How to change carrier on iPhone ?

Question

Level 1

0 points

How to change carrier on iPhone ?

Howdy folks,

I'm going to Thailand in a week. I want to try using the iPhone there.
Have International roaming enabled already.

yeah, yeah, yeah... its expensive to roam internationally but there's no way to unlock the iPhone SIM yet.. so what am I to do.

According to AT&T website, in Thailand there's 3 cell GSM carriers available.
http://www.wireless.att.com/travelgu...DI D2=&STEP=5

How can I choose the GSM carrier I want ?

iPhone Manual and AT&T says go to iPhone Settings and tap CARRIER to change/choose but this option is not available in iPhone Settings.

Please advise. What to do ?

Anyone. Thanks.

PS: iPhone Manual http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iPhoneUserGuide.pdf (page 95) states the following:

Carrier
When you’re in another country, you can choose which local carrier network to use for
your phone calls and EDGE Internet connections if more than one network is available.
You can only make calls on carriers that have roaming agreements with AT&T.
Additional fees may apply. Any international roaming charges will be billed by the
carrier of the selected network through AT&T.
For information about international coverage and how to enable roaming, go to:
www.wireless.att.com/learn/international
Select a carrier for phone calls
m Choose Carrier and select the network you want to use.
Once you select a network, iPhone will only use that network. If the network is
unavailable, “No service” will appear on the iPhone screen and you won’t be able to
make or receive calls, or connect to the Internet via EDGE. Set Network Settings to
Automatic to have iPhone select a network for you.

-----

And on page 42,
Set the carrier network to use: In Settings, tap Carrier, then select the carrier network you prefer.

Power Mac G5 and iPhone, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Jul 22, 2007 7:52 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

QuickDraw

Level 3

704 points

Jul 22, 2007 8:08 AM in response to rc_oz

"When you’re in another country, you can choose which local carrier network to use for your phone calls and EDGE Internet connections if more than one network is available."

I think that this probably answers your question about "How to choose a carrier". What you quoted here is "When you're in another country". This more than likely means you won't be able to choose until you are in fact in the other country. It also seems as though, unless there is more than 1 network, you won't be able to choose either, you'll just be connected to one as long as they have an agreement with at&t.

Reply

Answer 2

rc_oz Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 22, 2007 8:36 AM in response to QuickDraw

Thanks for your reply. Yes in Thailand there are 3 networks availabl, all have agreement with AT&T. Two with EDGE, one without.

You said, "This more than likely means you won't be able to choose until you are in fact in the other country."

I hope you're right but I want to make sure. I posted a similar question in AT&T support forum and someone stated that he was in France and could not choose carrier (and in France they also had 3 carriers with AT&T agreement).

So rather than speculating as to what is and what isn't, I would just like to know for sure. I am hoping someone from Apple can research and post a reply here.

Thanks.

Reply

Answer 3

Jul 22, 2007 11:04 AM in response to rc_oz

According to David Pogue's new book "The Missing iPhone Manual", when you are in another country (outside the US) and multiple carriers are available that have contracts with AT&T, they will show up and allow you to choose one of them. You can buy his book online for about $5.00 as a download. Very informative.

Reply

Answer 4

Chas Hulme

Level 4

1,130 points

Jul 22, 2007 11:11 AM in response to rc_oz

This is the type of question that should be addressed to AT&T.

Reply

Answer 5

Jul 22, 2007 11:41 AM in response to Chas Hulme

While it should indeed be addressed to ATT, it does directly affect the iPhone as well.

Theoretically, you should be able to select your network while overseas.

In practice, I found (at least in Paris last week) that I did NOT have a choice. It locks into one network and that is where it stays. When you go to choose network, you do not, indeed, have any option to change it to anyone other than the network already locked in.

I would love to hear about others experiences as we learn more about this. Most likely it is on a country by country (maybe even city by city) basis.

Luckily, in Paris, it switched to Orange - which I would have selected anyway.

Reply

Answer 6

reifer

Level 1

13 points

Sep 7, 2007 11:55 AM in response to Catherine Jackson

Where can you download it for $5?
I found it for $19.99

On the Carrier issue, the manual from Apple says to choose "carrier" in the setting menu? There is no "carrier" menu to choose.
There is a network menu under "General" in settings but the only options are VPN and Wifi?
The Apple manual also says to set network setting to automatic to have the Iphone select for you which would seem to indicate that there is a "manual" mode but, I can't find it?
I'm currently in a country with more then one carrier supported by ATT and there is no way to change, that I can find.

Reply