for himself if he meant that the subscriber could retain his handset
when switching carriers, or his telephone number.

Such settings are generally absent from phones today--and wouldn't do
much good in many cases due to the use of mutually incompatible
protocols (CDMA, GSM, iDEN, etc.). Even between two carriers using the
same protocol, carriers generally "lock" the phones they sell so they
can't be used on another's network; this is the price of getting "free"
or heavily-discounted phones when signing a service contract--but it
also means millions of phones (and their toxic batteries) go into
landfills every year.

Dude, you're completely wrong. Locked phones can be unlocked; codes are
available on the Web from a number of sites. You call the carrier whose
network the phone is locked to and request the unlock code. They'll tell
you the code regardless of how much time remains on your contract, if
any. If they argue, just tell them you'd like to use the phone on other
networks when travelling outside the United States.

I'm a T-Mobile subscriber. It turned out that my Motorola V195s, five years
old, didn't appreciate being laundered. I got the phone in the first place
because it's quad band and should work on most of the world's GSM networks.

I called around. Turned out that AT&T sold a $5 Samsung meant for use
with their prepaid service. I bought a few minutes, but didn't really need
to do that at all. Then I called AT&T to obtain the unlock code. They
provided the code without difficulty, even though I was not a subscriber.

I've been using it ever since. I'd bought a replacement phone from T-Mobile,
but it was magenta, so I returned it. I haven't looked for another phone.

Or the subscriber can buy an unlocked handset.