How to findout which carrier my iPhone is locked to...

Question

Level 1

9 points

How to findout which carrier my iPhone is locked to...

I recently purchased an iPhone 3GS from a friend (student) who was returning from Australia. Before purchasing I researched on the internet and found that the model MX133 / MX134 available in New Zealand and Australia are unlocked or can be unlocked officially by the carriers.

Now I have received the iPhone (I am in India) and when I try to activate using Vodafone's Chip it says 'Sim not Supported'... Ok... That part I get....

But the problem is that how do I find out which Australian carrier this phone is locked to... So I can find out their terms and conditions to get my phone officially unlocked ?

iTunes is not very helpful in determining the same...

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400, 4GB, Vista Ultimate SP2 32 bit, iPhone OS 3.1.2

Posted on Nov 16, 2009 5:11 AM

Reply

Answer 1

devangbhatt Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 17, 2009 1:19 AM in response to Ingo2711

@wjosten - I got the phone from a friend studing in Australia (Melbourne) and he brought it from a retail shop there... (No Sim)

@Ingo2711 - Thanks, but it says activation required and to connect to iTunes.
I don't want to use blacksn0w, if I can get it officially activated / supported.

Can we not find out the carrier from the Model / Serial / IMEI Number or something?

You see, I have the same number for more than 12 years and I don't want to change it. (No number portability in India, yet. And my service provider Loop Mobile does not support iPhone)

So I called for this iPhone from Australia (Since I was sure that those phones were either unlocked or can be officially unlocked)

All I need to do now is contact my friend in Australia and ask him to register for unlocking with that service provider.

Reply

Answer 2

wjosten

Level 10

95,369 points

Nov 16, 2009 6:04 AM in response to devangbhatt

When you got the phone, did it have a sim in it? If so, Settings>General>About>Network. The carrier should be listed here.

Reply

Answer 3

Ingo2711

Level 10

80,307 points

Nov 16, 2009 10:28 AM in response to devangbhatt

Welcome to the discussions,
once you see your carrier listed in the settings/carrier, you can also check this article about carriers in Australia, including links to their support.

Reply

Answer 4

wjosten

Level 10

95,369 points

Nov 17, 2009 1:55 AM in response to devangbhatt

You can try this site, but you still have to know area code and prefix:

http://www.primeris.com/fonefind/

Here's a direct link:

http://fonefinder.net/

Reply

Answer 5

Dec 2, 2009 8:09 AM in response to wjosten

i all so have this problem as i got my iphone off ebay and i tryed to put in my sim but it wont work how do i
a. find out witch carrier the iphones with ?

b get the phone unlocked so i can use my sim iv got now if i cant find out the carrier ?

any help would be much apresheated

Reply

Answer 6

entropia

Level 1

0 points

Jan 29, 2010 12:41 PM in response to devangbhatt

Hi, i've got exactly the same problem (i'm in Russia and my friend has brought me an iPhone from Australia). Kindly let me know if you've managed to solve the problem somehow. Rgrds. Semen

Message was edited by: entropia

Reply

Answer 7

Jan 29, 2010 1:47 PM in response to entropia

It seems to me that the best thing to do is to ask your friend/ebay seller this question.

I've bought several phones from ebay, some of them have been network locked. A simple email to the seller was all that was needed to resolve the issue each time.

Reply